They Live (Blu-ray) (1988) |
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They Live (Blu-ray) (1988) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action / Horror |
Audio Commentary-John Carpenter and Roddy Piper Featurette Featurette-Original EPK: The Making of "They Live" (8:02) Featurette-Profiles: John Carpenter, Meg Foster, Roddy Piper More…-Fake Commercials in the Film (2:34) TV Spots-x 4 Gallery Interviews-Crew-Independent Thoughts with John Carpenter (10:07) Interviews-Cast-Woman of Mystery: Interview with Meg Foster (5:20) Interviews-Cast-Man vs Aliens: Interview with David Keith (11:20) |
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| Year Of Production | 1988 | ||
| Running Time | 94:17 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | John Carpenter |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Roddy Piper Keith David Meg Foster Peter Jason |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music |
John Carpenter Alan Howarth |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0  English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Audio Commentary DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 German DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired French German |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
"The Golden Rule: Those who have the gold make the rules” : Frank
Unemployed construction worker Nada (Roddy Piper) comes to Los Angeles looking for work, sleeping rough on the streets or in squatters’ camps. He is the quintessential working man, believing in America and that if you work hard and obey the rules life will get better. Frank (Keith David), whom Nada meets on a construction site, has a different view; struggling to make money to send back to his wife and two children he has not seen in six months for him the rich make all the rules and control everything. When the squatter’s camp and the nearby church are attached and razed by riot police, Nada comes into possession of a pair of sunglasses that, literally and physically, changes his view of his society.
When he puts on the sunglasses Nada can see that humans are being brainwashed so that they exist in a sort of sleepwalking trance by subliminal messages in TV ads, on billboards and in glossy magazines. This brainwashing is controlled by alien ghoul-like creatures, rich and powerful, who look absolutely normal until exposed by the sunglasses as skullish creatures. Nada is confused and astounded, but being an everyman action man he starts by shooting every alien he sees in a bank. Surrounded by the police he abducts Holly (Meg Foster) and her car but of course she does not believe a word of what he says he has discovered. Nada also has huge troubles persuading Frank, succeeding only after an intense fight with Frank after which Nada forces him to put on the sunglasses and see the alien world for himself, after which they join up with the resistance led by Gilbert (Peter Jason) challenging the aliens. If the Resistance can destroy the transmitter of the subliminal messages they may be able to expose the aliens to the population at large.
They Live was written and directed by John Carpenter based on the short comic Eight O’Clock in the Morning by Ray Nelson. Carpenter has an impressive CV as a low budget filmmaker directing such superbly entertaining, and now classic, films as Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Thing (1982), Escape from New York (1981) and, one of my family’s all-time favourites, Big Trouble in Little China (1986). They Live is not, to my mind, as good as those films, the message is just a bit too laboured. Not that the targets are unwarranted; the attacks on Reagan era economics, the emphasis on big corporations and profits over working class people, yuppie consumerism, environmental degradation and the greed is good syndrome of 1980s America are just as valid today as they were when the film was made, even more so! These are complex issues, including the fact that most people, in the film and in society, acquiesce to the control of “alien” big business in hopes of sharing in the proceeds while the world is destroyed, but the solution offered by They Live is also quintessentially American; get guns and kill everyone that is alien.
That the film works at all is due to the likeable presence of wrestler Roddy Piper, who is personable and does an excellent everyman action hero; one can very much see Carpenter’s frequent star and common man action hero Kurt Russell in the role!
They Live is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
The remastered print looks wonderful. Shot on film, details are solid, including Piper’s rugged and marked face, blacks are pristine and shadow detail very good. The only softness occurs in sequences such as the destruction of the squatter camp with the smoke and red flares. Colours are deep and natural, skin tones fine, brightness and contrast consistent. When Nada puts on the sunglasses he sees the world, and the aliens, in clear black and white. I did not notice any marks or artefacts.
English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available plus French and German subtitles.
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Audio is a choice of English LPCM 2.0, English and French DTS-HD MA 5.1 and German DTS-HD MA 2.0 while the audio commentary is English DTS-HD MA 2.0.
They Live was released in theatres with stereo audio. The LPCM 2.0 is surround encoded and is impressive although, not surprisingly, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 has cleaner separation. In any case, this is an excellent audio track. Dialogue is clear and the surrounds are in constant use for sounds including trains, cars, machinery, voices, gunshots, the destruction of stuff and falling bodies during the action, panning effects such as passing cars or helicopters overhead and the music. The mainly synthetic score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, as is often the case with Carpenter’s scores, is both catchy and intrusive. The subwoofer was used appropriately for explosions, shots, impacts and engines.
The lip synchronisation was slightly off on occasion.
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There is an impressive array of extras, including original 1988 EPK featurettes and profiles, interviews conducted in 2012 and an all-new 2018 retrospective.
Carpenter and Piper have a great rapport. They chat non-stop about how they first met, Carpenter’s intentions and the film’s social commentary, other cast members, the budget, matt paintings, anecdotes from the set, that fight scene, aging, wrestling and acting. This commentary has been around on releases of the film since the early 2000s but is still well worth a listen.
Made in 2018, this is an interesting and comprehensive look at the making of the film. Subsections are From the Page to the Script, Production Begins, Creating the Alien Nation, Building the Resistance and Sound and Fury which cover the source 1986 comic written by Ray Nelson, the political and social context of the film, casting, LA locations, 1980’s Yuppie culture, the fight sequence, the score and sound effects, the continued influence and relevance of the film (including how Trump was depicted during the US election as a They Live ghoul in full make-up!) The extra uses stills, film and on-set footage and interviews with a range of film historians and authors, associate producer / script supervisor Sandy King-Carpenter, who later married Carpenter, first assistant director Larry Franco, stunt coordinator and ghoul Jeff Imada, cinematographer Gary B Kibbe, co-composer Alan Howarth, cast member Peter Jason and, just for something different, musician Alice Cooper.
Made in 1988, this features a narration, on-set and film footage and comments by John Carpenter, Roddy Piper, Meg Foster and Keith David. It covers the themes of the film and the themes that interest Carpenter, the characters and the casting.
Made in 2012 from reconstructed footage, this extra showcases a number of the false commercials made by EPK Producer Larry Sulkis that were briefly seen in the film.
Four TV Spots.
27 stills; silent, they advance automatically.
Filmed in 2012, Carpenter talks about his love of sci-fi, his influences, the cast, stunts, make-up effects and the alien design of They Live.
Also filmed in 2012, Foster talks about the themes of the film and working with Carpenter and Roddy Piper.
Also made in 2012, for half the running time Keith speaks about his experiences filming The Thing before talking about the fight scene in They Live and Carpenter.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
There have been various Blu-ray releases of They Live over the years including one here in Australia. Earlier this year year Studio Canal released in the UK a restored 4K UHD edition of They Live; that release included the UHD, a Blu-ray of the restored film, a 48 page booklet, a CD and a separate disc of extras. This UHD release is also available in Australia. This review is of the Australian 2 disc release which has the restored Blu-ray and the extras disc.
They Live targets the control of society by the wealthy, greedy, yuppies, consumerism and big business to the detriment of the working class; these are certainly worthwhile targets then as well as now so in this sense the film has not aged. However the response proposed by the film, shooting anyone that is “different”, is very questionable. However, with a likeable Roddy Piper in the lead are John Carpenter directing, They Live has its moments.
The restored video and audio are outstanding, the extras worthwhile resulting in an excellent Blu-ray package for Carpenter fans or fans of 1980’s classics.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |