[.ca] Three Kings (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
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. --Jeff Shannon

Additional Features:
The Collector's Edition features a 22-minute documentary, "Under the Bunker." Featuring quick interviews with cast and crew, the behind-the-scenes film is slick and enjoyable, but could have been longer.

so-so:
fortunately, i don't need a movie to tell me people are human. They are different kinds of people and not everyone is the same. I was shocked at some of the reviews when people all of a sudden assumed "all" soldiers were greedy when this is a fictitous plot after all. As for some of the other actors, really well played. I hate to portray a film as anti-this or pro-that unless the director wanted it so.

Overdramatic, and not that good:
"Three Kings" tries hard to be artistic. In fact...it tries too hard. Its basically a modern day take on "Kelly's Heroes." The latter is one of my personally favorite war-film...so I am offended that people would compare this movie to that! "Kelly's Heroes" knew what it wanted to be and didn't try to break that: it was a comedy/caper film set in World War II about a tired squad moving out to find German gold and then go lead the good life. "Three Kings" tries to be a lot of things: political statement, anti-war film, dramatic character study...but the style is far too corny and overdramatic for it to really have any affect on me. In fact, I found myself bored, offended, or downright disgusted by this film at many times. I will stick with my "Kelly's Heroes," thank you very much, when I want to be entertained or "touched" in any way.

Not Another War Movie:
George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and director Spike Jonze (who gives a chance at acting here) star in this twisted, offbeat war movie where four american soldiers try to survive in Iraqi while searching for some gold hidden by Saddanm`s army. The plot mixes a bit of everything, going from drama, dark comedy, action and satire, and while it isn`t always sucessful it still works for the most part (the ending, however, could be much more surprising). It`s certainly unconventional and dares to try something different, which is something rare nowadays, especially in the tired war movie genre. Director David O. Russel offers an experimental, dazzling cinematography, creating some unique and weird visual scenes. Although the mix between a serious and an absurd tone doesn`t work as well as it could, "Three Kings" is nonetheless an interesting picture worth watching, making for an entertaining and innovative trip.

Completely unrealistic war movie:
This movie is based on the Gulf War. The acting is of extremely poor quality. The story plot is non-existent. The movie is about three U.S Marshals who intend to steal a large sum of gold. The surprising and very unrealistic thing about this story is that the three marshals get past top Iraqi security then into an underground lair full of armsmen without a sing bullet being fired. They even steal the gold from the iraqis in front of them with only two shots fired between at least two dozen men. To cut it short this movie is PATHETIC. It is way toooo patriotic, and seems to lack any plot whatsoever. Please don't make the mistake I made of watching this movie and wasting my time.

BACK HAND SWIPE AT BUSH 41:
"Three Kings" starred the ultra-liberal George Clooney in a convoluted story of U.S. soldiers trying to get rich in war torn 1991 Iraq, possibly re-creating the theme of Clint Eastwood's 1970 film "Kelly's Heroes". "Kings" is not a highly political story, but leaves little doubt that it views the first President Bush's war in Iraq, particularly the Kurdish uprising that he encouraged and did not back, as a cynical American lie. STEVEN TRAVERS AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN" STWRITES@AOL.COM