They Live

Recently I saw a very touching tribute to famous wrestler Roddy Piper and one of the short clips they used was his performance from the cult film They Live, and I wish to dedicate this review to his memory.

They Live is a fantastic science fiction movie directed by John Carpenter and starring Roddy Piper and Keith David. The story follows a drifter played by Piper as he moves to the west coast looking for work, he meets a construction worker played by Keith David who takes him into a shantytown where they both live. While there, several strange things happen that make Piper's character investigate a small church where there are dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes filled with nothing but mysterious sunglasses, he tries them on while walking through the city and soon discovers that an alien race has been slowly pushing the human race into conformity. So Roddy Piper and Keith David join the hunt to liberate humanity from the alien menace. To be honest this is a bit of a satire as well as a science fiction movie, since the film was made in the late 80's it takes a jab at Reagan era economics and how everyone and everything was selling out for a quick buck. But there is a hell of a lot more to the movie then just a punch at commercialism, the characters are normal everyday people who just try to rebel against something they just learned was real two days ago, Roddy Piper is the true star playing a wordly, strong, and a bit of a wise ass guy who is coping with the fact that aliens are treating the human race like cattle and it doesn't take him long to start kicking some ass. Keith David is a damn good actor, and this movie is no exception and the most memorable scene in the movie where he gets in a fistfight with Roddy Piper in an alley for six minutes, and seriously for six minutes the fight is insanely long and really funny at just how long it goes on is only just one highlight of the film. Not many people would fully understand the movie and it has grown a significant cult following in over 20 years, and I quite enjoyed it. It's a really good science fiction movie that has a lot of wit and cynacism to it. I would definitely say you should view it at least once in your life just to experience it. Give it a watch, and see what you think.