SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

cricketbat They Live is completely ridiculous, yet highly entertaining at the same time. This campy sci-fi movie has horrible writing, terrible acting and long, drawn-out scenes (there's a fight scene between two guys that lasts for over five minutes), yet there is something strangely likeable about it.

funbaggs Probably one of the best films of the 80s Sci-Fi/action genre and it is a true story of how we are sheep to controlled media and propaganda lies. i would highly recommend watching this film to anyone who wants to see great action and thought provoking ideals. Now don't get me wrong I DO NOT believe this is real but its idea is very real.. i love the movie for its core value and its superb acting by the late great Rowdy, and lets face it this is mans movie but with sci-fi and thinking involved..

martinrking The core message is one I agree with, too bad this movie lacks in all the fundamentals. This is one of the flattest movies I've ever seen. Rody Piper and Meg Foster are terrible. There are so many reaction shots of Piper where he puts on a thousand-yard stare. Thank god for Keith David! If not for him I don't think I could finish the movie.There is one piece of the flattest, dullest "blues" music that just keeps playing over and over and over again. It changes slightly here and there but it seriously feels like 50% of the film is set to the same eight bars of music.The heroes win by being totally impervious to gunfire, accept the one time they get shot and die, because otherwise there wouldn't be a conclusion to the story, I guess. So much of the movie is the heroes running down hallways and shooting frantically at the bad guys while the bad guys spray them back and hit nothing. Piper's character just seems to stumble from scene to scene. He literally falls through a hole to find the alien's lair. He never comes up with a plan other than, "run and shoot the aliens." No explanation is given for how his character obtained his action star abilities.Plot holes:The aliens recruit a homeless man to be one the co-conspirators in their regime. This is after we see the aliens tear down an entire shanty town of homeless people. What the aliens get out of having this homeless person as an ally, I have no idea. This character's return not only is a plot hole, it totally goes against the themes and spirit of the film.The protagonist succeeds by shooting the alien's broadcasting dish. The one dish they have that they use to control all of the people's perceptions in LA. There's no backup plan if, for whatever reason, the aliens loose their one dish. And these guys have faster-than-light space travel.

jimw-63592 John Carpenter is one of my all time favorite Directors. I grew up watching his movies, but missed this one until I saw it on TV when I was in my early 30's. Everything about this movie is awesome! Surprising is Roddy Piper was really good for a guy who was a former pro wrestler. Davied Keith was excellent as well, he is such an underrated actor. The two played the "buddy" duo very well. Piper and Keith's 5 minute fight scene is epic alone. I also love the soundtrack, it's very edgy. I bought this movie on Blu ray from Shout Factory and it is an excellent transfer both video and audio. I highly recommend it for your home theater library.