Review #512: 'They Live' (1988)

A nameless drifter known simply as 'Nada' (former WWF wrestler Roddy Piper) wanders into Los Angeles and finds construction work to get him by. He befriends Frank (Keith David), who takes him to a homeless community, where the impoverished do what they can to help themselves and each other. Nada notices that at a nearby church, a group of freedom fighters, including a man who hacks into TV stations to deliver a message about society being enslaved, are stocking something in massive quantities. When the police destroy the community, Nada escapes after stealing one of the boxes, only to discover they are stacked with sunglasses which, when worn, allows Nada to see the truth - the planet has been overthrown by an elite alien race that are using advertising and mass media to deliver subliminal messages to the consumerist public.

Using numerous sources, including the work of H.P. Lovecraft and the short story 'Eight O'Clock in the Morning' by Ray Nelson, as his inspiration, director John Carpenter coined the idea for They Live after becoming sickened by the media's aim to simply take your money. It's a quite fascinating concept, as Nada wanders the streets littered with signs dictating messages such as 'Obey', 'Marry and Reproduce' and 'Keep Sleeping', to keep the human race zombified and hooked on consuming. Admittedly, it's a rather graceless and unsubtle execution, but They Live has its tongue so far in its cheek that its popping out the other side, and its mise-en-scene rooted in comic book aesthetic. When Nada wanders into a bank rocking a shotgun, spying the numerous alien suits, and proclaims "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubble gum!", you'll know it's not exactly a film to take too seriously.

The film is littered with memorable scenes and moments that have cemented its status amongst the cult favourites of its era, and most memorable is the five minute fight between Nada and Frank, as the former tries to get the latter to try the sunglasses, with Frank refusing given Nada's previous killing spree. It's a ridiculous episode, re-starting numerous times when you think its all over, but it's very funny, and actually impressively choreographed. The casting of 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper as the lead only increases the curiosity I had with this film, and although he's never going to win any Oscars, his lethargic and stoic approach suits his character, and makes himself a memorable hero (even with his sociopathic yet casual approach to mass murder). 

But beneath all the silliness, there is something very clever here, and has a relevant message that is even more powerful today. The coming together of various mediums into something we carry in our pocket, means the advertising elite are now always on our person - our phones seem to run our lives, with millions noting down their every move on social networking sites. Anyway, I digress, but it's these intriguing themes that make it such a shame that the film is so eager not to take itself too seriously, it resorts to ham-fisted (yet very funny) action scenes and cheesy one-liners every time it's in danger of becoming satirical. Yet, I suppose, it's the ridiculousness of the film that makes it so memorable, and it is undoubtedly a fun and colourful comic-book sci-fi/horror.

Directed by: John Carpenter

Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster

Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #338: 'Masters of the Universe' (1987)

During the 1980's the world of advertising and general marketing took on an all invasive, sinister tone. After the success of the Star Wars toy line from Kenner, the industry began a series of fantasy toy lines that used the 30 minute Saturday morning cartoon as an advertising tool. This led to famous toy's/cartoons such as Tranformers, Thundercats et al (there are way too many to list in this review). I believe the first of these was the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which hawked a band of sword-and-sandal-like fantasy characters, in a world called Eternia.

The cartoon and toy line were incredibly successful, and whilst as an adult, my cynical side sees the enormity of this exploitative marketing, as a child I was totally sucked in. With the unbridled achievement of cynical marketing, it was only a matter of time before the Hollywood machine would take the buff character of He-man and immortalise the cunt on screen.

The 1980's also saw an increase of over sized muscle-men on the big screen. This was of course reflective of Reagan's politics of big-is-good etcetera. So with such a low-rent project, the film needed a pretty low-rent, muscular "actor". I'm guessing that even Schwarzenegger and Stallone were too good for this film, as the actor chosen to play the homo-erotic, buff-dunce He-man was Dolph Lundgren, another of the increasingly large action stars of the decade.

The story involves a set of keys that can open a portal to other worlds/dimensions, and He-man's evil foe, Skeletor (Frank Langela) obviously wants the set. During a battle in Snake mountain, the hero's are forced to go through a portal where they find themselves in contemporary America, and take on the help of a native, Julie (Courtney Cox).

This derivative, insipid film is just awful. The action is more than likely placed in a Earth-bound setting for budgetary reasons. And to be fair, even if this was not the case, it would probably be just as shit. I did see this at the cinema at the time, and probably liked it. But seeing this as an adult just makes me realise that there was an abundance of genuinely awful movies in the decade of greed.


Directed by: Gary Goddard
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Meg Foster, Billy Barty, Courtney Cox
Country: USA

Rating: *

Marc Ivamy