DVD Movie Rating for: Three Kings

3 out of 5 stars

Movie Plot of: Three Kings

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube star in "Three Kings," the story of a small group of adventurous American soldiers in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War who are determined to steal a huge cache of gold reputed to be hidden somewhere near their desert base. Finding a map they believe will take them to the gold, they embark on a journey that leads to unexpected discoveries, enabling them to rise to a heroic challenge that drastically changes their lives.

In the days immediately after the Gulf War, a group of American soldiers come across a secret Iraqi map, which discloses the whereabouts of a bunker where Iraq is storing stolen gold and treasure from Kuwait. The soldiers hope to take the gold and keep it for themselves. However, when they arrive at the site, they discover that the Iraqi army is more concerned about persecuting its civilians than stopping them from stealing the gold. They learn that the civilians have been encouraged by the U.S. government to rise up and fight Sadaam Hussein, but are facing certain execution because the U.S. military refuses to help them. This incident creates a crisis of conscience for the American soldiers. Do they take the money and run, leaving the civilians to face certain death at the hands of the Iraqi army? Or do they risk losing the gold in order to escort them to safety across the border into Iran?

DVD Production Details of: Three Kings

Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg

Director: David O. Russell

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Release Date: June 3, 2003
DVD Features:
Commentary by director David O. Russell

Commentary by producers Chuck Roven and Ed McDonnell

Theatrical trailer(s)

Under the Bunker: On The Set Of Three Kings Making-Of Documentary

Deleted Footage With Commentary By Director David O. Russell

Interview with Director of Photography Tom Sigel

An Intimate Look Inside The Acting Process With Ice Cube

plus!: David O. Russell's Video Journal, Bunkers--Three Hidden Features (Two Bunkers Reveal Codes That Will Unlock Special Features On The Web, And One Bunker Will Unlock A TV Spot), Production Designer's Tour of the Iraqi Village Set, Production Stills, Special Photography From Co-star Spike Jonze (Director Of Being John Malkovich) DVD-ROM Content--Links To CNN's Gulf War Archives, Special Web Events, Including To-Be-Announced Online Screenings And Chats With Filmmaker/Stars

Widescreen anamorphic format

DVD Easter Eggs

On Warner Home Video's action-packed and feature-laden special edition of the Gulf-War story 'Three Kings' you can actually find a number of hidden features.
To get a TV Spot, go to the disc's 'Special Features' menu, then select 'Production Notes' and from there go to the 'Origins'. Here, push the arrow key up and you should find a highlighted grenade. Press 'Enter' and a menu appears with the TV spot on it.

There are two more Easter Eggs that reveal passwords to be used on the Three Kings DVD Events web-site. The site is not there yet, but as soon as Warner starts with the online events for this title, it will go live. To get the first one , go to the 'Special Features' menu then select the 'Cast & Crew' menu. Here push the arrow key up and you should see another grenade highlighted. Press 'Enter' to obtain the password 'SCUD'.
The final one can be found by going to the 'Special Features' menu, and choosing 'Continue' until you get to the final menu. There push the arrow key down until another grenade is highlighted. Press 'Enter' and you will be given another password, 'BAGHDAD'.

Cast of the movie: Three Kings

• George Clooney .... Maj. Archie Gates
• Mark Wahlberg .... Sfc. Troy Barlow
• Ice Cube.... SSgt. Chief Elgin
• Spike Jonze .... Pfc. Conrad Vig
• Cliff Curtis .... Amir Abdullah
• Nora Dunn .... Adriana Cruz
• Jamie Kennedy .... Pvt. Walter Wogaman
• Saïd Taghmaoui .... Capt. Said
• Mykelti Williamson .... Col. Horn
• Holt McCallany .... Capt. Van Meter
• Judy Greer .... Cathy Daitch
• Christopher Lohr .... Teebaux
• Jon Sklaroff .... Paco
• Liz Stauber .... Debbie Barlow (Troy's Wife)
• Marsha Horan .... Amir's wife

Photo Gallery of the movie: Three Kings

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Three Kings

Reviews of the movie: Three Kings

A confident hybrid of M*A*S*H, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Dr. Strangelove, Three Kings is one of the most seriously funny war movies ever made. Improving the premise of Kelly's Heroes with scathing intelligence, it explores the odd connection between war and consumerism in the age of Humvees and cellular phones. Writer-director David O. Russell's third film (after Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster), it's a no-holds-barred portrait of personal conscience in the volatile arena of politics, played out by one of the most gifted filmmakers to emerge in the 1990s.

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze (director of Being John Malkovich) play a quartet of U.S. soldiers who, disillusioned by Operation Desert Storm, decide to steal $23 million in gold hijacked from Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's army. Getting the bullion out of an Iraqi stronghold is easy; keeping it is a potentially lethal proposition. By the end of their mercenary mission, the Americans can no longer ignore wartime atrocities (and neither can we--the film is boldly unflinching), and conscience demands their aid to Iraqi rebels abandoned by President George Bush's fickle wartime policy. This is serious stuff indeed, but Russell infuses Three Kings with a keen sense of the absurd, and the entire film is an exercise in breathtaking visual ingenuity. Despite a conventional ending that's mildly disappointing for such a brashly original film, Three Kings conveys the brutal madness of war while making you laugh out loud at the insanity.

A personal mission develops in the Gulf War.
This may be the movie that proves George Clooney can actually play lead and carry a project on the big screen. Clooney and a few of his buddies, take a little time out during the Gulf War to steal gold from the Iraqi. They end up coming to the aid of refugees from Kuwait.

Plenty of kick ass action. Graphic violence and strong language makes this a believable war time story.

Very good supporting cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Judy Greer, Jamie Kennedy and Nora Dunn.