3 hommes à abattre

"It isn't bad luck," hisses the lead villain. "It's incompetence!" In truth, what more can you say for a French film that sets out to emulate the very worst of Hollywood drivel and fails even at that? This atrociously-plotted thriller makes you appreciate the narrative finesse of Death Wish and Dirty Harry, while aging pretty boy Alain Delon (who also produced and co-wrote) is a sadly inadequate stand-in for Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood.

Delon plays a laconic gambler who rescues a dying man from a wrecked car. This turns out to be an assassination, not an accident - and Delon, as "the man who knew too much," becomes the killers' next target. This is frankly nonsensical, as Delon knows nothing about the conspiracy, and has never set eyes on the two assassins. Elsewhere, the same duo murder another man but leave his wife alive - even though she's an eye witness to the whole crime. And we're meant to believe they're afraid of getting caught?!

Still, it makes an excuse for two gay hit men with appalling 70s haircuts to chase Delon all over Paris. Given his fondness for such ghastly fashion no-no's as white socks with black trousers and black shoes, I could sympathies all too readily with their murderous intent! It all climaxes in the most ludicrous, ineptly-staged car chase you're ever likely to see - but at least Italian sex-bomb Dalila di Lazzaro adds a much-needed touch of glamour as Delon's girlfriend.

If this dreadful movie is of any use at all, it's for correcting the old stereotype that European Cinema Equals Art while Hollywood Cinema Equals Trash. True, the Americans may make more trash than the French...but at least they do it properly!

A professional gambler on his way to the gambling house saved a guy who crashed on the countryside road and by not asked or checked first whether that guy was wounded badly or where his wounds were, he just hauled him out of the car, and again, didn't pay any attention to anything else. He drove and sent the he-thought-the-guy-was-just-a wounded-car-crash-survivor and a complete stranger to the hospital emergency. And again, the nurse and the two emergency workers didn't pay any attention to the condition of the guy in the poker gambler's car, just hauled him to the gurney without checking first what the condition of that person in the car with so much blood, until after you-don't-know-how-long, a doctor came out announced the guy they brought in had two fatal gunshot wounds. What kind of French hospital in the 80s was this? Emergency room didn't seem to have anything emergent. And the gambler didn't even pay any attention to his car's backseats, the blood on the seats and the floor? Anyway, the most stupid scenario was the gambler didn't pay any attention to the guy he helped sending to the hospital, he didn't witnessed the actual killing or assassination of that guy, why those two so-called hit-man bozos would bother to have him eliminated? For what? The gambler didn't even looked at the face of the wounded guy, albeit linked him as one of the assassinated three men.

Furthermore, what's the purpose behind these killings? The French screenplay writers usually drafted stupid scripts without any logic. Delon just produced and played those cool but stupid roles with his handsome face.

This is such a stupid and mindless film with non-exist logic. If you could watch on or even finish it, you'd better have your I.Q. re-tested.

Thrilling and violent Alain Delon film , full of frantic action , intrigue , twists and turns . A mysterious man called Michel (Alain Delon) helps the victim of a car crash resulting in unexpected consequences , not realizing that the man has actually been gunned down . The henchmen who shot him are now after the man who helped him , in order to take down as a potential witness . Soon after , Michel joins his sweetheart (Dalila Di Lazzaro) , but our starring becomes involved into a twisted conspiracy . As the hoodlums are killing one by one in order to eliminate whatever in contact with him .

Nail-biting and moving French ¨Polar¨ with enjoyable acting by main star names , dealing with an innocent victim being mercilessly pursued after helping someone at a car crash . This is an intriguing film that contains noisy action , suspense , thrills , car chases and anything else . Alain Delon is nice in his usual manner playing as a card player who stumbles into an auto accident with fateful consequences and his gorgeous girlfriend performed by Dalila Di Lazzaro steals the spectacle by showing some nudism . Alain Delon sports his inimitable style while shots and kills ; as usual he combines action with dramatic skills . He plays splendidly the relentling man who's mercilessly hunted and is bent on taking his sweet vengeance on those who pursue him and bring war on the doorstep of elegant Paris and surroundings as Trouville , Calvados, and Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine. The highlights result to be the violent confrontation between Delon and enemies , as he acts as Charles Bronson-alike , as he exacts an implacable vendetta as a judge , jury and executioner ; furthermore , a suspenseful and surpring ending . Strong and agreeable secondary cast with some familar faces for French cinema lovers , such as : Michel Auclair , Jean-Pierre Darras , Bernard Le Coq and Feodor Atkine .

The technician team is first-class , as the musician Claude Bolling who composed an attractive soundtrack , including catching leitmotif and classic cameraman Jean Tournier , director Jacques Tournier's son, though being really necessary a perfect remastering because of the film copy is washed-out . The motion picture was professionally directed by Jacques Deray , but though works at times , it has some flaws , failures and gaps . Jacques Deray was a good craftsman , a French writer-director of commercially successful crime thrillers . He began as an actor in his late teens and from 1952 worked as assistant to several noted directors, including Luis Buñuel and Jules Dassin . Directed his first film in 1960 called Le gigolo . Following other notorious movies such as : Crime on a Summer Morning , Rififi in Tokyo , The Swimming Pool , Borsalino , To Skin a Spy , Le Marginal , Le Solitarie , Borsalino and Co. , Le Gang , Flic Story , among others . With 9 films, Jacques Deray is the director who has made the most films with Alain Delon and with Jean Paul Belmondo shot a lot , as well . And this 3 hommes à abattre (1980) rating : 6/10. The picture will appeal to Alain Delon fans and French thriller enthusiasts.

This amazing French action thriller is purely French to me. A bit different in the story from the novel it is inspired from and written by the amazing and late Jean-Patrick Manchette, but the overall "message" could have perfectly been written by Manchette. The tale of a normal man in struggle for his life against the shadow forces, sent and monitored by the State Reason; a typical French scheme. One of the best Jacques Deray's films where Alain Delon is at his peak. The ending is delicious, so nasty, bittersweet, in an anti Hollywood style. Yves Boisset could have perfectly made it. No problem. A must see.

I liked this, some negative comments on this board notwithstanding... I thought the action scenes were not bad for an 80s movie. It's obviously an attempt to make a Hollywood-style action flick. While there were probably better action/thriller flicks made in the 80s, I can think of many, many worse ones! Having seen it for the first time when I was 18, the high point quite obviously was Dalila Di Lazzaro's chest, a memorable scene… :) I bought a VHS copy on Ebay a few years ago, in German – that's all I could find.

What was the car he drove at the beginning of the movie, by the way? A Lancia Gamma.

As for the comment about Delon wearing white socks with black pants, that actually was considered somewhat fashionable in Europe of the 80s…. :)