MovieChat Forums > They Live (1988) Discussion > Am I the only one who thinks this movie ...

Am I the only one who thinks this movie is hilariously bad?

posted 14 years ago by cdhanger-1
72 replies | jump to latest

I mean, the music, which is the work of /two minds/ according to the credits, is the same three or four seconds of bass, over and over again, through the entire movie. The dialog is silly ("I ain't daddy's little boy no more!") and the story, although not a bad one, could have been told in a small fraction of the time, if they had left out a thousand minutes of people staring blankly at each other, seemingly trying to remember whose line it is. Not to mention a half-hour-long pointless fight-fest...the only thing I could think of during that so-called "best fight scene ever" as one thread on this forum calls it, is "This guy doesn't believe you, so how about trying to show your glasses to one of the other 6 billion people in the world?"

I don't mean anything personal against people who do like this movie, and I'm sure a lot of people who like it will see this post, as this is a forum dedicated to the discussion of this movie. I'm simply stating my feelings, and would enjoy civil, non-personally-demeaning responses, regardless whether I'm agreed or disagreed with.

Mr. Daniel?
....I'm finished.

[–] biggiebaby 9 years ago

I don't think you get Carpenter films..

[–] Legion_89 9 years ago

I actually think its a genuinely good movie, and the issues present in it are still relevant today as they were back then. Also, Piper is awesome and perfectly cast as Nada (and his fight scene with Keith David is intense, realistic and brutal). Despite the semi campy tone, it maintains a seriousness that balances everything out perfectly. Still one of my most favorite films ever :)

On a side note, RIP Roddy Piper (Nada).

"Its time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all outta gum."- Duke Nukem

[–] LordoftheGeeks 9 years ago

This is Carpenter trying to do his version of RoboCop...only cheesier! Just like The Thing was his crappy version of Alien, and Starman was his poor version of ET.

He was always following in the footsteps of far more talented directors and writers. He should have stuck with what he did best, horror.

Everyone likes to focus on the political satire, but like RoboCop, it's not a serious political film. They're action films with some political jokes thrown in. The bad guys are business men...just like in every other movie made in the past 25 years.

The big message is that business controls everything, and they're trying to brainwash us with advertising. Profound! Way to go out on a limb there with such an original message.

The irony is always lost on people when they brag about a Hollywood film that preaches an anti-corporate or anti-conservative political message. Hollywood is a big business too, and so are liberal political causes.

[–] matheusmagalhaes10 9 years ago

I've seen my share of left-wing/Marxist films and, as a Marxist myself, I can only say that this is one of the best films in terms of accessibility. While people like the Dardenne brothers are responsible for deep works of art, Carpenter craved a fun midnight action movie that has a very clear and important message anyone can get and relate to. And because of that, it still very modern, in times of 99%.

It's definitely not like your usual "big bad company " film; all those films aren't questioning capitalism itself but rather imprinting its flaws on the hands of few bad guys (implying that there are good guys too, in the sense of that ideal type libertarianism keeps talking about and we never see in real life). Capitalists aren't humans in the sense that they reject human subjectivity for maximum profit rates. That's a bold message, yes sir. No one questions capitalism, bourgeois state, bourgeois law (...); we use to think that the bad part (oppression, crisis, poverty) happens because some bad guys are using this "good" tool for greed. Carpenter clearly states that capitalism itself is alien to us and we accept it because we were told there's nothing else out there. Agreeing or not, this is a FAR CRY from liberal Hollywood (bourgeois) morality tales. And the only way a film like that could see the light of the day in the 80's Reagan America would be disguised as a dumb action flick. I think that things haven't change that much since lots of modern superhero flicks have more progressive ideas and broader discussions than most oscar-bait-white-men-burden dramas.

Your mother cook socks in hell!

[–] hnt_dnl 9 years ago

The minimal music score goes with the film's dire tone and atmosphere. I'm glad that there's not music that dominates every scene just for effect. And I think Piper's lines were very humorous. He works for this movie. I've seen too many times where someone will say I wish (insert big name actor) were in this movie. I have my favorite big name actors, too, but sometims big names undercut certain movies and I think it would have in a low-key, B-movie like this. I recall a post where some wanted Kurt Russell, and I think Piper was perfect in this role. His limited acting range actually works for a movie like this. Very little dialogue, but a persuasive performance. And sometimes people love a movie just because it has a certain actor in it, overlooking it's other plusses.

About the fight scene, it's not so much about realism as the symbolism of how hard it is to get the average person to take off the blinders and see what's really going on in the world. Even within the film, David's character is Piper's only friend. He's a drifter and doesn't know anyone else. If he picks up some random person off the street, he doesn't know if he can trust them to join his cause. At least he got to know David to some degree to make a decision that he could be trusted and an ally if he could just get him to believe.

[–] gtbarker 8 years ago

Great concept very poorly executed. What happened to Carpenter after The Thing? It's like he forgot how to direct.

'Well I've got two words for you - STFU'

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] maxconran 8 years ago

me also, its hurrendous. love the concept but jesus christ it reminds me of an 80's porno where the plumber actually fixes the boiler and leaves.

[–] ian_spurlock 8 years ago

It's entertaining but the non-stop onslaught of Marxist propaganda gets really old really fast.

I'm assuming the director just finished his first semester of college and thought himself an expert on economics because he took Sociology 101 with his illiterate black-identifying, wheelchair bound-identifying, male-to-female-back-to-male-identifying, gender-fluid, man-hating, white-hating, lunatic Commie twat professor.

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

You sound like a right wing nut parody
Oh, and the director is one of the master of the genre, the great John Carpenter.

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