'Great! You killed the invisible swordsman'
There's no real genius behind the 1986 film The Three Amigos ... or is there?
Critics generally panned the movie, bemoaning the waste of the superstar comedic cast -- Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short.
"The comic style they should have adopted was Short's manic goofiness from Saturday Night Live, but the tone seems to come more from Martin, who keeps a bemused distance from the material," wrote critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. "Chase hardly seems in the movie at all; he's given a few lines and some quizzical reaction shots and left idling in the background."
The Washington Post wasn't as specific or kind, calling it a "limping, laughless lampoon."
But if you take away the plot (pretty much a ripoff of "The Magnificent Seven") and the soundtrack by Randy Newman, there are some morsels of comedy goodness left to savor. After much research, I'm confident in today's top 5 list.
TOP 5 UNDER-APPRECIATED LINES OF COMIC GENIUS IN THE THREE AMIGOS:
5. "Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?"
4. "Great! You killed the invisible swordsman!"
3. "Sew, very old one! Sew like the wind!"
2. "Do you have anything here besides Mexican food?"
1. "In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be the actual El Guapo!"
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
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"It's a sweater!"
Posted by: Jim | August 23, 2007 at 05:59 PM
Do you know what a pleathora is?
ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH?
referring to tequila: "Is like beer"
Posted by: Brian | May 17, 2007 at 09:58 AM
Satires "play off of," rather than "rip off," classics like the Magnificent Seven.
Posted by: larry b. | May 07, 2007 at 10:51 PM
That movie there is only one of the most classic movies of all time, right up there with Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
BFF,
Miss T
Posted by: Miss Trashahassee | May 06, 2007 at 10:59 PM
Has your El Guapo conquered its own personal El Guapo, Johnny? I think not.
Posted by: Spears | May 06, 2007 at 08:06 PM
El Guapo...what a fine name...
Posted by: Johnny B. Goode | May 06, 2007 at 07:56 PM
I occasionally tell me that I long to be more than famous, I long to be INfamous.
Posted by: Walter Cox | May 06, 2007 at 03:14 PM