They Live (1988)

EXCELLENT
Fun movie, one of John Carpenter's best, right up there with The Thing and Halloween. I agree with the review below by "a reader" very much.

If only conspiracies were this fun in reality!
I usually approach any film starring a professional wrestler (retired or otherwise) with rightful skepticism. However, I must admit that Piper was well cast opposite David as a pair of brawny, down-on-their-luck construction workers who come across evidence of a pervasive, widespread alien invasion and a grassroots terrorist resistance movement opposed to it.

While the social commentary of this movie's script (very loosely adapted by Carpenter from Ray Nelson's clever short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning") is a bit heavy-handed from time to time, it adequately expresses the frustrations of the victimized working class of the 1980s and the destructive excesses of corporate culture. A particularly clever plot element is the alien invasion in the context of a venture enterprise, a sort of market-driven intergalactic imperialism implemented through class warfare. The omnipresence of the space aliens' identity and propaganda are also conveyed (and undermined) in a very inventive manner.

For those who could care less about this movie's satirical aspects, there's plenty of action to be found here: gunfights galore, a high body count and a famously hilarious, vicious, groin-crunching five-minute fistfight between the two leads. While this is unique among Carpenter's films in that it actually inspires some thought, his usual violent plot twists and macho slogans are intact.

Geek trivia: you don't have to look close to notice that the communicators that the guards in the radio station and underground network use were once the P.K.E. meters from "Ghost Busters." It's always nice to see a familiar prop recycled to good use!

Funniest and weirdest fight scene ever.
This is my favorite John Carpenter film. It has that feel of a 1950's monster movie. B movies just don't get better than this. A guy hard on his luck (Roddy Piper) is just scrounging around for work in a failing economy. He stumbles upon an underground movement that is fighting "THE MAN." Soon he comes across a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the world for what it is. The world is a really messed up place. He sees hidden symbols on billboards, magazines, and money. The worst part is the fact that there are aliens disguised as humans, and they are running the world. I don't want to give away too much, but Piper has a street fight with Keith David in this flick that is just hillarious. "Put on the glasses!" NO! "Just put em on!" You have to see this movie at least for the cheesey fight scene. I laugh every time.