They Live
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- Richard31 augustus 2025This is John Carpenter at his most political, most punk and most prophetic. The satire is razor sharp and the commentary on consumerism, class divide and media manipulation feels even more relevant today than it did in back then. They Live is a cult classic that only growed sharper with time. The film’s message about blind obedience and the dangers of unchecked power hits hard and feels more relevant now than it did back then. Seeing it in the cinema was like being handed the sunglasses myself.
- stuhannaford22 juli 2025It’s easy to understand the rise in the cult status of this movie, especially from 2020 onwards. The film itself, production wise, has what you’d expect from the late 80’s, with a ropey performance here and there, plenty of action and a simple enough story to follow. The ‘fight for sight’ is extraordinary… sorry, extraordinarily long… and I mean long… really long. It’s clear that Rowdy Roddy required an action scene of some kind, but it is more than a little drawn out. When they start, pop the kettle on. However, the appeal is not from the quality of script, standard of acting, nor overwhelming style, it’s the message, and a rather prophetic one at that. Take it at face value, and you might jump on the lizard overlord bandwagon. Scratch ever so slightly beneath the surface, and a rather more relatable set of issues become apparent. Government overreach, state intervention, the elite and ruling classes telling the poor and impoverished what is best for them. The middle class selling their soul for a piece of the pie, and the world gradually opening their eyes to what is staring them in the face in regards to the actual reality of life. Those prepared to stand up, and the recognition of the continued growth of the wealth divide. And above all else, do not question the black box in your living room. Sound familiar?
- gibbens7 september 2025This is an absolute classic. I heard that Rowdy Roddy Piper had belief similar to this movie, which is kind of neat, but at the end of the day this is the best thing that he’s ever been in. And ice watches got wrestled when I was a kid and loved him. The movie does have some pretty on the nose warnings I think are accurate. The whole thing with how corporation cell garbage to us constantly and use messaging to get their crappy products that nobody needs in front of our face and in our homes… it’s pretty dead on… I think the movie is definitely 80s sci-fi action schlock, but there is not another movie like this and this is an absolute gem.
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They Live was released on 4 november 1988.
They Live was directed by John Carpenter.
They Live has a runtime of 1 u, 33 m.
They Live was produced by Larry Franco.
John Nada loopt voornamelijk maar een beetje rond in de grote stad, op zoek naar een baan. Op een dag vindt hij per toeval een zonnebril waarmee hij kan zien hoe sommige mensen er werkelijk uitzien onder hun gezicht: het zijn aliens die vermomd zijn als mens en ze zijn van plan om de wereld langzaamaan over te nemen.
The key characters in They Live are John Nada (Roddy Piper), Frank Armitage (Keith David), Holly Thompsen (Meg Foster).
They Live is rated 12.
They Live is an Action, Sciencefiction, Horror film.
They Live has an audience rating of 8 out of 10.
They Live had a budget of US$ 4 mln..
They Live has made US$ 13 mln. at the box office.