History Film / ThreeKings

-->'''Archie:''' No guns, because we know what they do, right Conrad?
-->'''Conrad:''' They make infected pockets full of bile, sir.
-->'''Archie:''' That's right. That's what they do.

-->'''Gates''': The way this works is, you do the thing you're scared shitless of and you get the courage ''after'' you do it.\\

* TakeThat: When the Americans are apprehending the Iraqi soldiers in their search for the stolen gold we get this exchange between Troy and one of the Iraqis.
-->'''Iraqi soldier''': Eddie Murphy very good American music, my friend, yes?
-->'''Troy Barlow''': No, this is not good music. Eddie Murphy is fucking terrible.

* CoolGun: Not as many examples as in most war movies but the Colt Model 727, Mosin Nagant, SKS, and Mauser Gewehr 98, rifles and Conrad's Thunder 5 revolver are worth noting.

* RecklessGunUsage: One of the earliest things we see Conrad do upon his introduction is have him point a ''revolver point blank at Troy's face''. Later on we see him do the exact same thing this time to a pair of Iraqi POW's only to get chewed out by Troy who tells him to act in a more "professional manner". Only for him to ''immediately'' go back to pointing his revolver at another group of POW's.

** The Nerf football rigged with C-4. [[spoiler:Conrad Vig has an entire bag of them, and Chief Elgin uses one to take out a '''freaking helicopter'''.]]

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler: Averted with a ''vengeance''; not only does Chief Elgin survive, he's also the only one of the main characters to not suffer any sort of injury. In fact the only soldier to die out of the four man squad is a ''white southerner''.]]

** How major Gates deals with a sadistic Iraqi Republican Guard officer, in retaliation for him ordering the execution of an innocent women. Complete with the man's blood splattering onto his face.

** Quite possibly the most ''egregious'' omition from the film is the scene in which Major Gates describes the dangers of sepsis poisoning complete with a graphic shot of a bullet showing the effects of said poisoning. A scene which plays an important part later on in the film when two of the characters are shot. With one being shot in the chest and the other one dying from the aforementioned poisoning.

* CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough: Inverted in the case of SFC Troy Barlow and his superior officer Captain Doug Van Meter. It's actually Van Meter who is the stern and hard nose one with Troy being the more laid back and easy going of the two.

* ClusterFBomb: Most of the movie. Saïd in particular seems to have learned his English from some rather foul mouthed American soliders.

* ColonelKilgore: The four main American soldiers encounter an exceptionally nasty Iraqi Republican Guard officer whose establishing moment involves him [[spoiler: ordering the execution of an innocent woman in clear view of her family]]. Naturally this does not sit well Major Gates and his squad.

* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: A variation is said by Specialist Walter Wogeman to Adriana Cruz when she tries to steal his dune buggie. [[SubvertedTrope Unfortunately for him she calls his bluff and takes his dune buggie anyways.]]

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Subverted with Maj. Gates, as he is a decorated Ranger/Special Forces officer who is serving with Delta Force for his last month in the Army. Whose establishing moment involves him getting caught trading stories in exchange for sex. Which kinda soils the whole ''glamorous'' part. Averted with the rest of the lead cast. Who are merely simple civil affair soldiers.

* GunshipRescue: Inverted; the attack helicopter that shows up at the climax is an ''enemy chooper'', and it's presence helps turns the tide of battle in the enemies favor. Momentarily at least, before chief Elgin blows it to kingdom come with a football rigged with C4.

* IntrepidReporter: Adriana Cruz. The no nonsense reporter who Major Gates is forced to babysit. Unfortunately for her, her escort is caught giving away her stories to rival reporter Cathy Daitch in exchange for sex, and is later sent on a false lead by Major Gates in order to keep her off his back. Her rival reporter, the aforementioned Cathy Daitch,is a more sleazy, amoral variation of this trope who isn't above using sex is a tool get what she wants and overall is depicted as being a worse person than Adriana.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The four American soldiers have no problem with sneaking off to go steal some gold. But just as they are about to take off with the stolen gold, they witness an innocent Iraqi women executed in the streets as a result of their selfish actions. It's this moment that convinces them to take a detour from their heist and help out the Iraqi prisoners. Unfortunately for them, it's this one selfless act that ends up getting them into some ''serious shit''.

* TotallyRadical: A minor example. During the torture scene, Saïd continually refers to Troy as "my main man," and at one point refers to torture as a "big bummer." Both are rather dated slang for a movie set in the first Gulf War. Justified in two ways, first because he learned English during the Iran-Iraq war, (which ran from 1980-88) when it was likely still in style, and second there's a chance that he is deliberately mocking Barlow and the US in general.

** Elgin is named after the Scottish diplomat [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bruce,_7th_Earl_of_Elgin the Earl of Elgin]], who infamously [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Marbles bought/plundered]] countless ancient artifacts from Greece and took them to Britain.

** Konrad is named after Creator/JosephConrad, author of the anti-colonial novel ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness''.

** Konrad is named after Creator/JosephConrad, author of the anti-colonial novel Literature/TheHeartOfDarkness.

* MeaningfulName: "Three Kings" is one of the names given to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi Biblical Magi]].

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The film opens with Troy killing a surrendering Iraqi soldier after he mistook him for a potential hostile, and getting a pat on the back from his buddies for "shooting a raghead". All in the first minute of the film no less!