John Carpenter’s They Live turns 38 today, and its alley fight remains one of the film’s biggest talking points. Roddy Piper and Keith David spent weeks preparing a brawl that helped turn a small disagreement into a movie landmark.

John Carpenter built They Live’s fight from five empty script pages

Time Out includes the sequence in its selection of the best fight scenes in movie history. Meanwhile, Rotten Tomatoes placed Piper and David seventh on its list of the 20 greatest movie fistfights.

The praise centers on the scene’s strange mix of brutal moves, exhausted fighters and comedy.

Behind the finished sequence, producer Larry Franco recalled a script that offered little detail. According to SYFY WIRE , Carpenter left five empty pages for a scene described simply as “They fight.”

Then, stunt coordinator Jeff Imada helped shape those pages into an extended exchange of punches, throws and stubborn recoveries.…