Three Men to Kill (1980) User Reviews

Standard, yet very entertaining French thriller

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 23 July 2017]

A professional poker player happens upon a badly injured man in a crashed car and takes him to the hospital, not knowing that the unfortunate gent had been the victim of an assassination attempt. The killers suspect that the dying man must have given out some incriminating information about them and their government employers and set out to make the gambler their next target.

Like a few other French thrillers before it, this film certainly owes some debt to Alfred Hitchcock with its story of an innocent man thrust into the middle of a dangerous situation where criminals try to hunt him down and kill him. It's not the most original of story-lines but this fast-paced film remains an enjoyable watch. There is enough action and incident punctuated through its run-time to ensure it never gets boring, such as an exciting car chase through the streets of Paris, a keyhole assassination, an attempted drowning on a crowded beach and a little bit of nudity courtesy of Italian actress Dalila Di Lazzaro who will be familiar to Euro genre fans for her roles in cult items such as Phenomena (1985). But it's really Alain Delon's movie ultimately. The role probably doesn't stretch him too much but he is quite a cool actor and holds things together pretty well I thought. On the whole, I found this to be a very enjoyable movie; it may not have brought anything especially new to the table but it did the job well enough for me.

If you can over a look a plot that often makes no sense this is a pretty good thriller with one heck of a chase

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 4 August 2008]

Odd French thriller starring Alain Delon about a man on the way to his weekly poker game who stops to help a man who crashed his car. Taking the man to the hospital he soon finds that people are trying to kill him for an unknown reason. What he soon learns is that the man in the car was assassinated and that he is being targeted to prevent him from talking in case the injured man said anything before reaching the hospital.

The film walks the fine line between being a tense believable thriller with the fear of being on a hit list for unknown reason, crashing into the unbelievable elements of the story (grand conspiracy, going after our hero despite never finding out if he knows anything, the trail of bodies that clearly points to his innocence, why are they worried about Delon and not the fact that people see the assassins and on and on). The film really works at times (including a great car chase) and at other times makes you shot at the screen in disbelief (who wrote came up with some of this?). Its frustrating because it should be great instead its just okay.

Worth a look so long as you don't let the internal inconsistencies get to you.

Somehow surprising--one of the better Alain Delon thrillers

[Cristi_Ciopron · 7/10 · 21 December 2007]

Unlike many of his other crime movies that he made during the '70s and '80s,Three Men to Kill is an interesting, suspenseful and thrilling film.Atmospheric and quite violent, it benefits from a quite intelligent script (it is the adaptation of a book) and from Dalila Di Lazzaro's charming youth and freshness.

Dalila shows her tits several times during the first part of Three Men to Kill (in bed;at the beach;in the shower)--it's a treat,like any nudity coming from Dalila.

Jacques Deray made several films with Delon;this one has to be the best of them.(The Swimming Pool ,Borsalino (1970),Borsalino & Co. (1974) ,Flic Story (1975),The Gang are the others.)It may be concluded that Delon made his bad movies with José Pinheiro and José Giovanni--for that is the worst slapdash of his uneven movie career;and his better thrillers with Jacques Deray.

Three Men to Kill is suspenseful,well-paced,paranoiac and it has even some moments of almost Bronsonian violence.So,it's what the delicate persons would call a piece of sleaze!Recommended movie.

Delon's role here is atypical, as it doesn't illustrate anymore his famous narcissism ;Gerfaut is violent and virile, but it's not one of the risible superhuman heroes from some of the rubbish that Delon did in the '80s. Also Delon's performance is understated, in a commendable way.

When I began reading comments on IMDb, I was expecting to find Delon adulated as a cult—actor; on the contrary, he seems to be more known than respected (on different artistic levels, Brando and De Niro are in the same situation—very famous, but not very respected).

If you're looking for something as banal and clumsy and insipid as Delon's bad movies about cops from the '80s, then the suspense in 3 Men … will appear as deftly managed. It's good; the European look is surely adequate.

"No cyanide in the scotch?"

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 28 June 2016]

Talking to a DVD seller about French cinema,I found out that he has recently picked up some titles starring Alain Delon.With having heard of Delon for years,I decided to join him in tracking down the 3 men to kill.

The plot:

Driving to his weekly poker game, Michel Gerfaut finds a man,lying in a car covered in blood.Rushing him to the hospital, Gerfaut discovers that it was all too late.Wondering about why that man was killed, Gerfaut gets caught in the cross fire and becomes a target for the killer.Due to the mysterious man selling faulty missiles. (next time try before you buy!) his former buyers set off a missile at Gerfaut.

View on the film:

Opening with a missile blasting on the screen,co-writer/(along with Christopher Frank and actor Delon) director Jacques Deray & cinematographer Jean Tournier smudge the movie in 80's cream. Heating the action scenes up in splatters of burning crimson,Deray digs into the early days of the decade with chic stylization,by painting the streets and Gerfaut's slick clothes in pristine white which give the wacky car chases and gun fights a real pop.

Spun from Jean-Patrick Manchette's novel,the screenplay by Deray/Frank and Delon sadly lacks the over exaggerated sparks of the directing style,due to largely keeping most of the plot vague and confused,until a sharp Film Noir twist gives the flick the desired bite.Joined by a sweet Dalila Di Lazzaro (who also appears topless) Delon gives a good performance as Gerfaut,with Delon taking advantage of his chiseled looks to cast Gerfaut in a rebellious atmosphere,as Gerfaut tries to avoid the 3 men to kill.

how disappointing

[mmunier · 18 November 2017]

At least I had a nice trip back to France and even saw a glimpse of the Eiffel tower from my lounge chair in Sydney Down Under! But ALAIN DELON, wasn't he a superstar, lady heart throb...What happened to him here? I just come back from Tokyo and his youth was splattered on some billboards like if it was yesteryear! Please tell me what is so special about this nonsensical story that never gets of the ground and almost literally at the end. Yes that the spoiler that made the big spoil for me. OK there is a few chases and some bang bang - I must be a heartless so and so because i can't understand how some other reviews can be so... pleased with this. Yes to each its own but definitely no for me

No good deed goes unpunished

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 19 November 2020]

A man lives an unconventional life, moving from one high-stake poker game to another. Still, he's not a fundamentally callous person : when he happens to arrive on the scene of a car accident, he offers assistance to the victim. He is unaware of the fact that the victim was wounded not during an accident, but during a deliberate murder attempt. Soon our Good Samaritan becomes a target himself...

"Trois hommes à abattre" may not be the finest French movie ever made, but it's a competent and efficient thriller mixed with elements of dark satire. It contains a number of memorable scenes, such as the scene where the unsuspecting protagonist visits a happy, busy summer beach in the company of his pretty girlfriend. While taking a relaxing swim in the sea, he gets attacked by two strangers who try to drown him, in front of scores of carefree tourists.

The ending is quite brave, going where not many mainstream Hollywood thrillers would dare to go. Still, there are those who would say that this specific victim might have prolonged his life by doing what most reasonable persons would have done, to wit run towards the nearest train station, embark on a long voyage involving lots of trains, planes and automobiles, and end up a humble goatherd somewhere in Somalia.

Lovers of French cinema will notice a thematic ressemblance with "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire", another movie where a random citizen gets caught up in a dangerous intrigue and gains an undeserved reputation as an ace secret agent or a prize assassin. "Le grand blond" is well worth a watch, alhough it should be noted it's a comedy, not a thriller.

Lastly : this is the only movie I've ever seen in which a French-speaking person addresses his pet cat as "vous".

An interesting and engaging thriller about an ordinary plot : an innocent man relentlessly chased

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 22 December 2021]

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.

Better then average eurocrimi with Delon in good form.

[Sorsimus · 5/10 · 11 February 2003]

A better- than- routine French crime flick, with Alain Delon as "the wrong man in the wrong place" getting accidentally mixed up with arms dealers.

Typically convincing effort from Delon, nice pessimistic atmosphere and strangely surprising ending make this one a treat for eurocrimi fans.

Includes some brief nudity and "unnecessarily" graphic violence for the viewers pleasure, too. Not a masterpiece, but entertaining, nevertheless...

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Good action

[Josef_Schweik · 9/10 · 11 April 2008]

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…. :)

Ninety-three minutes to kill.

[brogmiller · 4/10 · 2 January 2021]

A previous reviewer has referred to Alain Delon as an ' ageing pretty boy'. Time stops for no one of course but it takes more than just a pretty face to maintain a film career as long as his. Joseph Losey, who directed him in 'Monsieur Klein', remarked on his complex nature. This and his air of unpredictability makes him watchable whatever his material. Now in his eighties I am sure he looks back with pride on the films he made with Visconti, Antonioni, Clement, Melville, Verneuil and Cavalier.

It is probably best to draw a discreet veil over many of his later films although he excelled as Mr. Klein, was awarded a well-deserved Cesar for 'Notre Histoire' and played both Baron de Charlus in 'Swann in Love' and the title role in 'Retour de Casanova' despite being physically miscast in both.

So we come to 'Three Men to Kill'! The Michel Gefaut of Delon narrowly escapes death at the hands of assassins working for an organisation that seems to think he knows more about its shady dealings than he should but the tables are turned when the hunted becomes the hunter....... By far the most interesting characters are as always, the villains, played here by veterans Michel Auclair and Pierre Dux, who made their respective film debuts in 1946 and 1932! Both these actors convey so much by doing so little and Dux is gifted the best line: "Art is an indispensable futility." Subject for debate!

It is also nice to see fellow veteran Simone Renant in her last film role, as Delon's mother. Good performance from Christian Barbier as his buddy on the force.

The love interest is supplied by Dalila di Lazzaro who is adequate in the role.

Good production values, subtle score, utterly ludicrous plot and a customary car chase that has been done so much better.

Delon has produced and it is capably directed by Jacques Deray with whom Delon made nine films, of varying quality.

One should not approach this film with too many expectations for it is what it is: cinematic chewing gum.

Where's the logic?

[MovieIQTest · 8 July 2016]

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.

Trois hommes à abattre - The most dispensable of futilities

[eightylicious · 2/10 · 25 March 2022]

When "Le marginal" came out in 1983, it was characterized "a typical Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle". "Trois hommes à abattre" is also a star vehicle, for Alain Delon this time. Considering director Jacques Deray's other work, and the wider crime film genre, it is a disappointment.

Delon plays here the gambler Michel Gerfault. While going to a game, one night, he sees a driver, motionless in his car. Believing that he is the victim of a car accident, he takes him to the hospital, where it is discovered that he was actually shot. When Gerfault learns that two other men were also killed that night (the film's title means "Three men to kill"), he sets out to uncover the head of the conspiracy, without knowing that he's being pursued by some of his henchmen. They think that he knows everything, but in truth, he knows absolutely nothing.

While the character of the hardcore gambler seems tailor-made for Delon, he portrayed him as too distant and serious for him to be engaging. The reason I mentioned "Le marginal" before, is that it has an excellent protagonist, the commissioner Jordan, played with both comedic and serious elements by Belmondo. Delon made a better job in his own film, "Le battant" (1983) as the innocent hero.

In it, he was helped by a well-executed plot. The story of "Trois hommes à abattre", though, is poorly visualized by Deray. Despite featuring some car chases and face-to-face confrontation between Gerfault and the conspirators, it is pretty slow-paced, more structured like a detective story than an action film. The movie being a novel adaptation, the director could have put more emphasis on the story, but unfortunately it serves more as a vehicle for Alain Delon.

In this vehicle, he is not surrounded by memorable characters. His Italian girlfriend (Dalila Di Lazzaro) comes off either as spoilt and empty-headed, or completely unconvincing as his loyal companion. Pierre Dux, who played the leader of the conspiracy, Emmerich, seemed more like a parody of François Mitterrand than a real criminal mastermind, while his assistant, Leprince (Michel Auclair) bordered on the comical with his suggesting of ideas constantly rejected by his boss.

In his review of the movie in the magazine Télérama, movie critic Pierre Murat wrote of the music that it plays "one of the main roles". In that, I have to disagree with him, since the score was totally forgettable. Claude Balling offered a soundtrack of no special quality, with its repetitive use of a motif rendering it simply dull. Again, "Le battant's" score is clearly better, with striking piano pieces perfectly arranged, in contrast to the indifferent music of "Trois hommes à abattre".

All in all, "Trois hommes à abattre" is a disappointing noir thriller by a capable director, that has no memorable qualities, except for its lack thereof. Perhaps, the one who put it better was Emmerich himself. When showing Gerfault some paintings and asked by the latter to move onto another topic, he replied by saying "Art is the most indispensable of futilities". "Trois hommes à abattre" is surely a futility, and a piece of art. Except for the fact that it is a futility of the most dispensable kind.

The Road 2 Hell Is Paved with Good Deeds

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 27 January 2014]

Alan Delon plays a Good Samaritan in "Borsalino" director Jacques Deray's thriller "Trois hommes à abattre" who finds himself up to his ears in hot water for his good deed. In a sense, Delon is an innocent bystander who has done nothing wrong but finds himself the object of a man hunt. This film contains some nudity. Otherwise, it is no great shakes with minimal suspense and tension. Gambler Michel Gerfaut is cruising to a nocturnal poker game when he wheels up onto an auto accident and finds a survivor. He takes the crash victim to the hospital, but he doesn't stick around long enough for the hospital to get his name. The doomed man and two other men are gunned down by assassins and the assassins go after our hero because he might have heard something that the dying man said. Guess what? Gerfaut didn't hear anything. Nevertheless, the assassins aren't inclined to let loose ends dangle. They struggle to drown him in the ocean and try to lure him into a phone booth. Eventually, our paranoid protagonist consults an old friend who is a police inspector. The police inspector checks out his apartment. Our hero discovers that two men had been looking for him from his landlord. Not long afterward, somebody knocks at Gerfaut's door but the inspector answers it. The assassin on the other side of the door fires his silenced automatic pistol through the peep hole in the door. When they see our hero exit the building, they realize that they haven't knocked off the right man. A careening car chase ensues and Gerfaut has a shoot out with them. The authorities believe that Gerfaut may have shot the inspector. Meantime, our hero's girlfriend has a close call when she encounters one of her friend's assassins. Eventually, the man who wants Gerfaut killed requests that he come unarmed to his residence. The man is so sure that Gerfaut had a conversation with the dead man that he reacts with incredulity that Gerfaut didn't hear anything. Ironically, the engineer dies, and Gerfaut leaves. Veteran stunt driver Remy Julienne staged the chase sequence. Altogether, "Trois hommes à abattre" is a routine thriller with at least on usage of the F-bomb.

Middling Delon fare

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 13 November 2010]

A rather atypical role for Alain Delon, in the sense that his character is not a super-confident super-cop or something along those lines, but a regular guy (by Delon standards; after all, he's still a professional poker player with a free-spirited Italian girlfriend who proves yet again that a girl's breast size doesn't really matter as long as she's comfortable with her body) who gets accidentally mixed up with a series of assassinations and becomes a target. He seems to be in over his head for a while, but eventually he takes the offensive. The film itself, however, is pretty typical stuff; the story is thin, and there is one of the most inept assassination attempts ever made by a pair who are supposedly at the top of their field (they try to drown Delon in a sea full of swimmers!). On the plus side, there is a memorably shocking scene involving a door's eyehole, and a typically fine Remy Julienne-supervised Paris car chase. ** out of 4.

Euro Trash? Or Just Plain Trash?

[dwingrove · 1 December 2004]

"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!

Approximative movie-making

[vostf · 2/10 · 10 December 2021]

Three men to kill is only an Alain Delon vehicule. It is all about showcasing the free spirited handsome guy not caring about much, even when thrown in the middle of a deadly plot. The Delon brand was strong and even a poorly crafted movie like this was sold easily in many countries. (Side note: tellingly, central to JP Manchette's book was the powerful subtext of a bored average husband/father/executive who is only too happy to swap his boring life for deadly action; Delon was too full of himself to even consider the challenge of impersonating a dull middlebrow executive)

During the 70s there had been a couple of very good conspiracy movies. Here it is not even an ambition since the backstory is pompously explained directly in a pedestrian prologue, and then again in a wordy conclusion.

As a thriller it is pretty tame, the pace is erratic. Granted this is in line with the hero's behaviour who is strong, clever... yet really stubborn (you know, he is a free man so he just wants the bad guys to stop tracking him down ) hence plain dumb.

It seems I had actually already seen it long ago and could only remember the last scene, something totally predictable yet uncalled for: a perfect summary for such a stretch of approximative movie-making.

At some point in the movie, failing again to have Delon's character killed, the villain says "now this can't be a run of bad luck, it must be incompetence". Dumb line from this supposed mastermind: bad luck and incompetence are always one and the same. The alternative to incompetence is mischievous dishonesty. Incompetent film-maker or dishonest producers? Anyway the result is the same.

most of those in the film are similarly confused

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 14 March 2015]

Ultimately this is surely much ado about nothing but Delon is great, Dalila Di Lazzaro plays his girlfriend and if she doesn't smoulder quite as she does in 1977s, 'The Pyjama Girl Case, she certainly does well enough to hold one's attention. Indeed, I found this likable from the very start, as we struggle to work out what is going on, only to eventually discover that most of those in the film are similarly confused. The Gaullist figure at the centre of things, who is probably more confused and deluded than anyone else, is great fun and although this tough, sexy, thriller is by no means a comedy, there are some nice touches that raise at least a smile. Always involving, ever moving with some excellent sequences, this keeps you guessing till the end.

Rough, tough, fast paced....

[searchanddestroy-1 · 21 January 2024]

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.