"You... you look like your face fell in the cheese dip back in 1956." (They Live (DVD))

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	They Live (DVD)
Date:	30/04/04 (84 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny in places, Good overall story

Disadvantages: Hasn't aged well, Some dodgy special effects

John Carpenter is a director whose work I've seen many times, but I've never really warmed to. It's not that I think his films are bad, just above average without being outstanding. So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch this on the recommendation of a friend of mine.

-= Story =-

A drifter arrives in Los Angeles looking for work and befriends a construction worker called Frank. Frank invites the man (who is never named throughout the movie, but is credited at the end with the name "Nada") back to a shanty type encampment where he is free to stay for a while.

During Nada's stay at this encampment, two weird things happen. The first is that a few of the camp's inhabitants are drawn to a television which is always on, and mysteriously are inflicted with headaches when a mysterious hacked signal is broadcast. The second is that there is something strange happening in the church across the road which Nada eventually decides to investigate after seeing a strange, blind street preacher mouth the same words as the hacked broadcast exactly as the broadcaster speaks them.

In the church, Nada finds out that it's being used as some sort of front and the continual choir music is really pre-recorded to hide something else. What Nada finds is some sort of chemistry set up and stacks upon stacks of plain boxes including a secret storage area. When he is discovered by the blind preacher, who tries to tell him something, Nada panics and runs off.

Later that night, the church is stormed by the L.A. police who are looking for the preacher and his friends. The encampment is bulldozed flat and the police brutally beat anyone who tries to stop them. During his escape, Nada sees the police capture and beat the preacher and his cohorts.

Nada's inquisitive nature gets the better of him and he returns the next day to see the camp and the church. Investigating the now burned out church
, Nada checks the secret area and discovers that it's still packed with the strange unlabelled boxes. He grabs one and takes it somewhere private to investigate. What he discovers is a box full of ordinary looking sunglasses, which initially confuses him. However, when he wears the sunglasses, he gets a distorted view of the world and people around him. A view which means that life will not be the same for Nada ever again...

-= My thoughts =-

In actual fact, I did quite like this film. Admittedly it does take a while to get going, but once you realise exactly what's going on, the pace picks up and the film becomes so much more interesting. The basic premise behind the story is excellent, based on a short story called "Eight O Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. It also reminds me of a Stephen King short story called "The Ten O'Clock People", although I can't remember if this predates the film or not.

Despite the lead character being played by a wrestler ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper), the standard of acting isn't at all bad. It's not Oscar winning material as you might expect, but the cast do a good enough job most of the time and Piper himself gives a very good account of himself in his debut lead role.

The special effects aren't exactly outstanding with the highlight being some matte paintings which are almost photo-realistic. There are other effects, which I won't really mention in depth, but don't look particularly real especially close up. They are sparingly used though, which reduces the negative effect.

I really must talk about the dialogue. As you might expect from a late Eighties sci-fi thriller (with a touch of social commentary), you're not getting Shakespeare. In fact, Roddy Piper's ad-libbed "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum" is probably as good as it gets until, that is, he tells Frank t
hat "life is a bitch and she's in heat"!

Overall, it's a film that I would recommend if you understand that it does take a while to get going (it's nearly 30 minutes into the movie before Nada starts wearing the sunglasses!), and some of the actions sequences and continuity are quite poor, but the overall package makes up for it, despite one or two issues I had with the characters (the obvious one is why did Holly choose the course of action that she did towards the end of the movie? This is never adequately explained.)

-= Cast =-

Roddy Piper - John Nada
Keith David - Frank
Meg Foster - Holly
Peter Jason - Gilbert
Raymond St. Jacques - The Street Preacher

Directed by: John Carpenter
Running time: 89 minutes
Certification: 18

-= The DVD =-

Presentation: Widescreen (Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen / 2.35 Wide Screen)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo: German, English, Spanish)
Region: 2

Extras:
Trailer.
Making of documentary.
Audio commentary with John Carpenter and Roddy Piper.

According to the box, there's a trailer for They Live, but I'll be damned if I can actually find it!

The making of documentary is quite good, but it's obviously made for TV rather than especially for the DVD so all the interviews etc. are from 1988. Not that this matters much as it does provide some extra information on the film and managed short interviews with the principle cast members, but it could have been a lot better. It's also a bit short, coming in at around 8 minutes long.

The audio commentary is also quite weird. It was recorded on December 5th 2001 which is around 13 years after the film and it's interesting to hear both Carpenter and Piper talk about the film. It takes a while for them to get into it though and for the first 20 minutes or so they spend the time telli
ng you what's happening onscreen with only one or two anecdotes about how the film was made. Later on though, the anecdotes and discussion about the film do become more frequent, but there's still an element of describing the action onscreen.

There were a few hidden features which I found (I can find the hidden features, but not the advertised trailer!) which are profiles on John Carpenter, Roddy Piper and Meg Foster, but these are barely a few minutes long each and as far as I can tell, are just recycled footage from the "Making of..." documentary with one or two extra bits thrown in.

-= Finally =-

I suppose you can't expect too much in the way of extras for a relatively small film made in 1988 even if it is from a supposedly big name director, but the film itself is quite good. "They Live" is currently (29/04/2004) available from Blackstar for £6.99.

Film: ****
DVD: **
Overall: ***

For those who may be interested, the short story on which this film is based can be found at:
http://www.vanguardnewsnetwork.com/index438.ht m

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