As I kid back in the glory days of movies before TV invaded everyone's home, a double feature almost always included a "B" oater along with the main attraction, not to mentions shorts, a newsreel and a cartoon. As a kid, I loved those old Westerns where you could get 42 shots out of a six-shooter, the horses running through the same settings and a confrontation at the little cabin in Corriganville between the bad guys and the good guy. Alas, this oater does not rise to the standard of late Gene Autry, Tim Holt or Lash LaRue. It's frankly boring. Alas, the story of three bank robbers who daringly rob a bank of $30,000, slip the posse only to come upon a dying man who was shot for a scant amount of money who begs them to "bring his wife back to him." These 3 bank robbers forsake an easy escape to chase after the most nefarious outlaw since Black Pete of Micky Mouse fame whose spurned girlfriend, who's part of the gang, vows to kill the poor young captive widow. The chase take place in "wild country" down a well groomed road with ambushes and attrition on all sides. Toss in a dysfunctional posse, a prat-falling cameo by George Kennedy, who's in it for the paycheck, add some corny music, amateur night at the local opera acting, not much of a story-line-- except for a maudlin flashback of the hero's psychological wound-- and Voila! Sadly, I note that my wife and I laughed our way through most of it. If you're up for a good "B" oater, check out a Tim Holt,Cisco Kid or one of those other guys' movies. You'll likely be glad you did.
16 Reviews
Three Bad Men....One Bad Movie
jhmdeuce-122 August 2008
I watched it on DVD. I can't imagine this raw turkey ever being in a theater. The entire film should be in "deleted scenes" or the gag reel. I thought in the early scenes that I was being set up for a gag. Unfortunately the only gag was the reflex I experienced while watching. Poor George Kennedy. To have been in some great movies with some legendary characters, to end up in this film school exercise. I hope he was paid much more than the role demanded. Unfortunately, he should have paid the producer to leave his scenes on the cutting room floor. This may be a cult classic some day. Wait until it becomes funny to watch it. On second thought, find it, watch it, and be on the cutting edge when it becomes popular. Just don't pay for it.
Worst Movie We have seen in a longggg time
skiholy23 September 2008
The pace was excruciatingly slow. Acting was amateurish. The plot was disjointed and there were feeble attempts to make it feel like an old fashioned western film. My wife and I watched it to conclusion only because we thought there would be a punch line that rewarded us for enduring the film. It's no wonder we have not heard any more of these actors. Kennedy should be embarrassed to be associated with it. Obviously he took part in it as a favor for a friend or because he desperately needs the money. He was given top billing in the credits and appeared on screen for only two scenes. He was at a low point in his acting as well.
I concur; Worst Western Ever Made
arthurtafero20 October 2013
This is the worst Western ever made in the history of cinema. That is quite a feat, as it was up against numerous horrendous Westerns with bad production values, hammy acting, poor direction and more. But this film was special. Watching this film is like watching a 100 car collision on a foggy day on a superhighway. You can't take your eyes off it even though you know it is horrible.
It appeared as if it were directed by a dropout from a community college film school course. This is the worst film, by far, that Kennedy has ever appeared in. It looks like he was kidnapped from the old age home in the middle of the night, and put in front of a camera. His over 70 love scene with an aged actress forced me to postpone my lunch. The three men in the lead roles give their best efforts to imitate Brokeback Mountain. They wore clean clothes, had nice shiny teeth and looked nothing like real cowboys.
Each of them were unbelievably bad actors. There were more unintentional laughs from the script than in many comedies. The production values and script were horrendous. I have seen home movies with better direction and scripts. Ed Wood looked like Hitchcock compared to this director. This is the kind of property that Zero Mostel should have chosen for his play. This is easily the worst Western (out of over hundreds) ever made I have ever seen.
Arthur H Tafero Senior Critic, AskMrMovies.com
It appeared as if it were directed by a dropout from a community college film school course. This is the worst film, by far, that Kennedy has ever appeared in. It looks like he was kidnapped from the old age home in the middle of the night, and put in front of a camera. His over 70 love scene with an aged actress forced me to postpone my lunch. The three men in the lead roles give their best efforts to imitate Brokeback Mountain. They wore clean clothes, had nice shiny teeth and looked nothing like real cowboys.
Each of them were unbelievably bad actors. There were more unintentional laughs from the script than in many comedies. The production values and script were horrendous. I have seen home movies with better direction and scripts. Ed Wood looked like Hitchcock compared to this director. This is the kind of property that Zero Mostel should have chosen for his play. This is easily the worst Western (out of over hundreds) ever made I have ever seen.
Arthur H Tafero Senior Critic, AskMrMovies.com
The worst Western I have ever watched
melftheelf28 May 2007
It seemed like bad cut scenes from a video game. A couple of the cast are known actors, but they don't want to be known by this film. The camera work may have been done by a Jr. high Student. Please forgive any insult I have made to Jr. High cameramen who are competent. The location and costumes were not bad except for the bandanna's that were worn like capes. The plot had a chance but the script and score made it imposable to care about. There is no reason to rent this movie. If it's in the $.99 bin do not buy it. Don't let friends watch, rent or buy this movie.
This movie is very slow and plodding. there are no surprises or plot twist to make watching this mundane movie payoff in any way.
This movie is very slow and plodding. there are no surprises or plot twist to make watching this mundane movie payoff in any way.
low budget cowboy
califcomedy5 December 2009
Just learned recently that I know some of the co-stars of this film, and one of the co-producers, I rented it for the first time. Of course its bad compared to Open Range or 3:10 to Yuma, that have big budgets, big stars, and big distribution backing. But the fact that the producers got the bucks together to shoot a cowboy picture in 2005 with no green screen or CGI, no big stars, no studio back lot, is pretty amazing. Even though it was tough to watch entirely without fast forwarding, fans of the genre should sit down and enjoy it for what it is, a low budget cowboy picture. You won't see to many more good guy/bad guy westerns in the future.
Not worth watching
dhollidayu211 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I rarely comment on movies. However, this one drew the lucky card. I am not sure if the director has ever seen a western created in the last half century. The story line was going to be "iffy" at best. However, the movies starts with a chase scene that has the "posse" hot on the trail of the "bandits". The posse is shooting and riding. Of course, they are riding in a fairly straight line. Tough to be the first guy in the posse if your third guy in line is shooting at a moving target in front of you. Then, magically, the posse stops. Did they run out of bullets? Who knows? The good thing is that the hard-riding bandits clothes were not dirty at all. Whew! I thought for sure that hard riding would have caused a little sweat and dust to collect.
The movie continued but really did not develop into a story that could be followed or believed. For a High School Project, it would not be a bad attempt. For a project distributed by ThinkFilm, it left a lot to be desired. I will keep an eye out for more projects from Jeff Hathcock and be sure to avoid them.
The movie continued but really did not develop into a story that could be followed or believed. For a High School Project, it would not be a bad attempt. For a project distributed by ThinkFilm, it left a lot to be desired. I will keep an eye out for more projects from Jeff Hathcock and be sure to avoid them.
Not so good // Not so bad either.
vitaleralphlouis25 July 2010
With a plot largely taken from the John Wayne/John Ford MGM classic, "3 Godfathers" 3 bad men is a cheap independent movie that tries to fill the gap since major studios have lost the ability to make good westerns.
Three men rob a bank of $30,000 but are soon sidetracked from their escape plan when they come upon a fatally wounded man who begs them to pursue the men who shot him and kidnapped his bride. For very personal reasons, the leader of the three promises to rescue the bride.
We have the kidnap/murderers pursued by 3 unknown men (the bank robbers), being pursued by the Marshall and his unwilling deputies.
At no time does the picture rise to A-list quality, but it kept my interest.
To those who called this the worst western ever, a question: Did you not see the "310 to YUMA" re-make? That movie turned against the audience in the final 20 minutes, an ending so stupid it amounted to the death knell of A-list westerns. Do you remember that instead of Christian Bale having to confront and defeat Russell Crowe's men, Crowe instead shoots his own men down, so glad he was for prison.
Three men rob a bank of $30,000 but are soon sidetracked from their escape plan when they come upon a fatally wounded man who begs them to pursue the men who shot him and kidnapped his bride. For very personal reasons, the leader of the three promises to rescue the bride.
We have the kidnap/murderers pursued by 3 unknown men (the bank robbers), being pursued by the Marshall and his unwilling deputies.
At no time does the picture rise to A-list quality, but it kept my interest.
To those who called this the worst western ever, a question: Did you not see the "310 to YUMA" re-make? That movie turned against the audience in the final 20 minutes, an ending so stupid it amounted to the death knell of A-list westerns. Do you remember that instead of Christian Bale having to confront and defeat Russell Crowe's men, Crowe instead shoots his own men down, so glad he was for prison.
Wow! Waadastinker
jhmdeuce24 February 2009
I watched it on DVD. I can't imagine this raw turkey ever being in a theater. The entire film should be in "deleted scenes" or the gag reel. I thought in the early scenes that I was being set up for a gag. Unfortunately the only gag was the reflex I experienced while watching. Poor George Kennedy. To have been in some great movies with some legendary characters, to end up in this film school exercise. I hope he was paid much more than the role demanded. Unfortunately, he should have paid the producer to leave his scenes on the cutting room floor. This may be a cult classic some day. Wait until it becomes funny to watch it. On second thought, find it, watch it, and be on the cutting edge when it becomes popular. Just don't pay for it.
Good times!
hwkman29 June 2007
This was the best B Western movie I have ever seen. Of course, to tell the truth, I have not seen a lot of B Western movies. The cinematography may not have been the best, but that does not make it a bad movie. The story was excellent, and the acting was on par for this type of movie. There were some messed up scenes in the movie though. For example, they show a grave where it isn't even dug out. I wish that they had found the found these faults and fixed them. Anyways, Megan McNally was extraordinary. I am surprised to have not seen her in other movies. I will definitely be buying this movie and putting it into my collection!
Hooked on it for the stupidity.
festus-2698619 June 2020
Cheezy
cheyennewarrior122 May 2007
If you are wondering why you have never heard of this film, then there is a good reason. This is the CHEEZZZZZZZZZZIEST Western you will ever see. This is undoubtedly the worst western that you will ever see. The acting is horrible. The script must have been written by a 12 year old. The actors seem to have a hard time keeping straight faces as they recited their cheesy lines. The studio was scraping the bottom of the pigpen when they stumbled across this pile of crap. It was a waste of good film; and worse yet, a waste of my time. I'll bet George Kennedy wanted this one buried! Don't waste your time on this one folks. On a 1-10 scale, I would give this one a negative 10.
can you really spoil what is already rotten, dead and buried?
stephiew-126 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
awful awful awful awful. If they'd cut out all the pointless horse riding and crummy gunfighting it would have been 10 minutes long of very bad dialogue. George Kennedy gets top billing for a gut-wrenchingly bad scene. This is the fun part: count how many things are wrong with Kennedy's scene. There are lots, mostly in the set where they chose to shoot the scene. Although I always thought a cameo was a surprise appearance that makes the movie more enjoyable for those in the know, it was really just the most crap scene ever. There are a few gems ("You bastard!" "My mother's choice, not mine.") but they are delivered so badly you hardly notice them. It seems obvious to me that some guys were sitting around (maybe drunk) when they thought of a handful of witty lines and wrote a script around getting them on screen. Seriously. And they weren't that great. I'd say it's so bad you have to love it, but really, it's so bad that if you love it then you're just... well, you have weird tastes, my friend. very weird. And we're never letting you choose the movie. EVER.
I liked it
bluegardenia838 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I thought the acting in this film was very good, especially the guy playing the gambler. He was very convincing in his role and I felt he and the guy playing the wimp who worked for the sheriff stole the show! I would have loved to see more of them in the movie. It reminded me of something you'd see John Wayne in and thats what I liked about it.It told a good story, there was a lot of action, and it held my attention. I would recommend it to anyone. Wasn't George Kennedy a riot?! Who would have thought you'd see HIM in bed with June Wilkinson?!The scene where he is discovered to be visiting a prostitute and his wife sends him poisoned coffee as a reward for his bad behavior, was my favorite! Its good to see him working again.
Three Bad Men has been recently re-released by Echelon Studios
shannon_holzer26 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Iron Horse Entertainment through Echelon Studios has re-released Three Bad Men. Associate Producer, Shannon Holzer, recruited long time composer Glenn Baxley to recreate the soundtrack. Baxley composed a score that dramatically changed the pace of this film. Whereas before the scenes seemed to drag on from one to another, the new score creates tension and excitement. Those who have seen both versions agree that the re-release shows dramatic improvement in all of the scenes as well as the movie as a whole. One person told me that the new score fit the acting styles better and brought out the actors' true talent; I agree. This goes to show that any one part can have a dramatic affect on the whole film. Director Jeff Hathcock did well to improve upon this good little film. Film students and critics would do well to see both versions back to back as a critical exercise. Doing so will be a testimony to the value of hiring of the right person for the job.
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