They Live

They Live (1988)

Timing: 1:33 (93 min)

7.295/10
3421

7.102/10
46742

7.2/10
163000

All about film

Video 12

Photo 137

Actors and characters

Release date

1988-11-04

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions, Alive Enterprises

Genre

Science Fiction, Action, Thriller

Budget

$4 000 000

Revenue

$13 000 000

Website

http://theofficialjohncarpenter.com/they-live

Director

John Carpenter

Actors

Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George Buck Flower, Peter Jason, Raymond St. Jacques, Jason Robards III, John Lawrence, Susan Barnes, Sy Richardson
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Larry J. Franco, Andre Blay, Shep Gordon

Operator

Gary B. Kibbe

Composer

John Carpenter

Artist

Audition

Editing

Gib Jaffe, Frank E. Jimenez
All team (151)

• The main character's name is never mentioned in the film, and Roddy Piper's character is credited as “Nada” (likely a surname) – which means “nothing” in Spanish.
• The role of Frank was written specifically for Keith David.
• The plot of the music video by the German electronic collective SQ-1, “Can you feel” (1999), is based on the film's plot. Similarly, the music video by American artist Armand Van Helden, “Into your eyes” (2005), is also based on this film.
• The film is based on the short story “Eight in the Morning” by Ray Nelson.
• A simple fight scene between Frank and Nada over Frank's refusal to wear the "magic glasses" turned into a 5-minute brawl instead of the director's intended 20 seconds.
• In the scene in the bank, where the main character Nada selectively shoots aliens visible through the glasses, he says: "I come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, but I’m all out of bubble gum." This phrase can later be heard in a game series named after the main character, Duke Nukem. In fact, this phrase belongs to the lead actor, Roddy Piper, who is also a well-known wrestler, having participated in Wrestlemania III where he was noticed by John Carpenter.
• In the underground corridor, the security guard's radio looks like the anomaly detector from "Ghostbusters".
• In the scene where the main character first meets an alien he can distinguish through the glasses, the alien is buying a newspaper. If you pay attention, you can see him receive change twice (before and after Nada puts on the glasses).
• Before the fight with Neid, Frank throws his bag on the ground, and it then disappears; the spot where it fell will be empty in subsequent frames.
• The main character’s name is never mentioned in the film, and in the credits, Roddy Piper’s character is listed as “Nada” (likely as a surname) – which means “nothing” in Spanish.
• The plot of the music video for the German electronic collective SQ-1’s “Can you feel” (1999) is based on the film’s plot. Similarly, the music video for American artist Armand Van Helden’s “Into your eyes” (2005) is also based on this film.
• The film is based on Ray Nelson’s short story "Eight in the Morning."
• A simple fight scene between Frank and Nada over Frank's refusal to wear the "magic glasses" turned into a 5-minute brawl, instead of the director's intended 20 seconds.
• In the scene in the bank, where the protagonist Nada selectively shoots aliens visible through the glasses, he says: "I come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, but I’m all out of bubble gum." This phrase later appears in a game series named after the protagonist, Duke Nukem. In fact, this phrase belongs to the lead actor, Roddy Piper, who is also a well-known athlete in the world of wrestling, having competed in Wrestlemania III, where he was noticed by John Carpenter.
• In the underground corridor, the security guards' radio looks like an anomaly detector from the film "Ghostbusters".