It is the story of three American silent film stars who are mistaken for real heroes by the suffering people of a small Mexican village.

Visiting a village church, she sees a silent film featuring The Three Amigos, a trio of gunfighters who protect the vulnerable.

At Goldsmith Pictures in California, Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms, and Ned Nederlander, the actors who portray the Amigos, demand a salary increase for their next project but their supervisor Harry Flugelman dismisses them from the studio instead.

At a cantina near Santa Poco, a German pilot inquires about El Guapo and demands respect for his friends who will arrive soon.

At his hideout, El Guapo prepares for his 40th birthday party, when he will accept a shipment of weapons from the German and then bed Carmen.

Lucky is immediately captured and chained in a dungeon, Dusty crashes into Carmen's room, and Ned is suspended from a piñata.

Returning to Santa Poco with El Guapo's army in pursuit, the Amigos rally the villagers to stand up for themselves with their best talent, sewing.

The bandits arrive and are shot at by Amigos from all sides, forcing them to retreat as El Guapo takes a fatal wound.

Newman contributed three original songs: "The Ballad of the Three Amigos", "My Little Buttercup", and "Blue Shadows on the Trail", and the musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.

The film was shot outside Grants, New Mexico, and in Simi Valley, California; Coronado National Forest; Old Tucson Studios; Culver City and Hollywood.

At one point, Steven Spielberg was slated to direct; he wanted Martin, Bill Murray, and Robin Williams to play Lucky, Dusty, and Ned, respectively.

stars a trio of gifted comedians and has an agreeably silly sense of humor, but they're often adrift in a dawdling story with too few laugh-out-loud moments.

[20] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one star out of four, writing, "The ideas to make Three Amigos into a good comedy are here, but the madness is missing.

"[21] Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that it was "likable" but lacked a "distinctive style", though certain jokes are crafted with "enjoyable sophistication".

[22] Caroline Wetsbrook of Empire awarded the film three out of five stars and wrote that it was "good-natured enough to sustain its ultimately thin premise".

[23] Neil McNally of the website Den of Geek called it a cult film that was "unfairly overlooked" when first released and praised the performances of Martin, Chase, and Short; the comedic timing of Landis's direction; and Bernstein's "sweeping, majestic" score.