They Live is great. It really needs a special edition DVD like so many of Carpenter's other films.

It's a classic B film.

The problem I have with They Live is the same problem I have with a lot of John Carpenter films. He casts bad actors in pivotal roles, ruining what is essentially a great idea. They Live is more of a great idea than an actually good movie. A lot of Carpenter's work is like that. Prince of Darkness could have been one of the great horror films in history, but he casts these obsessively bland actors in the lead roles, almost as if he is forcing his films into the B Movie realm. I love Carpenter, but he frustrates me to no end....

I've been thinking about doing a post on Carpenter, maybe comparing him to Sam Peckinpah - another immensely talented film director who burned out and lost interest in making good movies. Carpenter's best work was almost entirely in his early career, and now he's just going through the motions.

One of the things "They Live" is notable for is probably the longest, most exhausting fist-fight in Hollywood history. I don't have the tape, and haven't seen the movie since it was first released, but isn't the fight about 10 minutes long?

But yeah, for the most part Carpenter is a frustrating director (and writer, composer, musician) in that he takes a really good idea, and then just sort of ham-hands it to death - for example, "Ghosts of Mars", "Big Trouble in LIttle China" and "Escape from LA" (okay that one was just a bad idea, badly executed).

Jim,

I loved Escape From NY and have owned it for many years. Escape From LA was a huge disappointment to me. Same with Ghosts of Mars, which is probably his worst film.

They Live does have a fight about midway in which goes on forever. I think it was at that point when the movie began falling apart.

"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum." I have my special sunglasses on, and I can see the subliminal messages behind your They Live bashing: don't question authority, consume, obey, no independent thought. Why are you bastards dissing this movie? Are the aliens going to move you up a notch or two on the hierarchy in return for your selling out of the entire human race? Just like Ari Fleischer.

"The white line is in the middle of the road--it's the worst place to drive."

lol.......I thought the first 30 minutes of They Live was pretty damn interesting. But the story eventually went nowhere, Carpenter thumbing his nose at the audience and filmmaking in general. Isn't the final scene Mr. Piper giving the finger? I just think it could have been a lot better and doesn't really rank with Carpenter's best work.

I'll not subvert to the system and join in on this They Live bashing, although I suppose I can slightly question the acting and the second half of the movie. Rowdy Roddy's biggest acting challenges were with the double-take and with action scenes. His double takes looked as natural as Carrot Top in a romantic love scene. As for the action scenes, I thought that this would have been his strength since he did a lot of physical performance as a wrestler. The way that he held a gun and the way that he reacted to gunfire may be a clue to something I have long suspected: Roddy Piper is a pacifist! Beneath that rowdy exterior is a man who wouldn't kill Bambi--much less an evil invader alien.

Or maybe he just needed his kilt. The poor Scotsman had his balls all constricted by his jeans. If only they had written the script to allow for Piper's guys to sway freely, then he would have pulled off the film's later action scenes. For crying out loud, Samuel Jackson even got to wear a kilt in Formula 51.

It's all because Rowdy Roddy Piper didn't have a real man's outfit. If "They Live" had featured real men wearing real men's garments then it might have been a better movie. Or at least more free.

With the exception of perhaps Burt Reynold's attire in the mind-numbing classic Smokey and the Bandit, I would have to say Roddy Piper's jeans in They Live are without a doubt the tightest in history. They belong in a museum next to Adam West's cape and John Travolta's white leisure suit.

lets get this straight. They Live is a documentry. Do your homework on the global elite and how they believe that they are decendants of the "Gods" and that their DNA entitles them to rule man " divine right to rule". Put on your glasses. This movie was supposed to be bad. Don't you get it !!! Read some David Icke learn about the 5 sense world we live in and what is just beyond it. For those that can see -----hello brothers and sisters.

Piper is giving the finger to the ESTABLISHMENT at the end, not the audience. PERFECT ending to that film.