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Site created 12/15/97.


review added: 1/22/99



John Carpenter's They Live
1988 (1998) - Universal Home Video (Image Entertainment)

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

Enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Film Rating: B+
Who could ask for anything more, than Roddy Piper kicking ass and chewing bubble gum? Not me. As a fan of the art of professional wrestling, I've always dug Roddy Piper -- he's the real deal. As a fan of John Carpenter's paranoid landscapes, I always look forward to seeing this film.

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B+/B+/C
Thankfully the film rocks on DVD. It's not as tripped out as I'd like, meaning that a commentary track on this one would have been really cool. Let's see the hands in favor of Carpenter and Piper dissecting this one on the audio. As it stands, the widescreen transfer is wonderful (it's 16x9 enhanced too, which is a nice touch). The audio is very even, no complaints. Where's the trailer, though?

Overall Rating: B+
I'd recommend that any Carpenter, wrestling, DVD, or sci-fi buff pick this one up if they haven't already done so. I'm perfectly happy with my copy. Standard issue DVDs don't get better than this one.

Specs and Features

94 mins, R, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1) 16x9 enhanced, single-sided, singled-layered, Snapper case packaging, film-themed menu, scene access (20 chapters), languages: English (DD 2.0), subtitles: English, Close Captioned

Bottom line

John Carpenter, king of the blue collar hero, keeps giving us anti-heroes to root for. They Live is no exception. Paranoia, rootin'-tootin' fist fighting, and snappy one-liners, come together perfectly on this fantastic DVD. I'm giddy in my seat writing about it. This is like heroin to me, folks.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com


THIS DISC IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT.


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