Critic Reviews
Three Kings (1999) Rank 4 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (216) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Wow.Wildly inventive, darkly comic, starkly visceral, politically subversive and richly humane --Three Kings, one of Hollywood's first takes on the 1991 Gulf War, is a bona fide original.And it burns off more energy than a ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
James Brundage
Three Kings IS the Apocalypse Now of the 1990's.
Hands down the finest war movie I have seen since Saving Private Ryan, Three Kings is a disturbing masterpiece. While taking a look at the soldier's who have never seen action, who have never taken ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at James Brundage
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
One of the most entertaining war movies of the past 20 years. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
GamePro.com ("Star Dingo")
Jeff Bogart
Alot of it was intense, meaningful images and situations. For those of you who saw it, an example would be when they made Wahlberg drink the oil. Only because of what it said about our involvement in the war (it will make more sense if you've seen ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Jeff Bogart
Jack Choo
As the film begins to roll, it seemed to have a rather `light mood to it. `Special effects such as when Gates describes to his men how a bullet can kill simply paves the way for a lighthearted funny action movie. THREE KINGS is much smarter than that. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Jack Choo
Killer Ducky (--)
New York Post (Jonathan Foreman)
An original and brilliant combination of comedy, action and sophisticated political comment. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at New York Post (Jonathan Foreman)
Light Views (John Larsen)
This unusual blend of comedy and carnage constantly catches you by surprise, creating a visceral experience that is hard to beat. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Light Views (John Larsen)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
An astonishing movie that keeps you off-balance from the first scene. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
So I Saw This Movie... (John Halbert)
Buzz (Tanya Marsh)
Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
We three kings be stealing the gold... ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
In one of the most poignant scenes I have ever witnessed, Barlow is about to be tortured by Captain Said, played beautifully by Said Taghmaoui. In a quiet voice, dripping with disgust at the ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"Three Kings" is some kind of weird masterpiece, a screw-loose war picture that sends action and humor crashing head-on into each other and spinning off into political anger. It has the ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
I love Hollywood, especially this time of year! By now you're probably tanned, rested, and ready for the upcoming holiday season, and the kids are back in school. After a record-breaking summer box office filled with ghosts, Jedis, and Julia Roberts, ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
ShowBIZ Data
Warner Brothers Presents In Association with Village Roadshow Pictures/Village -- A.M. Film Partnership, A coast Ridge/Atlas Entertainment Production; Executive Produced by Kelley Smith-Wait, Gregory Goodman and Bruce Berman; Produced by Charles Roven, ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Reel.com
On paper, the idea of George Clooney, "Marky" Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube in an action adventure about Operation Desert Storm sounds fairly straightforward. Attach a hack like Michael Bay to the project, throw in a gazillion explosions, work the Burger ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Reel.com
Christian Pyle
At the beginning of "Three Kings," the war has just ended. While stripping a prisoner, Troy (Mark Wahlberg) and Conrad (Spike Jonze) find a map sticking out of his butt. Special Forces Major Archie Gates (George Clooney) discovers that the map shows the ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Christian Pyle
Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics
When the true message of the film gets literally--I mean literally--shoved down your throat (ahem), the spell for me was broken. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Homer Yen
"The Three Kings" is a fine film about a small group of soldiers who venture out beyond where most soldiers have gone during Operation Desert Storm and see things that others never did. When an Iraqi prisoner of war is searched, a map is found that ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Homer Yen
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey/Flirting With Disaster) sets his contemporary story in Iraq during the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, as he lampoons the motives behind U.S. foreign policy, questioning what President Bush's war really ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
In the end, Three Kings opts for a safe and somewhat soft resolution that is not as satisfying as the preceding 110 minutes. It would have been difficult to arrive at any other outcome however, because the point is to underline the American greed that ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Three kings and a joker (all US military) stumble
across an "ass map" during a cease-fire during the
Gulf War. The map (which was found in an Iraqi
buttocks) could very well reveal the location of ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Monkeyboy Review
Jesus wept! You won't have seen a film like this! Ever! Well, you might have seen bits of it in other films; there's elements of Kelly's Heroes, any heist movie, and even what looks like a bit of a homage to Star Wars. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Monkeyboy Review
Criminy Pete's Knee Jerk Spoilers
GamePro.com (Gerard Choucroun)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube are soldiers fighting the Gulf War way back in 1991. (It's funny that the early 90s is now a period.) They discover a stash of Kuwaiti gold stolen by Saddam and face a choice - steal the gold or save the ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Few are the ways that remain to behave as an original outlaw or antihero in American movies these days. So it practically moves us to stand up and salute when Three Kings shows how sedition can, indeed, be an act of heroism. Three Kings is a war movie ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (John Sylva)
TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
An astonishing movie that keeps you off-balance from the first scene. It starts out a wisecracking, cynical action lark about four Gulf War GIs who see a way to steal a fortune. It ends up a sadly resigned indictment of market-driven American foreign ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
filmcritic.com (Athan Bezaitis)
With two ex-rappers and a guy from ER leading the cast, I wasn’t expecting much from Three Kings. Am I the only one that can still picture Ice-Cube being squeezed to death by a huge snake in possibly the worst movie ever, Anaconda? Or how about ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at filmcritic.com (Athan Bezaitis)
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
I'm not a big fan of the war genre at all because most of the films are, well to put it in simple terms - depressing, overly long or moral, and sometimes disgustingly patriotic (which doesn't carry well when it's not your own country being applauded). ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
Susan Granger
'Remember "Catch 22" and "M*A*S*H*" those black comedies that captured the surrealist insanity of W.W.II and the Korean War? That's what David O. Russell attempts in this astute blend of action/adventure, drama, humor, and scathing political commentary. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Susan Granger
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Michael Dequina
The latter, of course, owes a great debt to the ensemble. As the ringleader of the gang, Major Archie Gates, Clooney is his typically charismatic self, and it's a testament to his costars' work that his formidable screen presence never dominates. ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Michael Dequina
Movie Reviews UK
Peace is hell if you go by Three Kings, an untidy but nonetheless significant muckrake of the Persian Gulf War. That's because it isn't until after Desert Storm's armistice that the shooting starts in director David O. Russell's cynically action-packed ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Movie Reviews UK
Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
War movies have a tendency to either glorify violence in the name of a certain cause or to over-emotionalize about a certain cause. Finding a perfect balance between the two is a definite challenge for a filmmaker. With Three Kings, writer/director ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
Movies for Guys
The style of the film is quite good as well, with film grain, over exposure, slow motion, and flashbacks being incorporated as just the right times to add a little extra "oomph" to the movie. Unlike a John Woo film, you don't want to groan ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Movies for Guys
Shay Casey
Clooney stars as Sergeant Major Archie Gates, an aging soldier, close to retirement, who is dissatisfied with the relatively unimportant role he played in the recentlyended Gulf War. While the other American soldiers celebrate the war's completion, he ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Shay Casey
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
A lot of bodies get hit by a lot of bullets in movies these days. And a lot of those movies don't take much time to contemplate what it means to be struck by a bullet--the violence of the impact beyond the immediate visceral excitement experienced by an ...read the complete Three Kings movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
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