Les bronzés 3: amis pour la vie

I'm surprised by the low ratings Les Bronzés 3: Amis Pour La Vie (French Fried Vacation: Friends Forever for the English title, yes I still think it's a stupid translation) gets. I agree it's the lesser good of the three in this trilogy but it's still worth watching, certainly if you were a fan of Les Bronzés and Les Bronzés Font du Ski, the classics from 45 years ago. The second movie was definitely the best but this lesser popular one is made so much later, it was great to see the crew of Le Splendid again. Friends forever is a good title for it as this team of top class actors made so many good movies together. I know it will never get the same status as the first two movies got, they are absolute classics of the French comedy, but it deserves a higher rating.

I have no idea why people bash this movie so harshly. It is of course different from the first two films because it's set 27 years later and naturally things have changed.

I think it's necessary to clear the air a bit on the problems people have with this movie: First off, people complained that at the time of the first two movies, all the actors were unknowns, now that they are all famous, people don't like it anymore. I think it was a good idea to bring all the original actors together and of course it's great to see the same characters again.

The second complaint was that this film isn't funny. I, for one, did not find the original Bronzés film to be funny at all. There was no story line, no interesting sub plots and uninteresting and despicable characters. The sexist and racist portrayals (at the time) looked like something taken out of The Deer Hunter and played out for a comedy.

The second one, however, is totally different. The group go skiing, and like in the first one, it involves tourist activities led by Popeye. In this film, everything is vastly improved and the main characters are more developed. Jérome settles for Gigi, while the rest stay in the same situations. During the second half, they get lost in the snowy wilderness. In the scene where they drink the infamous "liqueur d'échalottes", I almost cracked a rib from laughing so hard.

Les Bronzés 3 is a combination of the two: The same setting as the first and the quality humor of the second. Another good thing is that the cinematography is beautiful and the subplot involving the "beast" is brilliant.

It's a sequel, not as good as the previous one, but good all the same. Don't be put off by all the bad reviews people have given it, because it really isn't that bad.

With my blonde we watched, les Bronzes 1 and 2, we had a lot of fun, and for myself a bit of nostalgia, so we went to see les bronzes 3 last night.

At the beginning, we were happy to see such iconic characters, but after a third of the movie, we saw it was pointless.

The plot line is very mediocre, the character have not evolved, they truly lost the magic touch of their youth.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone even on DVD.

Craps. And, i'm French, i'm fan of the early splendid, it's not a question of cultural divide between french and other country, this movie is pure crap, written by talented people, but without inspiration.

I'm a huge fan of Le Splendid, I have seen Les Bronzés, Les Bronzés font du ski and Le Père Noël a million times and I know most of the dialogues by heart. Every time I look at those movies I still laugh.

On the other hand, this one is really THE PITS!!. The jokes are not even funny and ultra-conventional, or just gross. Christian Clavier is the worst, and worse than ever here. Now I really hate him. There are no original punch lines at all, and when they try to reference the prequels, this is a disaster. It looks like a mix between "La soif de l'or" and "Les Charlots font l'Espagne". If you are a great fan of "Le Splendid", watching this movie will make you sorry for them. If you don't like "The Splendid", that's definitely the movie that will make you hate them even more. If you can borrow the DVD, don't do it. Avoid at all costs.

This comment does not contain spoilers.

So, 3rd installment of the holidays of the "Bronzés" (the "sun tanned" in French). Boy, am I glad I did not buy the DVD. And do I feel sorry for the friend who did.

Anyway, 27 years after the previous 2 movies (Les Bronzés, 1978, tt0077276 on IMDb and Les Bronzés font du ski, 1979, tt0078907 on IMDb, both excellent comedies), the characters all get back together again. They are the same, played by the same actors. The comedy, unfortunately, is not the same.

The first 2 movies relied on well too known situations to anyone in France (or in Europe) going on holiday. If you have been on holiday skiing or to the seaside, you have LIVED what the previous 2 movies depicted. They both were very, very good at pointing all these defects we have, all these little things that can go wrong, all these little stupid reactions you have because you just can't help it. And they felt so true. The characters were mean, greedy, selfish, jealous, stupid, you name it. But somehow, they were endearing, you felt like you knew them, because you had gone through the same. Everything felt so familiar.

All this is exactly what all of us, who had seen the first 2 and were waiting for the 3rd one, were expecting.

And all this, is precisely what this 3rd movie is not. This movie has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with me, nothing to do with your holidays and how they can look or feel like. This movie mostly relies on obvious, exaggerated jokes. If you see some mildly comic effect at the beginning, you know it will be repeated over and over beyond the limits of your patience. You might come to identify with some of the characters: when they don't want to hear about one of their "friend's" problem, you will think, just like them, "just leave us alone and shut up, I don't want to hear about it anymore!!!"

About half way through it (well I was hoping a good 90 minutes had passed already and that the end was near, but my watch, the traitor, told me there was still quite a lot to bear), after so much screaming and so much of the same over and over again, I just wished it would finish QUICK !!!

Don't waste your time nor your good memories of the old films. No, seriously. Don't.