They Live (1988)

Rating: 8.5/10

Nada is a homeless man looking for work, he finds a community where he can be utilized as a handyman, the story quickly unfolds as he begins to see broadcasts of a tin foil hat type preaching about the fact that aliens have invaded earth and are secretly controlling our every action, which in all honesty doesn’t sound too far fetched by 2021’s standards. After an invasion of police officials Nada stumbles on a pair of sunglasses that allows him to see a black and white view of the world and the true meaning behind advertisements as well as aliens that inhibit the bodies of humans.

Let me start by saying this film needs to be watched. It represents a part of cinema that in my opinion has faded away into oblivion. Not only is it ridiculous but it’s also incredibly smart, lots of very obvious as well as subtle social commentary here. We very rarely find these gems anymore, films that don’t take themselves too seriously yet offer so much value to the viewer and have something to say. Because of this, I adored this film and would highly recommend anyone to see it. 

They Live is a mockery of every action film of the 80’s as well as the world we live in today. At first glance it’s so obscene that it might be difficult to watch, from the non-sensicle one liners to the non character we get in the form of Nada as our protagonist. Interestingly enough the fairly bad job Roddy Piper does of playing the character adds to the genius and comedy of the film, not many classics can say that about themselves can they? I have had this on my list of films to watch since I was in my teens. At the age of 27 I finally delved into the infamous world of Alien Invaders where the only line of defence is a pair of sunglasses. In many ways this film wasn’t what I was expecting, although I knew I was about to watch an action packed film about reptilian invaders and in that sense I got what I bargained for. However I thought that it would be more of a gross out action horror with Roddy Piper blowing grotesque aliens to hell, in reality it’s a much smarter film that my unimaginative mind could muster. 

With today’s eyes a film that goes from colour to Black and White to tell us something about the world or to showcase some sort of thematic message can feel so overused and uninteresting. Having said that, it’s executed to an incredible level here and is truly masterfully done. We as the viewer and Nada have been given a black and white view of the world. Reducing headlines to its most simplistic state. In many ways Nada is wrong for seeing the world like this and right. He can see the truth behind what the public are being sold but also so blindsided by his thinking that he’s willing to shoot these aliens dead in the street and commit serious crimes as he deems himself a hero and a insider to the truth about of the corruption in the world. This theme of black and white mindsets are elevated during Nada’s and Frank’s fight scenes. It’s pointlessly long and they get into what feels like a never ending brawl all for their own stubbornness of thinking the other is unreasonable. This scene encapsulates a lot of the world we live in. Nada is unintelligent, impulsive and in some ways just as asleep as the general public in the film. We see this through his brash actions of shooting police officers dead in the street and going in guns blazing into a bank. Not to say the aliens aren’t evil, they most probably are but more often than not the truth of most situations is somewhere in the middle. But according to Nada, being in the middle of the road is a dangerous place to be, in his world view you are either good or evil with no in between.

Conclusion

If you want to watch a film that you can think about for days, that's light and funny throughout and a beacon of creative filming making then give this a watch. You can take it at face value and have a great time watching it or you can over analyse all the choices that Carpenter made in this masterpiece. Either way you’ll have fun.