They Live (1988)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Ray Nelson (short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning")
John Carpenter (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Who are they? And what do they want?

Plot:

A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Sunglasses | Television | Drifter | Everyman

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Roddy Piper	...	Nada
Keith David	...	Frank
Meg Foster	...	Holly
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Drifter
Peter Jason	...	Gilbert
Raymond St. Jacques	...	Street Preacher
Jason Robards III	...	Family Man
John Lawrence	...	Bearded Man
Susan Barnes	...	Brown Haired Woman
Sy Richardson	...	Black Revolutionary
Wendy Brainard	...	Family Man's Daughter
Lucille Meredith	...	Female Interviewer
Susan Blanchard	...	Ingenue
Norman Alden	...	Foreman
Dana Bratton	...	Black Junkie

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's They Live (USA) (complete title)
They Live! (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (#29297) | Sweden:15 | Ireland:18 | Australia:M | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | West Germany:18 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Alive Films

Trivia:

John Carpenter wanted a truly rugged individual to play Nada. He cast wrestler Roddy Piper in the lead role after seeing him in WrestleMania III (1987) (V). Carpenter remembered Keith David's performance in The Thing (1982) and wrote the role of Frank specifically for the actor.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nada is first hit and pushed through Holly's window, the TV is turned in slightly and blocks a part of the window, but in the next shot from inside of the home, the TV is now square with the wall and is out of the way of the window.

Quotes:

[Dollar Note with subliminal message]: THIS IS YOUR GOD

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991) (VG)

Clever sci-fi film with current cultural relevance

An unemployed man in the 80s (of the WWF variety, complete with Mel-mullet) shows up in the big city looking for work, American Dream intact. He finds a "Hooverville"-like (perhaps Reaganville!) community that takes him in and finds work in construction. He notices that several of the providers are ostensibly up to no good and hold meetings at the local church. He stumbles upon a secret door and finds a stash of...80s sunglasses! After the community is destroyed by the police, our baffled working-class hero pops on a pair of the glasses, which allows him see the world as it really is, and wake up out of his sleeeepy false consciousness! Was Carpenter reading up on his Marx? Maybe! Either way, this sci-fi/action flick is fantastic, cheesy, and clever. "They Live" was obviously influenced by the excess of the 80s, but doesn't come across as dated and actually seems very relevant to the current cultural climate in the US. There are various flaws (namely, the creepy-in-a-bad-way Meg Foster and her character), but overall this is an excellent, amusing, and entertaining film. My Rating: 9.5/10