They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJohn Carpenter brought real "homeless folks" into the production for several scenes and smaller characters and gave them food as well as paychecks. "I thought that was a pretty classy thing to do," said Roddy Piper.
- GoofsThe alien at the magazine stand gets his change twice.
- Crazy creditsThe screenplay writer for "They Live" which is credited to "Frank Armitage", does not exist. John Carpenter used many pseudonyms when giving credit to his works in films. With his vast amount of work that he did himself, (directing, producing, writing and composing the musical scores), he did not want to appear to be braggadocios and vain by having his name appear over and over in the credits of his movies.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Arrivals (2008)
- SoundtracksRock of Ages
(uncredited)
Music by Thomas Hastings
Lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady
[Heard as one of the songs played on the church tape]
Featured review
Ok, I will admit I have a soft spot for this movie. It's not Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the Godfather. It's campy, cheesy, in places with laughably bad acting and dialogue (it come with starring wrestlers as main characters). However it has the infamous Rowdy Roddy Piper in the lead, and it has a surprisingly interesting hi-concept underlying story and plot. Aliens, Mind Control, Society enslaved to hidden powers and messages, everybody sleepwalking though life - this movie had all of these back in the 80's. Some of the concepts in this movie have seen reuse in much more recent projects, and with a little more polishing I think this movie could have made a far bigger splash.
If you like Dystopian, conspiracy, alien invasion movies then this movie is a great watch. I urge anyone who is a science fiction fan to give this movie a chance if you haven't seen it yet. Though it is helpful when watching if you try to see what it could have been, and look past the obvious shortcomings.
If you like Dystopian, conspiracy, alien invasion movies then this movie is a great watch. I urge anyone who is a science fiction fan to give this movie a chance if you haven't seen it yet. Though it is helpful when watching if you try to see what it could have been, and look past the obvious shortcomings.
- thekageryu
- Apr 10, 2024
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,447,978
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,827,903
- Nov 6, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $13,450,603
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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