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Whistle Stopper - They Live
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $8.04
Your Save: $ 6.94 ( 46% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower, Peter Jason
Directed By: John Carpenter
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783255309
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 0783255306
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-09-23
Running Time: 95
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1988-11-04
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Intergalactic Robber Barons
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must-have sci-fi classic!
Comment: In spite of the fact that the film's protagonist, Roddy Piper [Nada], wears his pants too high and gets far too many crotch and butt shots for my liking [the film was shot in 1988, which might explain things], "They Live" is a campy scifi epic about a down-and-out construction worker who finds a pair of sunglasses [cheap sunglasses, actually] that enable him to witness an extraterrestrial invasion of earth.
With this in mind, your suspension of disbelief will be pushed to its limits. But if you hang on loing enough, it just might change the way you view the world.
Orwellian in theme, the film utilizes repetitive and primitive symbols, words and simplistic character sketches to portray a world in the throes of succumbing to brainwave manipulation [think subliminal advertising, which works, by the way], set up by extraterrestrials as a humane way of getting what they want from earth without actually killing anyone.
Everything - except for the aforementioned jeans worn by Nada - remains relevant today. Commercials that attempt to manipulate perception of reality. An overwhelming and omnipresent federal government. Capitalism gone arwry. Selling out everyone for personal gain. The list goes on.
In the end, the film's campiness, lack of subtlety and over-the-top superficiality mirror the very advertising that drowns out our sense of humanity.
So I guess the aliens won, given out current state down here on earth.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You don't own this movie? Go get some glasses...
Comment: I was introduced to this movie via a youtube clip and knew after watching it I had to have this movie.
After waiting for it to come in the mail (I checked several times a day in case I missed its delivery) I finally got it and immediately played it. Here is my opinion...
It begins to paint a very unhappy state of affairs of the world. A drifter named Nada (Rowdy Roddy Piper) is struggling to make ends meet and it gives the impression average people are in the same boat. He then meets another guy (Keith David) and they become friends (sort of).
After several scenes of police brutality (normal LAPD stuff) Nada comes across a pair of sunglasses which...
At this point it would be wicked of me to reveal any more plot material.
But if you don't get a massive tingle down your back when the main character puts on those glasses to see things the way they "really are" then nothing on Earth will.
As I implied in my title, if you don't own this movie, then you may very well be a part of the problem.
Good luck and I sure hope you end up on our side...
Customer Rating: 
Summary: One of Carpenter's Best !
Comment: First of all, I would have given this a full 5 stars but the lack of extra prevented me to do so. Hey, the menu screen only have play and scene selection, my goodness. If John Carpenter shows little respect for his own fine work by providing a commentary along with star Roddy Piper, I bet this DVD will be flying off the shelves
For those who are not aware of the plot of the movie, here is a basic summary, the world apparently has been invaded and controlled by "aliens" and they are among us as Politicians, sales, lawyers, cops, etc. They can only be seen by someone wearing special sunglass. To say more will spoil the fun.
The sound is Dolby 2.0 and it is not bad, and the picture transfer is fine. If somebody at Universal decide to release a special edition with load of extra, we are sure to buy it again. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!
Comment: This is a great movie, because the action is non-stop and the visuals were ahead of their time. It has the longest fight scene between Roddy Piper and Keith David. It mixes seriousness and humor. It also has one of the most famous quotes "I have come to chew bubble gum and kick a$$, and I'm all out of bubble gum".
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Editorial Reviews:
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An economic crisis brings unemployed Nada (Roddy Piper) to L.A. in search of work. What he finds instead is that the ruling elite of the world are aliens in disguise, their aim being to keep humans in a state of mindless consumerism. His discovery comes when he dons a pair of special sunglasses made by a resistance group and sees for the first time reality unadorned. Billboards, store signs, magazine covers--all bear subliminal messages to OBEY, to CONSUME, to have NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT. Money itself says THIS IS YOUR GOD. But worst of all, with these glasses you see which of us are really hideous, bug-eyed aliens. The conceptual breakthrough is hilarious while keeping its roots in darker matters. Although some fault the film for settling into its action plot, the ending has a great payoff. And the direction by John Carpenter is handled with superb workmanlike aplomb. One unforgettable set piece has Piper in a back-alley fistfight with a friend who won't put on the glasses that goes on and on, and just when you think it's over it goes another round. One of the most subversive films ever made in Hollywood, They Live was released on the eve of the 1988 elections. The first TV ads had two hideous alien politicians debating, then one accusing the other of being "No John Kennedy!" --Jim Gay
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