They Live

Ok, I will admit I have a soft spot for this movie. It's not Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the Godfather. It's campy, cheesy, in places with laughably bad acting and dialogue (it come with starring wrestlers as main characters). However it has the infamous Rowdy Roddy Piper in the lead, and it has a surprisingly interesting hi-concept underlying story and plot. Aliens, Mind Control, Society enslaved to hidden powers and messages, everybody sleepwalking though life - this movie had all of these back in the 80's. Some of the concepts in this movie have seen reuse in much more recent projects, and with a little more polishing I think this movie could have made a far bigger splash.

If you like Dystopian, conspiracy, alien invasion movies then this movie is a great watch. I urge anyone who is a science fiction fan to give this movie a chance if you haven't seen it yet. Though it is helpful when watching if you try to see what it could have been, and look past the obvious shortcomings.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs n enjoyed the film as an action entertainer. Read about the underlying themes as years passed on but revisited it today. This movie is very relevant for today's time too n it is still very entertaining. The alley fight scene stayed with me since the late 80s. Roddy Piper n Keith David gave memorable performances.

I have to say something here. This movie is actually very good. It was a mixture of sci-fi and political and sociological imagery. I thought the fact that the turncoat working with the aliens that were brainwashing the public was employed in the media was a brilliant way of showing how the media moguls consider us to be sheeple and use their power to persuade any way they see fit. This movie was actually quite well down, considering it did not have a blockbuster budget.

I would rather watch this than waste my time on the Matrix, which I think is a complete waste of time. The main plot of the movie was Nada discovering a worldwide conspiracy that used subliminal messages to "herd the sheep". Is this not a metaphor of what we see ever day? The media, commercials, billboards, etc, use subliminal messaging to encourage the actions of the public at large.

John Carpenter did a wonderful job. Roddy Piper's acting abilities were definitely above average, which is a lot more that I will ever to be able to say about anything Keanu Reeves has ever done. As usual, Keith David turned in a great performance. The reason this a cult classic is because it is a very good movie that requires the watcher to think.

I discovered very lately this legendary film, during an « UGC culte » evening, in Paris. They Live (1988) has certainly aged a lot but the diatribe against the exacerbated consumerism of the 70s and 80s is sadly still relevant. A decade after the well-known हैलोवीन (1978), John Carpenter delivered a smart and well-built movie. Nowadays, it's definitely cult and a must-see!

There's a world that is hidden and unseen, that manipulates although it's all been screened, imperceptibly subtle, will direct your every shuffle, it's a greedy and insatiable machine. All governed by those in the know, through foundations set down long ago, you're oblivious to it, though you support and pay forfeit, provide the toil, that helps it to grow. On occasion, it might let you join, to ensure there's a good flow of coin, keep up the façade, as they cheat and defraud, and continue their legal purloin.

Still a wonderful piece of observational filmmaking that seems to have grown more relevant, in more parts of the planet, as the years have regressed.