John Carpenter's THEY LIVE (1988) from Shout Factory

[bruce h]

I posted this in the Shout Factory thread, but was afraid it might get lost in the shuffle.

"I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum." Coming this November from Shout! Factory's awesome Scream Factory imprint, it's John Carpenter's THEY LIVE (1988)! Homeless drifter Rowdy Roddy Piper teams up with construction worker Keith David to fight a race of aliens who have infiltrated society, forcing the human race to do their bidding via subliminal messages that can only be seen by wearing special sunglasses. An excellent sci-fi satire of '80s consumerism with tons of quotable lines and a now-legendary 5 1/2-minute back alley brawl, it's about time this classic gets the treatment it deserves, and Shout is just the company to do it. PURCHASE. OBEY.

Preorder:
Blu: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ag=cinema09-20
DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ag=cinema09-20

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/ZmVF1Rv8RN8

[Mikey Horror]

Can't wait! One of my favorite flicks of all time and easily my most anticipated release next to the UK's Universal Monsters coffin set.

[vidjunkie]

This is great, will be getting this for sure, now I just wish they would release JC's Prince of Darkness.

[Mutilated Prey]

Is there anything better than that fight scene in the alley

All these Shout! Blu's are too friggin' expensive. Gonna wait for price drops and sales.

[bruce h]

Well, licensing from a major studio isn't cheap, plus they're putting a lot of time and effort into creating new supplements to make their discs as definitive as they can get. I think $20 is a fair price.

Now Olive, on the other hand...

[SaviniFan]

It is amazing how relevant this film is to today's political environment.

[bruce h]

Vintage making-of:

http://youtu.be/oWu9JOB-TmY

[X-human]

From Shout's DVD page:

Note: The poster allotment for the DVD has sold out; however, posters are still available in a very limited quantity with the Blu-ray.

Git it

[bruce h]

Finalized list of extras announced on FB today -- some really cool additions!:

- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director John Carpenter and Actor Roddy Piper
- Independent Thoughts – A new interview with Writer/Director John Carpenter
- Man vs. Aliens – An interview with Actor Keith David
- Woman of Mystery – An interview with Actress Meg Foster
- Watch, Look, Listen: The Sights & Sounds of “They Live” – A look at the visual style, stunts and music from the film with Director of Photography Gary B. Kibbe, Stunt Coordinator Jeff Imada, and Co-Composer Alan Howarth
- 2012 Cast Reunion Q&A with Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster. Presented by Ain’t It Cool News and Texas Frightmare Weekend.
- Original EPK: The Making of “They Live”
- Never-Before-Seen Footage from the Commercials created for the film.
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery

[pwrslave]

Looking at the item description for the Blu, it appears the posters are sold out. Any confirmation of this?

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by pwrslave

Looking at the item description for the Blu, it appears the posters are sold out. Any confirmation of this?

From their website:

Note: The limited-edition poster allotment has sold out.

[pwrslave]

Thanks Katatonia. I just saw that as well, must have missed it the first time.

[Workshed]

Have I ever mentioned Jonathan Lethem's book on They Live? It's part of a "Deep Focus" series of books on film and music, etc. (available here, among other places)

Deep Focus is a series of film books with a fresh approach. Take the smartest, liveliest writers in contemporary letters and let them loose on the most vital and popular corners of cinema history: midnight movies, the New Hollywood of the sixties and seventies, film noir, screwball comedies, international cult classics, and more. Passionate and idiosyncratic, each volume of Deep Focus is long-form criticism that’s relentlessly provocative and entertaining.

Kicking off the series is Jonathan Lethem’s take on They Live, John Carpenter’s 1988 classic amalgam of deliberate B-movie, sci-fi, horror, anti-Yuppie agitprop. Lethem exfoliates Carpenter’s paranoid satire in a series of penetrating, free-associational forays into the context of a story that peels the human masks off the ghoulish overlords of capitalism. His field of reference spans classic Hollywood cinema and science fiction, as well as popular music and contemporary art and theory. Taking into consideration the work of Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, James Brown, Fredric Jameson, Shepard Fairey, Philip K. Dick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Edgar Allan Poe, not to mention the role of wrestlers—including They Live star “Rowdy” Roddy Piper—in contemporary culture, Lethem’s They Live provides a wholly original perspective on Carpenter’s subversive classic.

Lethem is a fantastic writer and this slim book is a fun read-along while you watch. It's not an "art book" or anything like that--more like a series of essays on certain scenes in the film.

"Apparently, author Lethem was the only other person than me to take They Live as brilliant, stinging social commentary. He explains why in this great book.” — Sam Stowe, California Literary Review

"Who would have thought that one of the cleverest, most accessibly in-depth film books released this year would be a smart-ass novelist exploring a cheesy-cheeky ‘80s sci-fi flick wherein a former wrestler combats an alien occupation via magic sunglasses? . . . [Jonathan Lethem] is able to seriously dissect the movie’s message and often highbrow references, while also fully acknowledging its silliness." —Hartford Advocate

"Novelist and occasional critic Jonathan Lethem pulls apart the threads of John Carpenter's 1988 science fiction film of the same title, to entertaining and illuminating effect . . . Carpenter’s film emerges from Lethem’s inspection a more human and mysterious work, less coherent perhaps but fully immersed in the noisy, ceaseless traffic of cultural exchange." —The New York Times Book Review

"A fun read, packed with references to other films, literature and artists . . . one of the few books one would enjoy reading while watching a movie." —USA Today's Pop Candy

[MacReady]

Originally Posted by Mutilated Prey

Is there anything better than that fight scene in the alley

No, there is not.

Isnt that one of the longest fight scenes ever? Read that some where, a long time ago, in a galaxy far away........something like that, lol.

Might have to get the blu copy.