Universal Pictures released They Live in the United States on 4 November 1988. And this little low-budget film did surprisingly well with critics and at the box office.
I like the film. But it isn’t great. In particular, the fight scene in the middle goes on way too long. And its politics are of the fluffy kind that can appeal to everyone even though they are all thinking different things. But I do like those politics because I know what Carpenter means, and I agree with it.
You see, the film was a criticism of the Reagan presidency. Carpenter has been pretty clear about that.
John Carpenter wrote the film with Kurt Russell in mind. But Russell didn’t want to do the film. He said he didn’t want to be a one-director actor. Over the years, he’s stated other reasons. But I think it’s very simple: he knew what Carpenter was doing and he didn’t like it. Russell has been very clear that celebrities shouldn’t talk about politics, but he does all the time. And it is well known that he admires Ronald Reagan.
So they game Roddy Piper the role. Unlike Russell, Piper didn’t talk a lot about how he didn’t talk about politics. So we don’t know what he thought. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing?
So They Live isn’t as sharp as it could be. And it features a six-minute fight scene that should have been 90 seconds. But it’s a whole lot of fun. And you don’t even need to pay a lot of attention.
On its 37th birthday, let’s watch They Live!
They Live (1988) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
