← Back to Reviews
in
They Live
This is a classic John Carpenter film. It is absurd and feels exactly like a cult classic. He does a wonderful job with his story in this film, keeping it light and entertaining enough, while having a message in it.
What works well in this film is the story. The whole story is absurd, and so when the visuals or acting aren't quite up to snuff, it doesn't matter, because they are just odd like the rest of the film. It does have message mixed in with the story about the potential pitfalls of consumerism when it is driven too far, but it is mainly about the odd story, at least now to the viewer. The whole idea of a giant conspiracy with subliminal messaging used through mass media is pretty scary to think about, but how it is done in this film is pretty absurd.
One thing that doesn't work so well is the main fight scene. It is too pseudo-friends beating each other up, and they are beating the snot out of each other. One of the characters gets kneed in the groin four or five times and immediately gets up. It jost goes on and on and on. It was somewhat humorous to watch at times, but dragged on for about a minute or two longer then it ideally should have. That was about the only scene that didn't feel like it had a correct pacing to it though.
One last thing that was good about this film was the dialog. This film has one of the best one-liners that I've heard in a while:
It had a few other absurd lines like that one in the film, and it was quite funny to listen to the dialog.
Overall this film is pretty absurd. It has a good message to it and it has some other good elements, but it is mainly absurd and entertaining. This is classic John Carpenter and it would be nice if he could do something like this again, even though I wonder if his current films might become cult classic type of films in a decade or two.
Overall Grade: B+
Story: B
Acting: C
Audio/Visual: B
This is a classic John Carpenter film. It is absurd and feels exactly like a cult classic. He does a wonderful job with his story in this film, keeping it light and entertaining enough, while having a message in it.
What works well in this film is the story. The whole story is absurd, and so when the visuals or acting aren't quite up to snuff, it doesn't matter, because they are just odd like the rest of the film. It does have message mixed in with the story about the potential pitfalls of consumerism when it is driven too far, but it is mainly about the odd story, at least now to the viewer. The whole idea of a giant conspiracy with subliminal messaging used through mass media is pretty scary to think about, but how it is done in this film is pretty absurd.
One thing that doesn't work so well is the main fight scene. It is too pseudo-friends beating each other up, and they are beating the snot out of each other. One of the characters gets kneed in the groin four or five times and immediately gets up. It jost goes on and on and on. It was somewhat humorous to watch at times, but dragged on for about a minute or two longer then it ideally should have. That was about the only scene that didn't feel like it had a correct pacing to it though.
One last thing that was good about this film was the dialog. This film has one of the best one-liners that I've heard in a while:
I have come here to chew gum and kick a--, and I'm all out of gum
Overall this film is pretty absurd. It has a good message to it and it has some other good elements, but it is mainly absurd and entertaining. This is classic John Carpenter and it would be nice if he could do something like this again, even though I wonder if his current films might become cult classic type of films in a decade or two.
Overall Grade: B+
Story: B
Acting: C
Audio/Visual: B