Three Kings
from Warner Home Video
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
George Clooney Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube star in "Three Kings" the story of a small band of American soldiers in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War who seek adventure and fortune in attempting to steal a huge cache of gold hidden somewhere in the desert. Along the way they are confronted by heroic challenges and newfound discoveries that take them to places they could never have imagined.Running Time: 121 min.System Requirements:Starring: George Clooney Mark Wahlberg Ice Cube Spike Jonze Nora Dunn Jamie Kennedy Mykelti Williamson Cliff Curtis and Said Taghmaoui. Directed By: David O. Russell. Running Time: 115 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Warner Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 085391786221
Bravo Two Zero
by Tom Clegg
from Dimension
Sean Bean has yet to star in a major movie, but he proves his charisma in Bravo Two Zero, based on the true story of a British Special Forces unit behind enemy lines during the Gulf War. Bravo Two Zero begins with the men taking leave of their wives, children, and girlfriends, then takes us step by step through the procedures that lead to going to war: not simply the gathering of equipment and intelligence, but things like "proof of life" statements--something idiosyncratic that, if the soldiers are captured, will demonstrate that they are still alive. Sent to cut an information line, the squad loses radio contact, and the men are forced to abandon their gear and head for the border of Syria. From there things only get worse, and some viewers may find the going brutal. These realistic details give the movie its punch, but it's Bean who keeps you caring. --Bret Fetzer
The story of the British Special Air Service Bravo Two Zero patrol that fought bravely in the Gulf war while on a mission to retrieve SCUD missles that were being used by Saddam Hussein to terrorize his neighbors.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 6-JUL-2004
Media Type: DVD
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