They Live - Review

I've been wanting to go back to reviewing some not-so-recent movies for a while now, but for a couple reasons I was keeping to the recent movies. Now seems like as good a time as any to go back to the past, so lets review the cult classic, They Live! Why am I reviewing self aware B-Movies all of a sudden? Last time it was a cheesy action flick and now its a cheesy sci-fi movie... they're just too damn fun!

They Live is a sci-fi/horror/comedy written and directed by the legendary John Carpenter, the man behind such cult classics including Halloween, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, and many others. The film is about a drifter named Nada (played by professional wrestler Roddy Piper) who comes to LA looking for work. While staying the night at a homeless shelter, he accidentally finds a pair of unusual sunglasses. What is unusual about them... they reveal that Earth has been taken over by aliens. They all look normal to the naked eye, but when Nada wears the glasses, he can see who is human and who is not. Suddenly he finds himself thrown into a planetary struggle between man and invader.

John Carpenter is one of those directors who clearly enjoys classic B-Movies. Almost all of his movies (or at least, his best movies) are essentially B-Movies made with a sense of self-awareness. They Live, is definitely one of those... albeit with some intelligence thrown into the script to offset the camp-factor. At its core, They Live is a standard Human Vs Alien action thriller, but it throws in some insightful commentary regarding consumerism, materialism, and class struggles. The aliens are the elite social class, and most of them are also politicians and high ranking officials responsible for controlling most of our lives. And while it was clearly a comment on the 80s (the movie was release in 1988), a lot of its insights are still quite relevant and interesting. Its not perfect, like a lot of satires, the movie is full of great ideas that aren't as recognized as they could have been. By the end, it delves more into the action than anything.

Although, for those just looking for the straightforward B-Movie fun, They Live delivers there too. While the action won't likely blow anyone away, it still has some extremely enjoyable shoot-outs and fights. There is one particular scene, however, between Roddy Piper and Keith David that is especially long and brutal. It's pretty crazy to watch to say the least. Not to mention, some of the movie's one-liners are among the best I've ever heard. My favorite has to be Piper saying, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum." So between the interesting commentary and B-Movie fun factor, there is a lot to enjoy in They Live.

The casting is where I have some mixed feelings toward. First, you have wrestler-turned actor Roddy Piper in the lead role as George Nada. Here's the thing about Piper, he certainly embodies the everyman persona, has a good look for action movies, and delivers his one-liners with flawless tenacity. One the other hand, he is really not particularly good with anything else, at least not by traditional standards. However, he definitely has an appeal, and I can't deny he's an absolute blast to watch. He's entertaining in the same way many action stars are, like Schwarzenegger or Stallone.

You also have Keith David as Nada's friend and ally Frank Armitage. You can pretty much say the same thing about him as I did with Piper... not a great actor but enjoyable for something like this. The only other major supporting role to critique would have to be Meg Foster as Holly Thompson, the forced love interest thrown into the movie's chaos. Foster is... bland as hell. No emotion, no drive, and no real personality to speak of. I guess they were going for the B-Movie characterization, but compared to the onslaught of incredibly fun personalities, she just comes off as boring. So yeah, don't go into They Live expecting a cast of great actors, go in expecting some quirky fun performances.

Some final statements to add... the movie has some memorable B-Movie inspired scenes with some enjoyably cheesy special effects and make up designs. Some might say they look stupid (and they would be right) but that just made this movie more enjoyable for me. You have some classic flying saucers and silly alien masks that look like they walked straight onto this movie from a 1950s alien invasion flick. It was all so deliberately corny that I couldn't help but have a great time.

Overall, They Live is a total blast. Its definitely not a perfect movie, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Go in with the right mindset and you'll probably get a kick out of it too.

My Score: 4 out of 5!