I’m aware that some people might think that it’s somewhat strange that I haven’t watched John Carpenter’s action/sci-fi/horror movie “They live” before now. I mean, I was born in the mid 80s, and I’m also a fan of Roddy Piper (the world famous wrestler). However, to my defense. I don’t even recall ever seeing any ads and whatnot for “They Live” in Sweden.
Anyways, just recently I got myself a 4K TV and a 4K Blu-Ray player. Furthermore, I also bought myself a whole bunch of 4K Blu-Ray movies, and one of those movies just happened to be John Carpenter’s “They Live”.
So right off the bat, the movie was released back in 1988, and it sure didn’t take me long to feel those 80s vibes. I have no problems with that though, because I love the 80s (I still think the 80s had some of the best movies and video games ever created).
However, the very first thing that I actually noticed while watching “They Live”, was the extremely high sound and picture quality. I mean, it really felt as if I was right there in the middle of the story. Other than that, I could truly relate to the main character of the movie, because Nada (who’s played by Roddy Piper) is a working-poor and out of luck guy who just struggles to make a living.
You see, I come from a middle-class family. So I know more than well what it’s like to struggle from month to month, paycheck to paycheck just to make the ends meet (tons of love and respect to my parents for always taking good care of me and my brothers). Well, Nada has it even worse, because he doesn’t even have a place to call home…
Simply put, Nada just goes from town to town, and job to job, all while trying to stay afloat (food for the day, and a roof over his head). Well, just when I thought that Nada’s life couldn’t possibly get any worse, the shit hits the fan bit time…
Because shortly after that Nada gets a construction job and get to know his new friend Frank (who’s played by Keith David), Nada soon discovers that there’s something strange going on in the community where his currently living.
As a matter of fact, Nada finds out that there’s a resistance/rebel group hiding out in church. Even so, Nada has no idea (whatsoever) what they are fighting against, at least not for the time being.
However, it doesn’t take long before Nada stumbles up on a box full of sun glass (he did so while lurking around in the church), and one he puts them on; his whole world (as he knew it) crashes down before him (everything that he once knew is nothing more than a big lie).
You know, I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone else that hasn’t seen they live, but the sunglasses gave Nada the ability to see the world for what it really is, without all the smoke and mirrors (the ability to see through lies can sometimes be very scary indeed).
So Nada more or less found out that the whole world is controlled by some strange alien race from outer space (and that includes everything from the media, governments, celebrities and so on). This is also where Nada and Frank join forces (which they do after the longest fighting scene that I’ve ever seen in a movie before) to take down this alien threat, and what follows is a mixed bag of corny acting, dialogs, and pretty cheesy action scenes.
Even so, I still think that “They Live” is a really good movie, as the pros out weight the cons, and truth be told. I agree with Roddy Piper, because “They Live” isn’t an action/sci-fi/horror movie, “They Live” is a real-life documentary (you will understand what I mean by that if you watch the movie for yourself).
Pros:
+ Roddy Piper does a great job as the main character of the movie
+ Keith David plays his role really well
+ They Live looks freaking awesome in 4K
+ There’s a whole lot of truth and thought worthy content to be found in the movie
+ The soundtrack is pure gold
+ Sex with an alien
Cons:
– The acting could have been better
– The movie feels rather corny at times
– There’s a rather strange ending
– I wish that the movie had been a little bit longer
Actors: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Sound/music: 4/5
Effects: 3/5
Viewing value: 4/5
Verdict: 4/5
“They Live” might not be the best action/sci-fi/horror movie ever made, but it’s with no doubt a very watch worthy, memorable and important one. So if you like Roddy Piper, Keith David and John Carpenter movies, then you have to watch “They Live” as soon as possible.
Title: They Live
Genre: Action/Horror/Sci-Fi
Format: Blu-Ray
Movie length: 1 hour and 34 minutes
Price: 8,99 pounds + the shipment cost via Amazon.co.uk
Producer: Andre Blay, Larry Franco, Shep Gordon and Sandy King
Director: John Carpenter
Release date: 1988-11-04
Average grade internationally: 7.3/10 imdb.com
PEGI age rating: 15+
Movie stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David
Robin “V-Act” Ek
Editor in chief
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround
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Tags: 4K Blu-ray, Action, John Carpenter, Keith David, Movie review, Movies, Roddy Piper, Sci-fi, They Live