Line #8 Trivia/TheyLive


1	* BeamMeUpScotty: The ChewBubblegum line often gets switched up to "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum". Funnily enough, Wrestling/RoddyPiper himself was guilty of this at Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s 1994 King of the Ring PPV.
2	* CreatorChosenCasting:
3	** Creator/JohnCarpenter cast Wrestling/RoddyPiper after seeing him at ''Wrestling/{{Wrestlemania}} III''.
4	--->Unlike most Hollywood actors, Roddy has life written all over him.
5	** Carpenter created the role of Frank Armitage especially for Creator/KeithDavid, having worked with him on ''Film/TheThing1982''. He wanted someone "who wouldn't be a traditional sidekick, but could hold his own."
6	** Carpenter cast Creator/MegFoster after seeing her in ''Ticket to Heaven''.
7	* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: The entire fist fight scene was always intended to be ad-libbed. Creator/JohnCarpenter's shooting script simply said "FIGHT CONTINUES" for six pages, having the two actors do their thing.
8	* InspirationForTheWork: The idea came from a short story called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Creator/RayNelson, originally published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in November 1963, involving an alien invasion in the tradition of ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', which Nelson, along with artist Bill Wray, adapted into a story called "Nada", published in the Alien Encounters comics anthology in April 1986.
9	* NoStuntDouble: Not only did Wrestling/RoddyPiper and Creator/KeithDavid do their fight scene themselves, but they were really hitting each other except for blows to the face and groin.
10	* PropRecycling: The PKE Meter from ''{{Film/Ghostbusters 1984}}'' is used as an alien communication device.
11	* ReferencedBy:
12	** The plot of ''Literature/ZombieSchool'' is kicked off by the protagonist finding a pair of sunglasses which allows him to see the truth; that the students were replaced by zombies after being brainwashed by the faculty.
13	** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' plot is about an alien invasion and has a mission named "He Lives", which features Keith David (AsHimself) in a prominent role, and at one time he has a long fist fight against Roddy Piper (AsHimself, too).
14	* ReleaseDateChange: Originally scheduled for an October 21, 1988 release date, the film was moved to November 4, not only in order to avoid competition with ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', but to capitalize on the November 8 presidential election, in tandem with the film's social commentary.
15	* ThrowItIn:
16	** Nada's immortal "ChewBubblegum and kick ass" line as he enters the bank was an ad-lib by Wrestling/RoddyPiper, who kept a notepad of pro wrestling promo-style one-liners he wrote with him during filming.
17	** There's also the very, very long fist fight between Nada and Frank. It was supposed to be cut down, but the creators enjoyed the fight so much, they decided to leave the whole thing in.
18	** Apparently, one Universal executive didn't see the horror in aliens controlling the world's businesses, reportedly telling Creator/JohnCarpenter that "we sell out every day!" That line made its way into the finished film, where it was spoken by TheQuisling.
19	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The role of John Nada was originally written for Creator/KurtRussell. Creator/JohnCarpenter felt he should cast somebody else after casting Russell in three of his films prior to this one (''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]'' and ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''). Also considered were Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/MichaelBiehn, Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/BruceCampbell, Creator/TomCruise, Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/TommyLeeJones, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/ChristopherLambert, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/DolphLundgren, Creator/MichaelMadsen, Creator/BillPaxton, Creator/RonPerlman, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme and Creator/BruceWillis.
20	* WordOfGod: For some reason (see the CluelessAesop entry on the main page), racists like to use this movie as an allegory for the alleged international Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. This prompted an exasperated Creator/JohnCarpenter to [[https://twitter.com/thehorrormaster/status/816486706186596352 come out on Twitter and give them all a telling-off]].
21	--> '''John Carpenter:''' THEY LIVE is about yuppies and unrestrained capitalism. It has nothing to do with Jewish control of the world, which is slander and a lie.

Context Trivia / TheyLive