They Live
From Wikiquote
They Live is a 1988 science fiction film about two migrant workers who discover that the world's population is controlled and exploited by an alliance of alien colonizers and human elites.
- Written and directed by John Carpenter and inspired by Ray Nelson's story "Eight O'clock in the Morning."
Contents |
[edit] George Nada
- I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I am all out of bubblegum.
- Brother, life's a bitch, and she's back in heat.
[edit] Frank Armitage
- The steel mills were laying people off left and right. They finally went under. We gave the steel companies a break when they needed it. You know what they gave themselves? Raises.
- The whole deal's like some crazy game. They put you at a starting line, and the name of the game is "Make It Through Life," only everyone's looking out for themselves and looking to do you in at the same time.
[edit] Other
- Graffiti: They live, we sleep
- Bearded Man: The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.
- Subliminal Messages on Billboards and Magazines: "OBEY“, "MARRY AND REPRODUCE“, "NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT", "CONSUME“, "CONFORM", "SUBMIT", "STAY ASLEEP", "BUY", "WATCH TV", "NO IMAGINATION", "DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY"
- Subliminal Message on US Currency: "THIS IS YOUR GOD"
- Gilbert: The world needs a wake-up call. We're going to phone it in.
- Drifter: You still don't get it, do you, boys? There ain't no countries anymore, no more good guys. They're running the whole show! They own everything, the whole god-damn planet. They can do whatever they want!
[edit] Dialogue
- Frank: I got a job now and I plan on keeping it. I'm walking a white line all the time. I don't bother nobody. Nobody bothers me. You better start doing the same!
- Nada: White line's in the middle of the road. That's the worst place to drive.
- Frank: So how you gonna make it?
- Nada: I deliver a hard day's work for my money. I just want the chance. It'll come. I believe in America. I follow the rules. Everybody's got their own hard times these days.
- Frank: [about the glasses] We can't be the only ones who can see, we've got to find the people who made these.
- Nada: Yeah, if any of them are still alive.
- Drifter: What is wrong with having it good for a change? Now they're gonna let us have it good if we just help 'em. They're gonna leave us alone, let us make some money. You can have a little taste of that good life too. Now, I know you want it. Hell, everybody does.
- Frank: You'd do it to your own kind.
- Drifter: What's the threat? We all sell out every day, might as well be on the winning team.
[edit] Taglines
- 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.
- Who are they? And what do they want?
[edit] Cast
- Roddy Piper - George Nada
- Keith David - Frank Armitage
- Meg Foster - Holly Thompson
- George Buck Flower - The Drifter
- Peter Jason - Gilbert
- Raymond St. Jacques - Street Preacher
- Jason Robards III - Family Man
- John Lawrence - Bearded Man
- Susan Barnes - Brown Haired Woman
- Sy Richardson - Black Revolutionary
- Wendy Brainard - Family Man's Daughter
- Lucille Meredith - Female Interviewer
- Susan Blanchard - Ingenue
- Norman Alden - Foreman
- Dana Bratton - Black Junkie
[edit] External links
- They Live quotes at the Internet Movie Database
- They Live at Rotten Tomatoes