User:LancedSoul/sandbox/They Live

They Live (titled onscreen as John Carpenter's They Live) is a 1988 American science fiction action film written and directed by John Carpenter, based on the 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. Starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster, the film follows an unnamed drifter who discovers through special sunglasses that the ruling class are aliens concealing their appearance and manipulating people to consume, breed, and conform to the status quo via subliminal messages in mass media.

Plot
Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued, and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Nada is a very likeable and badass protagonist.
 * 2) Frank and Holly are both great support.
 * 3) The aliens are very neat villains.
 * 4) Very well crafted designs for the aliens.
 * 5) A pretty chilling atmosphere.
 * 6) Very intense and gripping action scenes.
 * 7) Lots of memorable moments and quotes.
 * 8) John Carpenter and Alan Howarth both deliver a great and chilling score.
 * 9) Impressive special effects.
 * 10) Stellar performances from the cast.
 * 11) The chemistry between the characters is great.
 * 12) The story is very well written, and the concept is pretty chilling.
 * 13) Some pretty funny moments here and there.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While well intentioned, the message is hammered in a bit too much.
 * 2) The fight scene with Nada and Frank drags on.

Reception
It initially received negative reviews from critics, who lambasted its social commentary, writing and acting; however, like Carpenter's other films, it later gained a cult following and experienced a significantly more favorable critical reception. It is now regarded by many as a largely underrated work. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 85% based on 65 reviews, and an average rating of 7.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A politically subversive blend of horror and sci fi, They Live is an underrated genre film from John Carpenter.". Metacritic gives the film a weighted average rating of 55 out of 100 based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".