This is a western spoof starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short. It was released the year I was born, 1986, but I knew nothing about it until March 2007. I watched it for the first time that month, just before I first watched "Galaxy Quest", which is like a sci-fi version of this film. Before seeing "¡Three Amigos!", I had looked at its IMDb rating, which didn't suggest it was that great, but it wasn't enough for me to expect a horrible comedy. So, when I first saw the polarizing western comedy, it didn't surprise me when it turned out to be far from the most consistently funny comedy I've ever seen, but I still thought it was pretty good, even though I could only remember parts of it. A second viewing three years later was much like my first.
In 1916, the residents of a Mexican village called Santa Poco have become victims of an outlaw named El Guapo and his gang! A village resident named Carmen goes searching for help, and during her search, she sees a film starring the Three Amigos (Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms and Ned Nederlander) playing in a church. She sees what they do in this film and thinks they would be able to fight off the intruders, so she has a letter sent to them. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, the three renowned silent movie stars are fired, and they lose their studio lot homes and clothing. They then get the letter from Carmen, which they think is an offer for them to come to Santa Poco and put on a show for 100,000 pesos, and they also think El Guapo is an actor who will be playing the antagonist! So, they steal back their movie clothing and set out to Mexico to take this job offer, totally unaware of the fact that they will be doing it for real this time!
I remember the beginning of this film from both viewings, with the Three Amigos riding horses and singing "The Ballad of the Three Amigos" (a song written by Randy Newman), featuring a very long falsetto note, which I found funny both times. After this part, it doesn't stay the same, as the film is no more than mildly amusing for a while, and some of the gags are perhaps a little TOO silly. However, there are eventually more really funny parts, such as the German thug in the saloon, the Three Amigos coming in after him and singing "My Little Buttercup" (also written by Newman) to the frightened men inside who think they are friends of the German, and the actors saying their lines to the village intruders! There are also some highlights later in the film, such as the protagonists riding through the desert, with Lucky and Ned out of water, watching Dusty waste his! Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short all show their talents in this film, and so do other cast members, such as Alfonso Arau as El Guapo and Kai Wulff as German. Some of these supporting characters have some really funny lines. In addition to often being funny, sometimes very much so and sometimes just a little, "¡Three Amigos!" can be exciting with the action and adventure.
When I first saw this 1986 comedy, I had never seen "Blazing Saddles", a much more popular western spoof from 1974. I didn't see that one until January this year, and I think I found it funnier than "¡Three Amigos!" overall, like probably most people who have seen both movies (though I didn't find it as funny as many others clearly have through the decades), but it didn't seem to affect my opinion on this later film of the same genre. Unlike some viewers, I can't exactly call this particular western spoof an underrated gem or something to that effect, but overall, I would say it is a reasonably funny and often exciting adventure, with a talented cast to help out. Randy Newman also did a good job writing the songs ("The Ballad of the Three Amigos", "My Little Buttercup", and "Blue Shadows"). If you're a fan of the three comedians who play the starring roles here, you like western movies, and you want a laugh, you COULD still find this flick disappointing, but it's probably still worth a try.
