15 Infamous Facts About “The Three Amigos”

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Anna Green and Mental_Floss present 15 Infamous Facts About The Thrree Amigos.  Here are three of my favorites… [Beware of Spoilers!]

6. JOHN LANDIS’S FAVORITE MOMENT WHILE SHOOTING WAS AN ARGUMENT WITH CHEVY CHASE.
Landis told Movies.com, “Probably the funniest moment for me when shooting was when I had the Three Amigos on horseback in the desert and I was shooting while they were wearing those ridiculous outfits and after having been shooting for three weeks, Chevy objected to a line of dialogue and he said, ‘I don’t think I should say this.’ And, remember, Chevy plays a character named Dusty Bottoms. So I said, ‘Well, why not?’ He said, ‘Because my character would have to be a moron to say this.’ All I could think was, What movie has Chevy been making? So I said, ‘OK, I’ll give it to Marty because it’s a laugh.’ Then Chevy said, ‘I’ll say it!’ It’s one of my favorite moments with an actor.”

7. SEVERAL FILMS THAT CAME OUT AFTER ¡THREE AMIGOS! SHARED ITS PREMISE.
Like ¡Three Amigos!, films like Galaxy Quest (1999) and Tropic Thunder (2008) have featured movie stars accidentally ending up in real danger. Vulture outlined the many similaritiesbetween Tropic Thunder and ¡Three Amigos!, which include everything from similar catchphrases and movie star cameos (Tom Cruise plays Jewish film producer Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder while Joe Mantegna plays Jewish film producer Harry Flugleman in ¡Three Amigos!) to characters eating bats when they’re short on food. Galaxy Quest meanwhile featured a group of washed up sci-fi stars who end up cavorting with real aliens.

Referring to the spate of movies that borrow from the ¡Three Amigos! premise, John Landis said, “They completely ripped it off! The first Pixar movie about the ants, A Bug’s Life, took the same plot. It’s amazing how often the plot has been used. If Galaxy Quest weren’t so funny, it would probably bother me more.”

13. STEVEN SPIELBERG ALMOST DIRECTED THE FILM.
Spielberg considered making the film in the early 1980s with Martin, Robin Williams, and Bill Murray as the leads. Ultimately, he decided to make E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) instead.