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| They Live [1989] | ![They Live [1989]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412N0X3P2HL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: John Carpenter
Actors: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'buck' Flower, Peter Jason
Studio: 4 Front Video
Category: Video
List Price: £5.99
Buy Used: £0.97
You Save: £5.02 (84%)
New (2) from £9.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 11637
Format: Dolby, Pal, Surround Sound
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 90 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
UPC: 044008747031
EAN: 5014226500126
ASIN: B00004WI6S
Theatrical Release Date: November 4, 1988
Release Date: September 11, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: In good condition, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 David Fincher - remake this now!! September 18, 2008
The premise which underpins this cult classic is "the ultra rich and well-healed have such contempt and disregard for everyone else, they must be from another planet". And in this strange little offering from the legendary John Carpenter, that's exactly what's going on.
If you think of the havoc that globalisation has wreaked, and the arrogant, destructive world domination sought by the Neoconservatives, you often wonder where this school of thought actually developed. (Although we've also cooked up Nazism during our patchy record as custodians of Planet Earth, so go figure).
This film proposes that the world is run by very creepy humanoids from another planet, who travel the universe making money, whilst having a total contempt for the indigenous species and causing poverty and inequality. The trick is that they look just like the rest of us, but with better haircuts, bigger houses, flashier cars, and smarter clothes. Their cover is blown when drifter Roddy Piper finds a box of sunglasses which when he puts on reveals the world as it really is. This scene is an absolute gem, and is one of the most erie I've ever seen.
To be honest, the idea behind the film is better than the actual execution, which pains me to say, because when Carpenter got it right, he really got it right. Maybe the budget wasn't there (who'd want to finance a film criticizing the might pay masters up on Mount Olympus eh?), but the film almost slopes along with a weird laidback detached quality, and never captures the stylized dystopia of previous efforts.
But as the markets crash around us, and capitalism tries to regroup and react and adapt, it will be the ones culpable for this fine mess that move on to the next fortune - maybe to another planet, whilst the rest of us pick up the pieces. The message in this film is so prescient it actually hurts that no-one is out there demanding this film either gets seen or remade.
So, despite the anti-capitalist message, can Hollywood do this science fiction fable justice and offer a real criticism of right wing corporate ideologies, with a David Fincher-directed head trip? He's touched on it already with Fight Club.
It'll probably make a lot of money.....
worth a look but didnt change my world May 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rowdy roddy piper of world wrestling federation and world wrestling entertainment to a lesser degree stars in this sci fi film that has a portion of black comedy thrown in as well,john carpenter directs so with all of that this film cant be bad,can it?
The film starts off rather slow and sluggish and doesnt really have anything significant to say until maybe the 40th minute or so and then we are off with a very interesting storyline,once the character john,played by piper finds the sunglasses and realises that we are all zombies being conned by aliens who maintain the wealth and have subliminal messages in everything we take for granted then the film has a function.
The film is very much a social satire that is bang on the money when you think about it,i just wasnt blown away by the entire film,the famed streetfight lasting 5 minutes is indeed a real eye opener and some of pipers lines are gold but as a whole this isnt as good as i had hoped.
 I wear my sunglasses at night March 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Another of John Carpenter's great successes, this film turns the paranoia of the 50's science fiction film on its head. Instead of outsiders coming and attempting to disrupt the status quo, in this film the status quo is the whole problem, as aliens have taken over right to the very top. Only Roddy Piper stands between them and continued domination of American society.
Piper makes for another of Carpenter's very likeable heroes, very much in the mould of Snake Plisskin, and the supporting cast is uniformially excellent.
A little gem of a movie.
better than you expect March 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film is a curiosity. It's a mainstream hollywood film with a wrestler turned actor in the lead role and it deals with an insidious alien take over. fairly straight forward stuff.
and yet i have to say i was pleasantly surprised by it for a number of reasons. firstly it appears to attack capitalism/consumerism which is a bit rich coming from hollywood but equally impressive for carpenter to use the alien take over as a means of questioning rampant materialsim.
secondly, most films of this sort tend to lean towards defeating the aliens and winning the day but the objective of this hero is simply to expose their existence to the rest of the world.
even when he achieves this, we still don't know if it will do any good. for all we know the aliens will simply continue to dominate our planet but do so in the open, for all to see
I wish i didn't like this film so much but i just do......it's better than it has any right to be
Missing the point? October 9, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I think most of you are missing the point of the film here, its a social commentary, the aliens were an allegory for corporate greed and capitialism at the expense of personal freedoms and human rights. It was made in the 80's, Reagan era, when these things were being pushed aside in favour of power and a monay making screw everyone else culture.
Personally, I think it is brilliantly done, Piper is a pretty good actor (for a ex wrestler) and the tongue in cheek script and direction makes sure its doesnt get too caught up in its own message. Although, having said that, the message is pretty loud and clear by the time the two heroes get into the alien base and find out humans are collaborating with them, just for a guaranteed increase in their investments.
Keith Allen is great also, the pointlessly long and over the top fight scene between the two is one of the best thing about the film, just a bit of fun interjected into a serious film. The scene now has cult status, and was immortalized by Southpark, in the episode `cripple fight' where Jimmy tries to get Timmy to put on a silly hat. Brilliant stuff.
The film could have done with a bigger budget, but I still rate it as a classic, with a message that is perhaps even more relevant today; what with the political propaganda machine even more powerful and insidious than ever, and people even more stupid, it seems.
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