They Live
1988 Directed by John Carpenter
Synopsis
Who are they? And what do they want?
Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.
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Overall as a complete package, this isn't Carpenter's best film. However the great moments are better than most filmmakers will get close to in their career.
That fight.
Roddy Piper, having had his eyes opened, tries to wake his friend Keith David from his slumber but he's stubborn. So he literally has to beat him into submission in a bout that seems like it will never end. David is unwilling to accept that the world he lives in is more totalitarian (right word?) than he could imagine. Not until he has to.
I do this to friends who watch X-Factor.
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I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum.
-NadaJohn Carpenter's commercial appeal peaked in 1984 when he made Starman, a film that earned Jeff Bridges an Oscar nomination. A mere two years later Carpenter's brilliant Big Trouble in Little China would bomb at the box office and his career would never really recover. It only took one box office disappointment and suddenly the director could no longer find financing for his films. The quality of his next films are arguable, but there is no question that his best work was now behind him although he did have one last success in him.
They Live is Carpenter's last box office success, even…
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Carpenter's biting satire They Live is still frighteningly relevant - probably even more-so than in the 80s - and despite showing its age multiple times throughout a thoroughly entertaining film. Its way of uncovering the many subliminal messages to be found in ads, magazines and television is striking and very memorable. Carpenter has a way of creating atmosphere and playing with reality that uses simple but effective means and, as banal as it is, the use of Black/White photography is a stroke of genius. It creates an even more distinct difference between reality and illusion and has a way of staying in one's mind very clearly. Equally fantastic is the make-up used for the imposters, at first strange and slightly…
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"Mama don't like tattletales"
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I HAVE COME HERE TO CHEW BUBBLEGUM AND KICK ASS... AND I'M ALL OUT OF BUBBLEGUM.
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With this and Repo Man I suppose I'm making up for the 80s cult classics that I missed out on as a teen. This one is particularly good, maybe an even more explicit re-interpretation of paranoid 50s sci-fi/horror than his actual remake of The Thing. It's amazing how much mileage Carpenter gets from simply cutting from the color "reality" to the black and white reality.
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Easily one of Carpenter's best films. Film has a lot to offer in the way of satire, action and pure cheese. A definite must-see.
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One of Carpenter's last great films, and a roaring fuck you to the twilight days of the Reagan '80s. Christ knows it's aged well, too.
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50/C+
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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I loved the concepts behind this film. I had no one idea this is where the foundation of the obey campaign came from. Having said that, the movie is pretty cheesy and the pacing is weird.
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Entertaining and ridiculously schlocky, this cult classic remains a must watch even if only for the greatest fight scene ever made.
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This film is 93 minutes long, but felt like 33. Indeed, it is much too short and everything happens in too short a span of time. I loved the concept of the film, but I think it was ruined by poor execution. Watching this, I felt as though Carpenter lost patience halfway through the movie and just wanted to get it finished as soon as possible. I would love to see a remake with the same concept with a longer and more thought out script.
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I tried not to go in with any pre-conceived ideas and I really enjoyed this, although there are some unbelievable moments in terms of acting, this was enjoyable and interesting.
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Overall as a complete package, this isn't Carpenter's best film. However the great moments are better than most filmmakers will get close to in their career.
That fight.
Roddy Piper, having had his eyes opened, tries to wake his friend Keith David from his slumber but he's stubborn. So he literally has to beat him into submission in a bout that seems like it will never end. David is unwilling to accept that the world he lives in is more totalitarian (right word?) than he could imagine. Not until he has to.
I do this to friends who watch X-Factor.