Ranking Every John Carpenter Movie (part 3 of 3) - re:View 

More of this "one director" series, please. These are great to have an outlook at the director's material over the years.

Big Trouble In Little China was described to me as "A movie where the Comic Relief Sidekick thinks he's the Main Character and lives in an Eastern D&D fantasy world where he rolls only 1's or 20's."

In the earlier episode they jokingly note how Adrienne Barbeau's last screen appearance in a Carpenter film is possibly due to a completely conjectural affair. I think it's worth adding that in her uncredited scene in The Thing, all Kurt Russel says is "cheating bitch."

Jay watching They Live "all the time" as a kid explains a lot.

"They live" being Jay's childhood comfort movie somehow says more about him than his childhood of unrated slasher films, and I love that.

Out of everything said in this three-part series the most important thing we need to remember is that Rich Evans hates John Carpenter's Halloween

I simultaneously love that Rich Evans rates Christine so highly and hate that he neglected to talk bout the lead actor’s performance. He knocked it out of the park!

The Thing also has the greatest performance ever given by a dog.

"It's equally relevant because NOTHING CHANGES" The mask slips and Cynical Jay becomes Profound Jay.

The Thing is Carpenter's masterpiece. I can watch that film over and over and still get creeped out in certain scenes. Plus, Kurt Russell is the man. Lol

To clear up the mystery of why Big Trouble bombed; Fox didn't get it - panicked - and decided to cut their losses by not advertising it and quietly killing it in theaters. When it hit home video, and the pressure was off, it was an instant hit. Pretty much the same story with The Thing. To this day, no mater what the context is, Carpenter is so bitter that he refuses to talk about either Fox or BTLC.

Rich doesn't realize he loves Christine so much because it's his relationship with Mike.

That prolonged fight scene always felt like how it is arguing with someone to believe something they really don’t want to see. Waking up is hard to do.

That cut to Xtro as Rich was describing the much needed epilogue to Starman, was golden.

I'm a chess player and I just had to put up the position from 27:53 on my chess analysis tool to see if the position was real or just some random chess position. I turns out they got someone who really knows chess to set up the position. It's checkmate in two moves from black (the computer). if Kurt gives up his queen it's checkmate in four. Either way, he's getting checkmated. Really nice touch. My favorite Carpenter movie is Big Trouble In Little China.

The extended fight scene in "They Live" is genius. It's a representation of the misdirected anger that people feel when they know they are being wronged by the system but point the finger at their fellow citizens instead.

I would love to see more ranked director lists! If Josh and Jay did one on David Lynch films that would be wonderful. I really love this format!

I'm really looking forward to Rich apologetically defending his stance on Halloween whenever it's brought up in the future, like Mike has to defend his belief in ghosts.

Back in 2013 I attended a screening of They Live at the Trocadero Theater in Philly for the film's 25th anniversary. Rowdy Roddy Piper was in the audience and came on stage after the end of the movie. He said he had never experienced something like that before and felt awed, because all throughout the film everyone was cheering and shouting at their favorite parts, particularly the suplex at the end of the fistfight. Then they brought out a special cake for him complete with the sunglasses. It was such a great night, and I know he had a blast, too. Fast forward to 2019, and I was working for an urban forest management company in California, doing inventories of trees for LA County. There's a street in West Rancho Dominguez that I was surveying, and on both sides of the street from end to end were campers and RV's that people were living in, a very common sight out there, as I learned from that job. The cost of living is just so high, it's ridiculous. People have to live somewhere. Anyway, I was approached by a few people who thought I was an undercover cop or something scoping out the area. Very nice people, and I explained what I was doing, and to this day I'm not sure they believed me. But they pointed to some posters that said that the county was going to do cleaning along the street within the next few days. The following week I bumped into them again on a different street I was surveying. They said that the county came in and bulldozed or towed anything that hadn't been moved. So many of those vehicles were broken down and couldn't be moved in time. One of them said that she lost her camper, and of course she wasn't the only one. I asked them what the people who lost their homes were going to do now and got a shrug in return. I understand feeling like that scene is hyperbole or totally fictitious, because that's exactly what I thought until that day. But no, turns out that actually happens. It's a messed up world we live in.

Well Jay pretty much summed up my world view with the “It’s not more relevant now, it’s just that nothing ever changes” part…

There's a really wholesome energy to this 3 part series. I love every time Jay just politely accepts that Rich hates his some of his favorite movies lmao

please do more director focused videos, as someone who isn't a big film head personally, i like seeing you guys get enough time on one creator to really explore what makes them tick for you guys. I've heard so often about how great John Carpenter is, but with this series I feel like I actually understand why a bit better.

I never really stopped to think about it when I was a kid but John Carpenter is single handedly responsible for my love of slasher, synth, Keith David and Kurt Russell. Thank you JC

Bored at work earlier so I decided to rank their combined scores with the average total included: 1. The Thing (1.5) 2. Big Trouble (2.5) 3. Escape NY (4) 4(tie) Starman (5) 4(tie) They Live (5) 6. Christine (6) 7. Halloween (7.5) 8(tie) Assault on Pre 13 (9.5) 8(tie) Memories of an Inv Man (9.5) 10(tie) Vampires (11) 10(tie) In the Mouth of Madness (11) 10(tie) Prince of Darkness (11) 10(tie) The Fog (11) 14. Village of the Damned (13) 15. The Ward (13.5) 16(tie) Dark Star (16.5) 16(tie) Escape from LA (16.5) 18. Ghosts of Mars (17)

"Don't panic, it's only me: [full name]." How I enter every room from now on

Rich has given me a newfound appreciation for Christine. I’ve always enjoyed the movie but when he describes how she’s “felt up” and checked out by a factory worker and she responds to it like a woman that’s been disrespected like I’ve never even thought about that and I love that her personality is so evident even in the first few moments of the film

I actually love the prologue for Big Trouble in Little China precisely because it sets up the joke that Jack Burton is, in the end, the goofy sidekick of the story. Like, it builds him up as if he's this legendary hero, and then the whiplash you get from him constantly fumbling about like an idiot for the rest of the film makes everything more hilarious.

I love the drawn out fight scene in They Live, in my opinion it drags on for a thematic reason. The stubborn struggle by Keith David’s character represents just how far people will fight to cling on to the reality they know and understand. This quote from The Matrix sums it up well: “You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

That moment in the They Live alley fight with the board, and Roddy going "oh shit" and realizing it went too far -- that's EXACTLY the vibe that makes the whole fight so enjoyable, despite it's length. It's like two close brothers fighting -- not to _KILL_ -- and with each one being equally matched in stubbornness and strength. And just when you think, yep, that's it, they wore each other out... BOOM, explodes all over again. It's hysterical and fun. And if it wasn't THESE TWO actors, in THIS movie, I don't know if it could have worked. It shouldn't. But it does. And I love it. Such a great film. :)

I was lucky enough to see The Thing at an indie theater last week. Watching my favorite John Carpenter film on the big screen with a live audience 39 years after its release was amazing!

John Carpenter had a really rock solid, borderline perfect run through out the 80s.

Fun Idea: The Thing's Alien is the exact same species as Starman, but their ship crashed landed in the arctic with no initial template to acclimate to the environment, went insane and unstable.

00:20 They Live 10:32 Starman 19:11 Christine 24:39 The Thing 31:05 Big Trouble in Little China

I love the singular joke that, outside of killing the bad guy, Jack Burton is the most useless hero ever created. I remember John Carpenter on radio's Joey Reynold's show when Big Trouble in Little China opened and almost every critic and audience member didn't get the joke. In fact, he received a lot of flack for Christine by a caller. I felt so sorry for him that day.

The theory I kind of love about They Live is that after the end of the movie, when the world knows the aliens exist and are in charge, nothing changes. People would grumble and protest, but things would just quickly go back to the status quo with the understanding that aliens are in charge. As long as most people wouldn't have to change their comfortable life they aren't going to put up a fuss

Jay is so right on when he says Big Trouble in a Little China is the best movie ever while watching it. It's obviously not, but it's just such a joy to watch.

A lot of They Live was inspired by this 60's short story called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning", which I believe had a main character conveniently named "Nada". It was a much more straightforward "typical" story about an alien invasion that disguises themselves as humans. It was just a really convenient name for Carpenter to use since he wanted an "everyman". Another fun note: he told Roddy that Nada has a back story... "but you go home and write it yourself. Don't tell any of the cast it, never tell me it." Roddy did indicate he did his homework, he did exactly that, and he died being the only person who knew Nada's back story. Ah, what a beautiful approach to directing, isn't it?

Keith David is so underutilized. My favorite character in nearly every film he's in.

The reason the fight in They Live goes on for so long is it's a metaphor for changing someone's mind. I can't remember what documentary I saw (I think it was one about John Milius) and they talk about all Piper wants is to show Keith David the truth but he wants none of it and takes for freaking ever to convince someone like that.

“It’s equally relevant because nothing changes”. Best quote. 👏🏻

You know what's weird about Big Trouble in Little China is that EVERYONE in my elementary school was talking about it when it originally came out. EVERYONE! So when I learned later that it was a catastrophic failure, I was very confused.

"While you are watching it, it is the best movie ever made." Truer words were never spoken

This has been a great excuse for me to introduce my wife to John Carpenter. She watched The Thing for the first time last night and loved it. Tonight, They Live, and tomorrow, In The Mouth of Madness.

If Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't have that knife superglued and duct-taped to her hand in Halloween Kills, I swear to Christ...

"I hate John Carpenter's Halloween" - Rich Evans, 2021

As to why Big Trouble bombed so badly, Carpenter and Russell talk about that in the commentary track. They talk about how the studio completely fucked up the marketing, even after it tested through the roof.

"It's entirely on accident" Sorry Rich, but it's all in the reflexes.

Honestly one of my favourite series on RLM, it helped me to find what John Carpenter was missing and what I was missing from JC. He's one of my favourite directors of all time and the fact he walked his own path and is still indisputably one of the most influential horror directors of all time, if not THE most, brought so much joy into my life. Thank you Jay and Rich

When I was living in Boston we went and saw "The Thing" at a midnight showing during a blizzard. One of my best movie memories.

"You realize it's the greatest movie ever made... while watching it." That explains the movie so perfectly! I know there are probably better movies out there for any number of reasons, but when watching Big Trouble in Little China, it really feels amazing.

On Rich’s point about The Thing and the chess wizard foreshadowing: Not only does the computer checkmate him unexpectedly, under closer inspection apparently the computer made an illegal move and actually did cheat, which is a cool detail.

i find it strange how his movies didn't make money when they are some of the most entertaining, fun and best films I've seen in my life.. the thing is a legit masterpiece as well imo.

"Big Trouble in Little China" is definitely my favorite John Carpenter movie. When Jack Burton sees that little eyeball monster and goes "Oh God no please what is that thing" it kills me every time.

as someone who was three years old when Big Trouble came out, it was an inherently accepted piece of pop culture amongst kids, like Candyman would be a few years later. BTILC was as popular among the kids I grew up around as Ghostbusters was, we just immediately understood that it was awesome and it was a huge part of our lives. Sleepaway Camp was also like that, but BTILC was a BIG deal. it bombing must've just been parents' fault somehow.

I’ve only seen two of his movies but I could hear these guys talk John Carpenter for hours

John Carpenter has made some of the most rewatchable films in the history of film.

Very unique placements. I gotta respect the high rank for Starman, it’s one of the most beautiful movie’s I’ve ever seen.

This ranking is even more relevant now than when it was made!

"Put on the glasses!" Keith David: "No."

So nice to hear some positives about Christine I've loved this film since i first saw it. But it's not often spoken about which is a shame as its one of Carpenter's more underated movies

Seeing Rich recommend a Peter Watts short story was wild. The man has impeccable taste. The Things is fantastic.

Its insane how badly carpenter did in cinemas, he has like 10 absolute bangers that have never really left the zeitgeist its surprising he didn't get jaded sooner.

The fight scene in they live is absolutely perfect. Its the perfect embodiment of how it feels to try and wake somebody up to a harsh reality they don't want to accept

The alley fight scene in They Live going on for 15-20 minutes is a _PERFECT_ metaphor for how long and arduous and difficult it can be to change someone's mind about a topic and help them see from a new perspective. It *needed* to be that long and difficult and ridiculous to reflect reality. Those are the kinds of strange yet brilliant touches that makes John Carpenter such an amazing director.

I'd like to see Paul Verhoeven covered this way. Starting with his early Dutch films. Partly because Mike seems to really like his directing.

I don't think I'll ever get tired watching all these guys discuss the movies they love.

The short story rich mentioned "the things" is written by peter watts. He's written quite a few hard sci fi books i highly recommend : The rift trilogy ( starfish, malestrom, and behemoth Firefall series -Blindsight & echopraxia

That short story Rich recommended... Holy shit. One of the most chilling final lines I have ever read.

Jay and Rich is a pretty underrated duo

One of the things I love about "Starman" is how nice the ordinary people they run into on their cross country journey. Especially the guys at the hotel who tell them there's some cops trying to jigger the lock on their car.

They Live has arguably the greatest fight scene in any movie ever. All over a man just trying to get another man to wear some glasses. R.I.P. Roddy Piper

Jay's casual reference to John Gardner's Grendel novel is the hottest thing ever.

Rich: “…keeps getting weirder, and keeps getting progressively weirder”. He could be describing the trajectory of RLM.

The Thing Tag Line: “It just wants to go home”.

I agree, “that scene” in They Live is one of the single best dystopian future/revelation/realisation scenes this side of the Matrix!

1: Christine was a haunted car in the book. The car itself was not sentient. Roland LeBay, his wife and his daughter all died in that car. Arnie was possessed by LeBay. That's why his attitude changed, and whenever school or work took Arnie out of town, LeBay would leave Arnie's body, and use Christine to kill Arnie's bullies. 2: The Thing was the inspiration for Odo and The Founders on DS9. There's even an episode where the cast is stranded on a ship with a changeling. They do blood tests, they mistrust each other... It's very reminiscent of the movie.

Having read "The Things" short story, I enthusiastically urge everyone to go read it, it's so good!

I never thought about it before, but Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China kind of works like a point-of-view character for the audience. Not just in asking expected questions, but in hoping to be brave in terrifying situations and also failing since we'd be completely out of our element (with the occasional success too).

Just wanted to say that Rich Evans has been as good as he's ever been in this series. Fantastic work.

"Colin and I did the Thing" I couldn't help but chuckle.

John Carpenter seems like he's having a blast focused on soundtracks, specifically for the Halloween trilogy where he does not have to deal with the headaches of filmmaking. Good for him - the new tunes are awesome!

Now I need Jay and Josh to go through Argento's entire catalogue just like this. Maybe throw Rich into the mix because we know how much he loves Italian cinema

Big Trouble in Little China is probably my all-time favorite movie. It's just perfect from start to finish.

I'm sure that every time The Rock lands a multi million dollar role he gets down on his hands and knees and thanks Roddy for single-handedly legitimizing a former pro wrestler as a competent enough actor for starring in a Hollywood vehicle.

“It figures it’d be something like this.” -Nada

The flaws with They Live can be chalked up to it being adapted from a 1986, 7 page comic called "NADA" that was itself adapted from a 1963 short story called "Eight O'Clock In the Morning." Piper dying at the end is a slight twist on same ultimate outcome of the protagonist's fate. The short story also leans a bit more in the Total Recall and Fight Club (novel) direction leaving it more ambiguous as to whether or not what Nada was seeing was real or just in Nada's head. In the movie, he's betrayed and murdered. In the story, he just dies after he was told that his heart would stop at 8am the next day before he goes on a one man crusade to "wake up" the masses.

They Live: The film with the fight scene South Park cribbed for their iconic "Cripple Fight". Also responsible for one Duke Nukem's most iconic quotes.

Rich is 100% correct in that the ending of "They Live" really breaks from the allegory. You can't just "destroy a satellite" to change political, socio-economic class structures.

Big Trouble In Little China was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and it still is pretty high on the list.

Fun Fact: The Things was written by Peter Watts, who wrote the equally excellent sci-fi masterpiece *Blindsight*. The man's a goddamn genius.

I remember an interview with Roddy Piper back in the day where he talked about the fight scene. According to him, at first it just wasn't working so he said "Just hit me. I'll be fine," which led to the scene getting more and more physical and giving it that visceral feel that makes it so effective. Oh, and _Christine_ was one of Stephen Kings less stupid books and if you've read it, even though the movie doesn't tell all of it, you can overlay the story from the book on the movie with no real conflicts. The original owner didn't really 'possess' the car, he was using the car to possess Arnie.

Even knowing that opening scene of Big Trouble was a studio note, I actually think it actually adds to the humour of Jack Burton's preposterous character. This super serious interview talking about how they all owe him a huge debt, and then you see the film that follows lol

The only thing I would change about The Thing would be getting rid of that stupid flying saucer at the start. It spoils so much tension when you know its an alien from space. Without that scene, it really could be absolutely anything, and the reveal of the saucer is so cool. That has always felt like studio meddling, and I skip that scene when I show the movie to people.

The first time I watched Big Trouble In Little China I was high. I didn't know anything about the movie beforehand. I was extremely confused but extremely entertained. It didn't dawn on me that he was the side character until the rocks knocking him out. And I had a holy shit moment. The best part is that after the movie ended, I immediately watched it again sober.

"There has always been people in power taking advantage of people without power " - Jay Bingo !

I love the fact that the moment that pipper goes "i've gone too far" in they live is the same as in the fight he has with brett hart in wrestlemania 8

About that guitar: It's just a clean guitar playing a blues lick, but they put an octave pedal in the signal chain, so the lower octave is dubbed. Makes it fat and eery. Could be a single bass guitar, too, but i doubt it. Octave pedals were quite the rage in the 80ies.

For me personally I think The Thing is not only carpenters greatest film but honestly the best sci fi/horror film of all time. Everything from the effects, casting, music, screenplay ect is just perfect it. The aniexty and paranoia explored in the film through the characters is more realistic than any film I have ever seen

Christine played the 2nd best car character next to Low Blow's car.

Hate to break it to you boys, but The Thing actually does have an official sequel, that John Carpenter himself said was canon. The Thing The Video Game on PS2, Xbox and Windows :) You'll probably never see this comment, but i thought i should just put it out there for people to see. Damn good game too btw, true paranoia is playing the experience and not just watching it.