Three Kings

Three Kings is a 1999 satirical black comedy war film written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley. It stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze as four American soldiers on a gold heist that takes place during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq against Saddam Hussein following the end of the Gulf War. The film was released on October 1, 1999 in the United States.

Plot
Just after the end of the Gulf War, four American soldiers decide to steal a cache of Saddam Hussein's hidden gold. Led by cynical Sergeant Major Archie Gates (George Clooney), three of the men are rescued by rebels, but Sergeant Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) is captured and tortured by Iraqi intelligence. The Iraqi rebels beg for the American trio to help fight against the impending arrival of Hussein's Elite Guard. The men agree to fight in return for help rescuing Troy.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The idea of having black comedy with war style is great idea. Even the premise of four American soldiers decide to steal a cache of Saddam Hussein's hidden gold is great as well.
 * 2) All three American soldiers are likable, like Major Archie Gates, a career U.S. Army Special Forces officer close to retirement, who is disillusioned with the war, Sergeant First Class Troy Barlow, an office worker with a wife and baby daughter at home. He wears the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations patch and identifies himself as a Civil Affairs Reservist, and Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin an airline baggage handler who believes he is protected by a ring of "Jesus-fire", also wears the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations patch.
 * 3) Timeless and great score for Carter Burwell.
 * 4) Most of the acting is rich and excellent, especially the three actors; George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube, who gives great casting choices.
 * 5) The ending scenes with stating that all of the soldiers were cleared of their charges thanks to Adriana Cruz's reporting. Archie and Chief now work as military advisers in Hollywood, and Troy is the owner of a carpet store is nice.

Reception
Three Kings received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Three Kings successfully blends elements of action, drama, and comedy into a thoughtful, exciting movie on the Gulf War.". On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 82 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.

Trivia

 * The Australian theatrical release omits a brief close up of a woman being shot in the head by one of Saddam's soldiers. This was done to avoid an R rating. This scene cut from the Australian release in order to obtain an MA rating for theatrical release were restored for the VHS and DVD releases, thus restoring the original R rating.