Three Kings - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Three Kings or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Three Kings

[kyle]

In the scene where the three soldiers enter the secret room in the bunker with the stolen stuff and television sets, you can see Captain Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) watching the Rodney King beating video, which would've taken place a few weeks before the period of time in which the film is set, and perhaps intentionally or unintentionally highlights the underlying racial tensions between Vig and Elgin in the first half of the film.

[melinda]

The film's original title was "Spoils of War".

[lynn]

In the original posters for the film, David O. Russell gets full writing credit, although the story is based on a draft written by John Ridley. It wasn't until Ridley took legal action, that he received a "Story by" credit. Ridley blocked a novelization of the screenplay from being published. According to Ridley, he wrote the script as an experiment, to see how fast he could write and sell a script. It took him seven days to write it, and Warner Brothers bought it eighteen days later.

[sara]

David O. Russell: The "Hollywood actor" George Clooney strangles in the epilogue sequence. He also provides the singing voice of the helicopter pilot near the beginning.

[sandra]

Nora Dunn and Jamie Kennedy also appeared in Max Keeble's Big Move (2001).

[kenzi]

The song playing in the bunker, when Gates, Eglin, and Barlow bust in, is "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy. Mark Wahlberg (Barlow) would later compete with Murphy at the 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) in the Best Supporting Actor categoty -- Wahlberg for The Departed (2006) and Murphy for Dreamgirls (2006). Both actors lost to Alan Arkin for his role in Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

[bryan]

Although Spike Jonze had never acted in a film before, David O. Russell wrote the part of Conrad Vig specifically for him, and the two practiced Conrad's Southern accent over the phone, while Jonze directed Being John Malkovich (1999). Although Russell had to convince a wary Warner Brothers to cast an inexperienced actor in such a large role, he eventually won out. Russell said Jonze's lack of previous acting work was beneficial to the film, citing the "chaos that a nonactor brings to the set...he really shakes things up."

[francisco]

Just as Vig (Spike Jonze) is introduced with the on-screen caption "wants to be Troy Barlow," Jonze does some karate-like moves reminiscent of the Dirk Diggler character from Boogie Nights (1997). Both Troy Barlow and Dirk Diggler were played by Mark Wahlberg.

[wesley]

In the celebratory scene in the tent back at base camp, several soldiers drink what appears to be mouthwash. During the Gulf War, soldiers followed General Order number 1, which prohibits consumption of alcohol (and currently affects soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan). In this case, they asked loved ones to send them vodka, with blue food coloring, in mouthwash bottles. The same trick was used by the students in Toy Soldiers (1991).

[bryan]

During filming, George Clooney caught bronchitis after exposure to a spiked drink of water and turpentine. He had to wear an oxygen mask in between takes for five weeks.

[alyssa]

At the beginning of the film, there's a disclaimer explaining that the strange look of the film was intended by David O. Russell. The vibrant color is due to the fact that they used "Ektachrome" slide transparency film, instead of standard film stock, and the "bleach bypass" process actually gave the prints a much deeper black. The silver halide is completely opaque, thus a "true" black. Leaving all of that silver on the prints, resulted in a much higher cost for distribution however.

[maureen]

George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg also starred in The Perfect Storm (2000).

[gerald]

The scene where milk is dumped in the village was shot twice, because the extras had not been told to start drinking the "milk" after it was dumped, so the set had to be cleaned up and re-shot.

[aaron]

George Clooney, a notorious prankster, played a prank on Nora Dunn by putting an apple on the antenna of a Humvee and catapulting it, hitting her on the forehead. The only cast member Clooney did not prank was Ice Cube, saying, "Cube's not gonna take it. He doesn't have to. He's from South Central."

[sandra]

Archie Gates' uniform indicates that he is a Special Forces-qualified, Ranger-qualified member of the Combat Applications Group (C.A.G.), formerly known as the Special Forces Operational Detachment "D", but more commonly known as "Delta Force." He is referred to as having been "with Delta." He also wears on his uniform, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist badge, the Pathfinder badge, and the S.C.U.B.A. Diver qualification badge.