They Live (Collector's Edition)

Great classic, with a bit of futuristic truth

- ALLS GOOD! - EDUCATIONAL, ENTERTAINING, A GREAT VALUE,

This is a great movie, a classic that anyone from this era should have in their collection

Great cult classic sic-fi film. I think this film was ahead of its time, but also timeless in many ways. The overarching plot, themes, undertones, and overtones all match up with things people are just beginning to piece together now, in fragments. At the same time, there are very memorable segues containing action and very classic one-liners that have been paid homage to in many TV shows and Hollywood films ever since, but you probably didn't realize they came from this film. With such a low budget, they had to be very creative, and you would never guess this from the visual/AV production, which looks as good as anything big budget. But through that creativity a lot of novel ideas appeared in this film before their times. A film, "Branded", which fell through the cracks and received poor reviews, did similar things, nearly 25 years later. And yet, this film was on average highly praised by critics. Like most great films, it's best watched if you don't watch trailers, don't read about it on the internet, and don't spoil it for yourself; just go wit the flow. And a great flow it has.In some ways, perhaps in another universe, you can easily see from his sci-fi work that Carpenter would have been a top notch director for big budget films of the time, like Terminator 2, etc; but he stuck to what he wanted to do and the messages he wanted to get across.One other analogy that comes to mind when watching this film, not so much in content or plot, but conceptually, is Idiocracy. If you enjoyed that film, you will probably dig this a lot. Idiocracy made such great social commentary that it was well finished, and a great film, but ultimately the studio dropped all marketing money and efforts, because they feared alienating their core (masses) base of TV viewers. In other words, they thought the film was too intelligent to show. You get that feeling here; the film did well (made a profit), got great reviews, etc, but is scarcely heard of. Definitely worth a watch if you are a sci-fi fan. Some of the best stuff came out of the very late 80s going into the big progressive world of the 90s (especially for sci-fi; Star Trek: TNG, anyone?); a time which is only really paralleled in recent history by the 60s. This film may have fallen through the cracks, but thankfully, Amazon has it available in its catalogue for rental!

Good movie from the past lol

I love rowdy Roddy Piper, this movie kicks ass.

John Carpenter wrote and directed his second and last feature in the ill-fated Alive Films deal. This flick was a fun alien invasion, Sci-Fi/Action flick based on the short story Eight O'Clock In The Morning by Ray Nelson. Carpenter also mixed in some deft messages about class warfare and how the rich and powerful manipulate the government and media to reduce the rest of us to little more then slaves... a message even more relevant today then it was in 1988, with big corporations running our media and, to be honest, our government... but I digress...The story focuses on unemployed construction worker John Nada (Roddy Piper) who through a series of events comes across a pair of special sunglasses that let him see the world for what it truly is, an alien run society where humans who collaborate and cooperate are made rich and powerful and those who don't, are coerced by subliminal messages placed in all the media to basically follow orders and do what they are told. If you're not one of the haves, you're little more then a have-not slave. Nada has nothing else to lose so, he decides to join a growing underground rebellion and fight back, taking reluctant friend Frank (Keith David) and accidental hostage Holly (Meg Foster) along for the ride. But, the aliens are everywhere and so are the traitorous humans that have sold out and John Nada and Co. have some pretty big odds to overcome if they are to find and eliminate the beings' hypnotic signal and wake the world up from it's alien induced slumber.They Live may not be Carpenter's strongest work but, it is still a fan favorite and a lot of fun. The film moves fast and there is a lot of suspenseful action including a now classic fistfight between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and The Thing's Keith David and the gunfight finale inside a cable TV office building. As usual Carpenter gives the film a nice look on a low budget with Gary B. Kibbe once again filling former Carpenter DOP Dean Cundey's shoes nicely with some beautiful camerawork. The political messages are a little heavy-handed but, there is enough action and aliens to even it out and the film has some really nice SPFX for a very modestly budgeted film especially those that portray the real world as seen through the signal blocking glasses. The film has some clunky dialog and it could have used some more time within the workings of the rebellion to get us a bit more endeared to the freedom fighters before they clash with the invaders but, the focus is on Nada and Frank and it is they who are left with the task of taking the bizarre invaders down and the film does have some very uniquely designed extraterrestrials to act as our villains. It is both one of Carpenter's lighter films and yet, ironically, one of his most politically and socially critical. As, despite the dire message, the film also has a very satirical sense of humor as well and that helps us past some of it's flaws as it doesn't take itself too seriously that we don't have a good time watching Piper run out of bubblegum and kick ass.And as for our leading man, Piper does OK here. Carpenter hired him because he felt he had a look of someone who has lived a hard life and that works in the case of down on his luck Nada. Piper isn't the best actor but, he holds his on especially during the action scenes and only stumbles a little in some of the more dialog heavy moments. Kurt Russell would have been prefect but, Piper works better than expected. Keith David is good as always. He makes Frank a likable and honorable man but, one who we believe doesn't take any crap from anyone. Foster is a little stiff as Holly but, since she plays a woman thrust into a very surreal situation, it almost fits the part. There are also some solid small roles from frequent Carpenter collaborators like Peter Jason as the rebellion leader Gilbert and George `Buck' Flower as a homeless man who discovers the benefit of playing nice with the ruling alien elite. Carpenter and associate Alan Howarth again deliver a memorable score to support the film.They Live is now considered a cult classic and I certainly agree. While it may have some familiar elements and common themes, it still comes across as a unique little movie and one with an important message that still resonates well over two decades later. And despite it's message being a large part of the film's plot, Carpenter wraps it with a fun, Action/ Sci-Fi coating to make it easily digestible. Piper may not have been the strongest actor to cast in the lead but, he does carry the flick and it's fun to watch him have a good time with the part even if he stumbles a bit in the film's more serious moments. Not Carpenter's best flick but, still very enjoyable and once again another film that has found it's audience years later. Again John Carpenter proves he is a director who is well ahead of his time.The film is now available in this beautiful new transfer from Scream Factory!

Terrific movie