Audience Rated by buyers R (Restricted)
Type of bind: Video On Demand
Release Date: October 01, 2008
Running Time: 95 minutes
Sale Popularity Level: 15222
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: November 03, 1988
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Rated by buyers 
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They Live is a fun sci-fi film made by John Carpenter and stars former wwe superstar "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
The story is about John Nada, a homeless unemployed construction worker, who finds a pair of sunglasses, that when worn suddenly reveal a world runed by upwardly mobile, capitlist, yuppie aliens hellbent on kepping the human race sedate and brainwashed with sublimminal messages fed through advertising and the media, so it's down to John and a few others to get the world to wake up and see how much deep s**t the human race is in.
This film has great action bits, funny moments in your face satire and one of the best fist fights i've seen, I also think it's John Carpenter's most accomplished film to date, oh I have also heard news that they are remaking this film and I bet it will suck!! but untill that happens sit back and enjoy this film.
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This delightfully eerie movie demonstrates that great films are not necessarily pretentious; world-class art can appeal to regular folks; you needn't read John Taylour Gatto to lean the truth about 'Education;" and although you could study "alternative economic history" for months on end at the Yamaguchy website, Mary E. Hobart and David Astle aren't the only reality gurus who can clue you in to what's really going down here on the third stone from the sun. Not at all! John Carpenter manages to do just that in his 95 minute "B-Movie" masterpiece, 'They Live!"
So read the other reviews, form your own opinions, but by all means be sure to see "They Live." And if you are an "art snob" or one of those people who seek cultural justification for pursuing the enjoyable, then consider that what this film divulges is exactly what Benjamin Disraeli had in mind when he penned his cryptic phrase, ""The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes." (!)
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John Carpenter wrote the screenplay and directed this 1988 Science Fiction/Horror film that is based on Ray Nelson's 1963 short story, Eight O'Clock in the Morning.
With elements of the common hero versus a corrupt society - with ample amounts of wit tossed into the mix - it packs a punch from that time period - the "me" generation and the "greed is good" of the 1980s - but with a twist; the elite are aliens who are managing human society through the use of subliminal media advertising and the manipulation of economic opportunity.
Roddy "Hot Rod" Piper is the hero - Nada - who finds the truth while in Los Angeles by viewing things through a pair of sunglasses. His quest then begins in earnest to convince others of what really propels life.
There is a timeless message in Carpenter's work and Piper turns in a strong performance. "They" may be around in different disguises, but Carpenter shows how the puppeteers can make many shake their hips to the greed twist.
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Oh man what a fun movie, I saw this a few months ago and still marvel at how much I enjoyed it. This is one of those eighties movies that borderlines on silly and cheesy at times but overall there is so much to enjoy that in this case it barely stands in the way. Basically this is a story of an accidental discovery by a construction worker down on his luck. Trying to find some work, Nada arrives in LA and quickly makes some "friends" and gets in trouble on his very first day of work. Eventually he tries to settle in but things seem strange, how strange he has no idea until one day he stumbles on a whole box of grey plastic sunglasses. He soon finds out that they are made by a resistance group that send out announcements on TV channels about aliens and warns people that things aren't as they seem. Deem lunatics, they hide and act in secret, but when Nada puts those glasses on he discovers just how much what he believed in is true.
Driven by money and power, people will do anything to have more, even sell out their own species to aliens who are willing to exploit and use them. Those special glasses let Nada see the real aliens, disguised as human to unprotected eye and upon looking at TV shows, magazines and billboards he sees the true message that is meant for the average human; to buy and to obey. One has to see this movie to get the full gist of the idea, but it's something that I have actually felt about today's world for a while. Everything revolves around money, ways of making it, using people for it and luring others to spend their. This movie does a fantastic job of shedding some light on real life and mixes in some ultra terrestrials with incredible twists.
Nada is soon discovered by those who pretend to be human and chased through some really fantastic adventures. There are a few more secrets that make this movie so fun but spoiling them would be a shame, it's best to watch it without knowing too much. I highly recommend for a few hours of shameless fun and the ending is super, very well driven to the point.
- Kasia S.
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This is a fun romp of a Sci-Fi movie, where a small band of people in the US find out that the world is being run by invaders that are true Intergalactic industrialist robber barons. Rowdy Roddy Piper stumbles across the underground movement and things get serious fast. Who can you trust and who is in for the big payoff? Especially now, when the economy seems to be faltering, this makes for great entertainment.
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