They Live (1988) movie poster

They Live (1988)

"You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they're people just like you. You're wrong. Dead wrong."
ThumbScore
👍 93%Google users liked it ⓘ
Critics Score
🎬 71%
Science FictionActionThriller

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Where to Watch

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Director
John Carpenter
Runtime
1h 33m
Rated
R
Country
United States of America
Language
English
TMDB Rating
7.3/10 (3,388 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes
87%
Metacritic
55

Cast

Roddy Piper as John Nada
Keith David as Frank Armitage · 70% avg
Meg Foster as Holly Thompsen · 71% avg
George Buck Flower as Drifter
Peter Jason as Gilbert · 73% avg
Raymond St. Jacques as Street Preacher
Jason Robards III as Family Man
John Lawrence as Bearded Man

Is They Live good?

Yes. 93% of real audiences liked it, by Google's archived audience score. Critics scored it lower at 71%, but audiences disagreed.

Where it ranks on ThumbScore

Rank in its genre
#8 / 1040 · Science Fiction
Rank in its year
#4 / 67 · 1988
Rank among its director's films
#1 / 18 · John Carpenter
On ThumbScore's lists
The Best Sci-Fi Movies on Prime Video (#2) · The Best Thriller Movies on Prime Video (#2) · The Best Action Movies on Prime Video (#3) · Top 250 Movies of All Time (#50)

By audience score, among films with 500 or more votes.

Overview

A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission. Wikipedia ↗

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What Reddit Thinks

r/MovieDetails
⬆ 13,446💬 294 comments
At the end of They Live (1988), the film shows the aliens being revealed to everyone. One of the aliens on TV is talking about how filmmakers like John Carpenter, who directed the movie, need to stop making violent movies which is something that a lot of people criticized him for doing in real life.
Read on Reddit →
Top comment: "Hi! This is our new Moviedetailsmodbot! --- If this post fits /r/MovieDetails, UPVOTE this..."
r/movies
⬆ 9,951💬 967 comments
They Live (1988) has aged really well
I've been working my way through John Carpenter's 80s run and have come to his 1988 work, They Live starring Roddy Piper and Keith David. Talk about... Read on Reddit →
Top comment: ""I'm here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of gum.""
r/movies
⬆ 2,866💬 172 comments
They Live (1988) and the Warning Hiding in Plain Sight. John Carpenter Turned a B-Movie Concept into One of the Sharpest Social Commentaries.
Read on Reddit →
Top comment: ""Put on these glasses, or start eating that trash can""
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