: One of the most famous quotes in action cinema occurs when Nada enters a bank: "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum" .

The 1988 science-fiction thriller , directed by John Carpenter , is a biting satire of consumerism and authority that follows a drifter named Nada who discovers the world is secretly controlled by aliens. Core Premise & Plot The Discovery : While working in

Los Angeles, Nada (Roddy Piper) finds a pair of special sunglasses that strip away the "mask" of reality.

Watch how the film's iconic sunglasses reveal the chilling reality of subliminal mind control:

: The film features a legendary, six-minute-long back-alley brawl between Nada and Frank, which John Carpenter designed to show the grueling difficulty of convincing someone to see an uncomfortable truth.

: The film’s visual style—black-and-white "truth" vs. colorful "illusion"—critiques the neoliberal ideologies and mass media manipulation of the 1980s.