• Stars wrestler Roddy Piper and Keith David- who I love
  • Carpenter’s score here might be the real star- it’s fantastic
  • Carpenter is clearly influenced by Romero (which he mentions in the film) 50’s sci-fi (he loves 50’s movies in general if you look at the influence of hawks’ rio bravo on assault on precinct 13. There’s a lot of invasion of body snatchers here
  • Very anti-yuppie and anti-reagan.
  • “I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum… and I’m all out of bubblegum”
  • The entire film has achieved cult status but the overly long (purposefully) fight between the two stars especially so. Critics of the film’s blunt humor and action are missing at least part of the point- it’s a joke.
  • Good art is usually subtle but this is not
  • The repeat use of TV commercials showing the artificiality of the consumer driven 1980’s us vs. them (working class) is good narrative and visual form
  • Not in the top 10-20 of 1988 but it’s in the archives
  • Recommend