They Live

Next up for #Johnuary is the excellent They Live. This was the other Carpenter movie that I had seen before. Mainly because I loved Rowdy Roddy Piper from the WWF, particularly as I’m Scottish and he always wore a kilt.

I love the title screen with the graffiti. Nicely done
Roddy Piper and Keith David FTW! Great casting. Roddy Piper is a surprisingly good actor. Piper is so chilled and calm in this role
The score is very John Carpenter but I’m not sure it’s quite right for this movie. It just seems to be a bit lacking
I believe it’s based on a book called ‘Eight o’clock in the morning’. Interesting title. I might check it out one day
The priest mouthing along to the TV hacker is surprisingly bad at mouthing along in time!
I love how the first piece of action from Piper is a clothesline
What a classic line from Piper about kicking ass and chewing bubblegum. He supposedly improvised that line himself
I wonder how many takes it took for Keith David to throw the money into Piper’s box
Love, love, love the fight between Piper and David in the alley. So visceral and in many ways realistic. It’s not a cheesy fight with lots of unrealistic martial arts moves. It goes to the ground a lot and there are of course loads of wrestling moves, although Piper does actually block a few shots a bit too early, showing that he knew they were coming. Once a wrestler, always a wrestler
I felt some bits could have been more powerful but weren’t quite because of Piper’s ever so slightly sub-par acting and also the score
I couldn’t believe it when I saw the guard guys using a Ghostbusters P.K.E. meter. I guess they raided the prop shop! And then right away someone mentions the ‘A-Team’? That was a cool little segment there with subtle nods to two other 80s franchises
I found it a bit strange that no-one questioned them right away at the dinner when they stroll in wearing casual clothes and everyone else is in black tie
Best last scene in a movie ever? (Hey, what’s wrong baby?)

It’s a very, very interesting premise that the film has. I really love the whole storyline and that dystopian vision of the future. It’s not just a simple, alien invasion story. The aliens are already totally integrated into our society and nobody knows it. I totally get why some people have sold out to the aliens. It’s the easier option by far. But I also love how Piper just pulls the plug on everything and I’d love to know what happens next, when anarchy must break out. Once again Carpenter ending his film on some form of catastrophe.

Brilliant film. Great in so many ways. Could be even better with slightly better acting by Piper (but only in a few scenes) and a better score, in my opinion. But these things are part of what makes it its own. I’m definitely going to buy it on Blu-Ray and want to watch the commentary with Piper and Carpenter.