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Last updated: 08 Jun 2026 at 02:32 UTC

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Review of They Live (1988) by Steven W — 03 Dec 2014

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Half sci-fi homage, half-paranoid manifesto, this surprisingly forward-thinking film earns its goofy premise through believable performances and superb technical direction; worth watching just for the eternally misunderstood fight scene, which is as effective a symbol as anything in Carpenter's catalog.

This review of They Live (1988) was written by Steven W on 03 Dec 2014.

They Live has generally received positive reviews.

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More Reviews of They Live

Review of They Live (1988)

By Antonius B (353) on 31 May 2018

Obey, Submit, No Free Thought. This movie is brilliant. Roddy Piper puts on special glasses and can see through the lies. And then he kicks ass…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Rob Aldam (133) for Backseat Mafia (133) on 30 Oct 2018

Made during the Reagan era, Carpenter channels the conspiracy theories and social concerns of the day to imbue it with an aura of eerie truthfulness…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Frederick S (12) on 29 Sep 2018

Annoying soundtrack. Too long fight scene over the pair of glasses…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Joy E (103) on 16 Dec 2018

Interesting concept, the creepy thing is that it's not very far from reality, maybe even more now that's already 30 years from its release…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Kamran R (80) on 31 May 2018

Interesting but sometimes the acting and specific scenes are so surreal and awkward that it takes you out of the world and into some low budget…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Sergius1 (1) on 19 Mar 2023

After I finished this movie, it almost felt like taking those very sunglasses and no, not putting them on, because for the life of me I can‘t…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Sean Fennessey (47) for The Ringer (285) on 30 Sep 2018

Carpenter always has his mind on some greater force when he's making a movie, but the paranoia and brute rage conveyed by (of all people) Rowdy…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Ahmedaiman9999 (95) on 25 Oct 2018

From his movies I've watched so far, I can say that Carpenter's movies share a cool style of direction, cool ideas, and cool characters…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Carlos M (2,069) on 31 May 2018

Obey, Submit, No Free Thought. This movie is brilliant. Roddy Piper puts on special glasses and can see through the lies. And then he kicks ass…

Review of They Live (1988)

By Bulgariancritic (86) on 26 Jun 2022

This was a pretty hilarious 80s Sci-fi B-movie .The acting was incredibly bad (but in a funny way) and for some reason they looped only 1 song…

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