Rating: 
Summary: Duke Nukem Lives!
Review: great movie to base a video game on, such as it did with Duke Nukem, one of the top sellers for a long time. soon there is a Duke Nukem movie coming out in theatres, I wonder if it will have tie ins with the original They Live. but I love this movie, I never get tired of seeing it, and I think it was clever to get that dumb lookin guy to be Duke.
Rating:
Summary: Literal Explanation of the Unspoken Reality We All Live In
Review: My jaw dropped when I saw this movie. It is the best literal explanation of what is going on in our world when it comes to mind control. I believe this movie is true word for word. I take it very seriously. I even believe aliens have taken over our planet and are "CHANGING OUR ATMOSPHERE INTO THEIR ATMOSPHERE". Reptilian looking aliens that pump mass media lies into our heads to make us stupid and obedient.Look: Even if you don't believe in aliens, you can change everything into a metaphor - The Media is nothing but Illuminati Propaganda being pumped into our heads 24 hours a day. Lies lies lies. AND THEN WHEN YOU PRESENT THE TRUTH TO PEOPLE, THEY DON'T WANT IT! They turn the station and say "you're making my head hurt." Some humans in the movie sell out to the aliens (corporations/government) for financial gain. (entertainers, politicians). If you watch this movie .... get passed all of the 80's cheesiness. On the surface it is a cheesy 80's flick, I won't lie to you .... but if you pay attention to it, you'll appreciate the truth that it presents.
Rating:
Summary: They Live, we cheer
Review: After spending the last few months expanding my collection of John Carpenter DVDs to the best of my ability without plunging into bankruptcy, I've come to the inevitable conclusion that, despite his inactivity and supposed "downfall" over the last ten years, he is still one of our best (and unfortunately most underrated) directors. With a classic film like "Halloween" on his resume, it's easy to overlook the rest of his films like they could never possibly measure up. Truth be told, what could? "Halloween" was, is, and will forever be the alpha and omega of slasher film horror. That being said, "They Live" is probably one of the best corporate satires of the past twenty years. Made in the latter years of Reagan's eighties, John Carpenter's film, based off the short story titled "Eight in the Morning," is a fun action ride that moonlights as a biting satire of the stranglehold of greed in America. Roddy Piper (how perfect is that?) stars as the man with no name (credited as "Nada" at the end), a drifter who finds work and friendship among a small habitat of homeless dwellers. He's also the man who eventually begins a quest for the truth behind a pair of special sunglasses that reveal the existence of alien lifeforms. Keith David plays the construction worker with a heart of gold who befriends Piper and they have some very interesting conversations. "It's all a big game. The name of it is 'Getting Through Life.' Everybody's trying to finish first and do you in at the same time. They put you at the starting line and now, here we are: You do what you can, but remember, I wanna do my best, too... blow your a$$ away..." Piper's laugh in response to David's diatribe about life in economic America might be simple in its form, but shattering in its true meaning. People do try and laugh it off when someone says something they may or may not agree with. Or suppose we just have a different point of view, we would rather laugh and pass it off as understanding than comment with our own opinion; just let the conversation end. Such is the attitude of people at the time. Heck, it still might be. Half the power of "They Live" lies in its complete, focused attention on inattention. Or our inability to accept reasons for our plight that go outside our views. The fistfight between Piper and David around the one-hour mark in the film is one of the best in cinema (and it's real, I might add, minus the blows to the head). And while it is silly and over the top, there's an honest message in there about how we will fight to be blind to a painful truth. If ignorance is bliss, I will fight Roddy Piper to remain that way. The aliens in "They Live" serve as a device for the satirical undertones to function. They are also responsible for triggering sequences of shocking intensity, such as when an entire Hooverville of peaceful people is bulldozed to the ground, its inhabitants beaten senseless. Nonetheless, they are the corporate leaders that we all feel like are aliens, peering out at us with their skeletal faces safely behind their podiums. Carpenter sees them as they are meant to be seen, and with some truly awesome matte-designs accompanied with black and white photography, shows us the true messages behind the endless bombardment of advertising we are subjected to each day. Stay asleep, no independent thought, marry, reproduce, consume, and don't question authority. To quote another Carpenter film, "Welcome to the human race."
Rating:
Summary: Man sees so many hidden messages downtown.
Review: Drifter, Nada (Professional Wrestler, Roddy Piper) walks into town for a job. He winds up at a construction site where he meets a black man, Frank (Keith David). The boss lets Nada know there is no sleeping over night in the construction site. So Frank directs him to a mission with hot food and showers. Nada and Frank don't always see things the same way. Nada notices that a construction site worker was at the church across the street until 4:00 in the morning. When he sees the man go back again, Nada decides to check it out himself. The choir is a reel recording. Writing on the wall says, "They Live, We Sleep". Inside the chapel, the cult of men are trying to send messages to people through the television. At night-time, these police-like men with a helicopter, go after the cult in the church and others on the street, including the homeless. From the now-vacant church, Nada takes a box of supplies. In the alley, he discovers in the box is nothing but sunglasses. But when he tries on the sunglasses, everything looks different. A common billboard to the naked eye. But with the sunglasses on, he reads the word, "OBEY". Just about everything around him has a hidden message posted. "WATCH TELEVISION", "BUY", "STAY ASLEEP", "WORK 8 HOURS", "SLEEP 8 HOURS", "PLAY 8 HOURS". There are so many hidden messages everywhere he looks. Even the people look different. DVD only has a chapter selection.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Silly. Ace Fun.
Review: This film is very very very John Carpenter. No one else could have made it. In particular no one else could have shot something so monumentally daft and ended up with something worthwhile. And worthwhile it is though, if I am honest I must acknowledge, it's the sort of movie you'll probably enjoy a lot more if you're a bit the worse for drink.
It one of that endless succession paranoid alien takeover movies along "Body Snatchers" lines in which it turns out many of what appear to be our fellow humans are really horrible alien monsters bent on evil ends. It stars Roddy Piper who is not the film's strong point. He plays the sort of role Carpenter usually casts Kurt Russell as and he has none of Russell's on-screen charisma. He's a construction worker who finds a pairs of shades that turn out to be rather special and allow him to see who the evil aliens are as well as to read the subliminal messages they have plastered all over the world. These are hilariously crude: "OBEY", "CONSUME", "MARRY AND REPRODUCE". Etc: you get the idea... The high point is the line: "I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubble gum." Which would be enough to make any movie worth seeing whatever else it was like. The low point is the most tediously protracted fight scene in cinema history. (If you watch this on telly live the start of this is a good time to go make the coffee: you'll miss nothing). It is, I repeat, monumentally daft. It is more funny than frightening. But it is not intended to be frightening the way "Alien" is frightening. It's a comic strip and for the most part it's a highly entertaining one. I'd say, in Carpenter's film corpus, it ranks somewhere in the middle. It's nowhere near as good as say "Escape from New York", "The Thing" or "Precinct 13" but miles better than his more disappointing outings like "Village of the Damned" or "Escape from LA". While it's flawed in a bunch of ways it has, dud fight scene aside, that wonderful cinematic rhythm and directorial sureness of touch that makes this prolific director of, on the face of it, rather silly sci-fi and horror B-movie-style fantasies one of Hollywood's most likeable and distinctive film craftsmen.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome! One of Carpenter's best!
Review: I love this movie and it's one of my favorite John Carpenter films. One of the best scenes is the fight scene with Roddy Piper and Keith David and I was disappointed about the dvd because there's no special features, not even a trailer. At least,The picture and sound are good. If anybody's a fan of Carpenter as I am, this is the movie to own.
Rating:
Summary: advertised into EXTINCTION
Review: COrnball, Gee WHIZZ,see Pounder THIS Carpenters,Cops are executioneers half of society ARE living in SHANTY town, WHILE the have, CONSUMing dollars are WORKING, for the MAN,THE MAN BEING reagan look alike ALIEN TYPES ,not over the border types but zoom me down MARTIANS OR venusians beam down good OLE scotty style on STAR BEAMS SO IT SEEMS,bMovie MADE,DUMB IS GOOD but you get most of the movie is it a PUBLIC TELEVISION documentary? slow build up DOWN AND DIRTY social ILLS bleaK ToSS it some designer sheek SUN glassed AND, NEXT THING its INVASION like VICTORY HAS BEEN ACIEVED WERE like third world, with feelings off bein left out marginlised, STOMPED ON, for a change, were out of our collective wits, been hijacked by reagan pondits in the guise of a nework of lies, kinda FOX LIKE SLOGANISM mass SUBTERFUGE,ohREILEY LIKE
Rating:
Summary: Classic!
Review: Well, I had to laugh! I've just come from reviewing a DAVID ICKE book, and mysteriously on my list of things i may want, appears this! Aliens in humans bodies, subversive messages in the media etc etc! Like i said, clasic. Sometimes coincidence is startlingly amusing! Ok, enjoy this film for what it is. Carpenter is a great director, with an insight into how to make people think. The fist fight i believe is the longest ever, and steals the show. The theme is believable as long as its seen as a metaphor, (unless you read Ickes books in which case you'll be screaming "I told you so!!!"), and all in all its a good chuckle all round!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie, Lame DVD
Review: This film is better than I remembered it being. Interesting premise that holds up pretty well even today. Roddy Piper cannot act, but that's okay, he does alright with what he's given. Not bad. The DVD is weak, no extras at all. A commentary track would have been great. For the cheap price, definitely reccommended.
Rating:
Summary: THEY LIVE Review!
Review: John Carpenter's brilliant cinematic attack on "Reaganomics" stars Roddy Piper as an unemployed drifter who soon discovers (using special "sunglasses" that only he seems to have) that a number of the people making the moves in our country are actually aliens. With the help of a few skeptical friends and an underground movement, Piper decides that "he's through be Daddy's little boy" and declares war on the unwelcome visitors. "They Live" mixes social commentary on the "rich get richer, poor don't get a f--king thing" economy of the late 80's with the paranoid science fiction tales of the 50's for a good little film. It's all in good fun though as our hero takes on the alien visitors with more ammo and one-liners than you can shake a snake at. In one of the most memorable scenes, Piper and Keith David have a fist fight that literally goes on for what seems like forever. Carpenter's musical score is simple but it gets the point across. The violent finale ends with a humorous conclusion that certainly makes for an entertaining pay-off. While I have enjoyed Carpenter's work since, I can honestly say this was probably his last truly effective pic. He has since more or less stuck to making fun but predictable genre films and re-visiting the plots of films he already made years before. Much of the same can be said for Piper who after turning in a brilliant performance with dialouge tailor-made for his unique sense of humor has been stuck on the straight-to-video roles ever since. You're better off picking up the VHS version of "They Live" as the first release of the film on DVD has very little new to offer. It would be good to get a DVD edition of this film with some extra added features. Well, regardless of how you see it, this is an excellent movie worth checking out.
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