RoyaleDuke
Banned
Yeah, finished this earlier tonight.
Loved it.
Loved it.
A lovecraftian show that delivers. thank you God.
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Stranger Things |OT| Hey, you guys...it's our time. It's our time in here July 15th
- Thread starter GK86
- Start date
reelbigtink
Member
About to start this as I've heard great things. My buddy Craig worked on it and his band Space Knife apparently makes an appearance on a TV at some point. Pretty cool stuff!
Also here is the music video (as far as I know): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHq-aAZnY5g
Also here is the music video (as far as I know): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHq-aAZnY5g
Great show.
This is what Super 8 should have been.
The kids really stole the show. Thought I'd watch an episode or two and binged it. Awesome show.
Questions/Thoughts:
Really hope they don't do a monster of the week for the next season. Needs to be just as good. It deserves a full continuation. Job well done Netflix.
This is what Super 8 should have been.
The kids really stole the show. Thought I'd watch an episode or two and binged it. Awesome show.
Questions/Thoughts:
Why was the dimension so organic?
Can that creature normally cross dimensions or did it not start until El made contact/caused breach?
The "black water" world when El is channeling I assume is the representation for her telepathy. Was the beast even aware of her or did she just accidentally tune into that dimension as a side effect of her powers?
Is that thing a beast or did it used to be human? If so curious to see what happens to Will.
Can that creature normally cross dimensions or did it not start until El made contact/caused breach?
The "black water" world when El is channeling I assume is the representation for her telepathy. Was the beast even aware of her or did she just accidentally tune into that dimension as a side effect of her powers?
Is that thing a beast or did it used to be human? If so curious to see what happens to Will.
Really hope they don't do a monster of the week for the next season. Needs to be just as good. It deserves a full continuation. Job well done Netflix.
Dave_6
Member
Damn, this show has hit all the right points for me. The soundtrack, the sci-fi, the 80s nostalgia, the characters, all of it. I sat down tonight with the intention of watching through episode 3 or 4 but wound up watching till halfway through episode 7 lol. I just couldn't stop! Gonna have to finish it up tomorrow.
Ziltoidia 9
Member
Oh man this series was amazing.
aparisi2274
Member
Binge watched the entire series over 2 nights and I LOVED IT!
I agree with others on here who have said that this is what Super 8 should've been. It was just such a perfect series, right down to the awesome original score, the amazing 80's sndtrk and the classic 80's style opening credits. I really hope we get a S2!
To Answer your questions though:
1. I didnt think the upside down was organic... just thought it was a cool representation of the negative space it was occupying.
2. That creature was stuck in its own dimension until El touched it and created the breach in the lab (at least that is what they want us to believe, because there were sure a lot of bodies in that library in the negative world).
3. Her finding the beast, at least the way I interpreted it, was a side effect of her powers, like when you're using a CB or a Ham Radio and you get a signal you weren't looking for. Perhaps her powers to find people thousands of miles away, had a adverse effect in that it also tuned into other dimension... Again, just my speculation.
4. I am wondering that too. There is definitely more than one of those things, and now that Will threw up a worm, I wonder if there will be one in their dimension come S2. There has to be a "boss" character, someone that at the end of the series, gets killed and stops all the other demons...
2. That creature was stuck in its own dimension until El touched it and created the breach in the lab (at least that is what they want us to believe, because there were sure a lot of bodies in that library in the negative world).
3. Her finding the beast, at least the way I interpreted it, was a side effect of her powers, like when you're using a CB or a Ham Radio and you get a signal you weren't looking for. Perhaps her powers to find people thousands of miles away, had a adverse effect in that it also tuned into other dimension... Again, just my speculation.
4. I am wondering that too. There is definitely more than one of those things, and now that Will threw up a worm, I wonder if there will be one in their dimension come S2. There has to be a "boss" character, someone that at the end of the series, gets killed and stops all the other demons...
Ziltoidia 9
Member
Super 8 had like an hour and 50 minutes. This show had basically 7 hours.
Just got done binge watching the back half of the season. Sweet Christmas that was incredible. I haven't seen a show as good as that in quite a long time and having lived and growing up throughout the eighties, it felt like a goddamn time machine. The time period was nailed so damn well. My wife cried out a couple of times at Nancy and Barbara, 'I had a shirt JUST like that!!'. The duct-taped bicycle crossbar.
It was great from the start but we had been going an episode each night, but tonight we dropped piecemeal and started binging when Episode 4 SPOILERS
I lost all of my shit. And how awesome to see a sci-fi show revel in sci-fi. Not using it as a setting or crutch but make it integral to the plot, and using an underutilized concept while developing it in a very VERY cool manner.
It was great from the start but we had been going an episode each night, but tonight we dropped piecemeal and started binging when Episode 4 SPOILERS
Will told his Mom to run and the creature came out of the wall. I was all 'oh shit, its this again' when it started, but when its goddamn fingers started piercing the wallpaper,
Only on episode three, but what a great show so far.
It does what Super 8 tried to do, but so much better. The child actors are great, the music is spot on, and it just feels like a love letter to 80's sci-fi/ horror done properly.
It feels like a great combination of Poltergeist, The Goonies, and Close Encounters. Just a perfect mix of nostalgia.
It is also great to see Winona Ryder again, and not as a love interest in an Adam Sandler film.
For those who enjoy it I recommend checking out the creators previous film Hidden. It does not have the same tone, but it is a really good medium to low budget horror film about a family living in a bunker after a plague, and mysterious monsters living above ground hunting them.
It does what Super 8 tried to do, but so much better. The child actors are great, the music is spot on, and it just feels like a love letter to 80's sci-fi/ horror done properly.
It feels like a great combination of Poltergeist, The Goonies, and Close Encounters. Just a perfect mix of nostalgia.
It is also great to see Winona Ryder again, and not as a love interest in an Adam Sandler film.
For those who enjoy it I recommend checking out the creators previous film Hidden. It does not have the same tone, but it is a really good medium to low budget horror film about a family living in a bunker after a plague, and mysterious monsters living above ground hunting them.
TheGameshark
Member
Just finished it. Without a doubt my favorite thing Netflix has made.
Episode 8 spoilers
Episode 8 spoilers
Kinda pissed that asshole Steve gets redemption but whatever. Curious to see where they go next considering Will is infected of something like that. This is total speculation but I think the sheriff made a deal with the agency to bring his daughter back to life.
aparisi2274
Member
I doubt that.
His kid has been dead for what, four years? There is no way any gov't agency can bring back someone that dead...
neoism
Member
wow its even awesome its getting a s2 best series ive watched since s1 of True detective
Like so many of you, I just binged this show in one sitting. What a fantastic and thrilling ride the show was. It pulls you in with the nostalgia trip, but I think it holds it's own that the nostalgia stuff is in the back of your mind by the end of it.
The show really did nail the 80's vibe. The music, the setting, the feel, the tone. I like that characters brought up the fight against Commies.
Overall spoilers ahead:
Netflix better give me season 2.
The show really did nail the 80's vibe. The music, the setting, the feel, the tone. I like that characters brought up the fight against Commies.
Overall spoilers ahead:
They way they showed the Upside-down world and El's abilities (when she is in
the water tank).
The creature was handled well. It was creepy and showed up at just the right moments.
Speaking of which, the last fight scene with it in E8 was badass! El just straight murdering people by essentially messing with their minds was great. She was my favorite character and when she sacrificed herself, it made me tear up a bit.
The actors and actresses on the show were really good. The characters were likeable (majority anyway) and well-acted. Whoever did the casting for the show should get a raise because those kids knocked it out of the park. I think the only weak link in the show was Joyce.
the water tank).
The creature was handled well. It was creepy and showed up at just the right moments.
Speaking of which, the last fight scene with it in E8 was badass! El just straight murdering people by essentially messing with their minds was great. She was my favorite character and when she sacrificed herself, it made me tear up a bit.
The actors and actresses on the show were really good. The characters were likeable (majority anyway) and well-acted. Whoever did the casting for the show should get a raise because those kids knocked it out of the park. I think the only weak link in the show was Joyce.
Netflix better give me season 2.
More_Badass
Member
This is a series with inter-dimensional predators, telekenetic kids, and other worlds. Who knows what they can do or what things/worlds they could stumble upon?
On that note, I loved that they nailed the key part of the Lovecraftian aspect. The monster doesn't care about us. It's not an evil force, or a demon, or a malevolent alien. It just is, and we're just food.
On that note, I loved that they nailed the key part of the Lovecraftian aspect. The monster doesn't care about us. It's not an evil force, or a demon, or a malevolent alien. It just is, and we're just food.
neoism
Member
yeah lol its normally doesnt bother me but goddamn with the flickering lights to hide the meh cgi...
also i take it back lol the main kid who love/liked El was honestly a terrible actor he got really annoying at the end.
also no wonder El was soo good lol she british Kappa
I think someone brought it up already, but I wonder what the creature ate or how it survived before the gate opened up.
neoism
Member
got to say i really got no lovecraftian vibes from this, its just a better super 8 witha lower budget.. that with the 80s era and the spectacular music... i really want a movie or show to give me the same imagery and feeling a Lovecraft story gives.. I would kill for a the colour out of space film
umop_3pisdn
Member
I didn't get a Lovecraft impression either, just that first contact was with this bestial predatory thing. I guess that's maybe Lovecraftian in the sense of the wider cosmos being more menacing and insane than we think.
I don't know how far we're supposed to take the D&D parallel but
I don't know how far we're supposed to take the D&D parallel but
if the upside down is a sphere of degeneration and decay, like a paler reflection of our world, then there are probably still things around for it to eat?
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
Okay? Not sure I see your point, and can't say I've noticed this trend myself. Although much different in style, the recent Lady Dynamite was fantastic, one of the best series I've seen in years.
Yeah it just felt pretty shallow to me overall, my main gripe is with the casting/performances, didn't feel a strong sense of identity with any one of the boys, they were practically facsimiles of each other with their own "quirk". I get it's trying to do the homage of the 80s Spielberg and Stephen King endless summer youth adventures, it just felt like it didn't manage to separate itself from those tropes enough for it to stand on its own. Not terrible, just not particularly memorable either. But hey, glad everyone else is enjoying it. That said, just got done watching the movie Midnight Special which is absolutely a similar type of throwback, and thought it did a great job straddling between what those older films did with the genre while bringing its own thing to the table.
Just finished episode 4 and loving this so far.
Totally off topic, but, the guy who plays the cop, Hopper, would make a perfect, book accurate casting choice for Lee Child's Jack Reacher character. He has the size, the attitude, the right look. He has a scruffy sort of quality that you would expect from a guy who lives the way Reacher does.
Not that I don't like Tom Cruise in the role. He did an amazing job considering how poorly suited he is for the character physically, and I loved the movie, but this guy would be ideal
If they ever decide to do a Reacher TV series, and this guy is still young enough to do the character, they need to look him up..
Totally off topic, but, the guy who plays the cop, Hopper, would make a perfect, book accurate casting choice for Lee Child's Jack Reacher character. He has the size, the attitude, the right look. He has a scruffy sort of quality that you would expect from a guy who lives the way Reacher does.
Not that I don't like Tom Cruise in the role. He did an amazing job considering how poorly suited he is for the character physically, and I loved the movie, but this guy would be ideal
If they ever decide to do a Reacher TV series, and this guy is still young enough to do the character, they need to look him up..
RoyaleDuke
Banned
Funny, I was thinking Indiana Jones.
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
That cop looks like a hybrid of Peter Krause and Ethan Suplee. Was convinced it was the former when I first started watching.
uniform
Member
Really enjoying this up to ep 5. The set designs are really on point. The home decor and clothes are for the most part how I remember them. Never knew anyone with cool movie posters like The Thing.
Nostalgia really kicked in when they played Bangles Hazy Shade of Winter. That was one of many songs I recorded off the radio when I was young.
Nostalgia really kicked in when they played Bangles Hazy Shade of Winter. That was one of many songs I recorded off the radio when I was young.
lastflowers
Banned
Is it bad that halfway through the pilot I was secretly hoping this was an 'airborne toxic event' and Netflix had secretly made a miniseries on White Noise?
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
If you google there's a few spotify playlists people have put together, doubt the original synthwave stuff is included though. Could've sworn one of the tracks was also used in It Follows but can't recall the artist/song.
Subpar Spatula
Banned
On Hopper:
He originally made the deal because the Doctor knew he wouldn't survive so it was an easy way to get the information out: Hopper and the mother die and they get El. At this point Hopper is the only one that knows a lot about the Upside Downworld, El, etc. Joyce wouldn't volunteer for this because the government doesn't see her as a good asset. My guess is they told him El is still around but somewhere like the Upside Down. He leaves food because she'll be able to take it in her dimension--essentially a drop point. If there's a second season I can see him being the bridge that gets El back because at this point he sees her as chasing his dead daughter.
That could work too. He definitely has that likable, reluctant hero vibe.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm the only one who's noticing it, but something about this show reminds me of the first Phantasm movie, and not just the vintage thing either.
I've seen a lot of people mentioning, Goonies, Freaks and Geeks, John carpenter movies, Stephen King's It, and all sorts of other stuff. Not sure why, but I feel like Phantasm is another ingredient that the show creators were thinking about when they came up with this.
And the actual story so far actually reminds me more of a vintage Dean Koontz sci-horror book than Stephen King.
and Nancy reminds me of Emmy Rossum.
Have a lot of thoughts on this. So satisfying and the first time I ever felt nostalgia.
I don't know about others who watched but I am an 80's kid and it was authentic as fuck. Usually nostalgia doesn't work on me because it's just reviving a property or references, that or halfassed period looks that think everything was Miami Vice or John Hughes movies.
This was different. Except for the CGI this could literaly be a lost series from the eighties. Not just the soundtrack or setting but the little details that are familliar to people my age that grew up in small town America. Things like the amount of freedom we had, how dangerous some of the situations we got in were. Things like knowing all the trails and paths between houses while biking and no one batting an eye as you ride through their backyard. Even the horrible stuff, I have heard bullies use that exact language and no one batted an eye.
As for the complaints about the soundtrack I guess some people didn't pay attention during Carpenter movies because that was the heaviest influence on this.
All in all excellent, paced well, great acting and hoping for a season two.
Don't know how much it helps in the larger scheme of things but if you don't normally rate things please do, let Netflix now this was appreciated.
I don't know about others who watched but I am an 80's kid and it was authentic as fuck. Usually nostalgia doesn't work on me because it's just reviving a property or references, that or halfassed period looks that think everything was Miami Vice or John Hughes movies.
This was different. Except for the CGI this could literaly be a lost series from the eighties. Not just the soundtrack or setting but the little details that are familliar to people my age that grew up in small town America. Things like the amount of freedom we had, how dangerous some of the situations we got in were. Things like knowing all the trails and paths between houses while biking and no one batting an eye as you ride through their backyard. Even the horrible stuff, I have heard bullies use that exact language and no one batted an eye.
As for the complaints about the soundtrack I guess some people didn't pay attention during Carpenter movies because that was the heaviest influence on this.
All in all excellent, paced well, great acting and hoping for a season two.
Don't know how much it helps in the larger scheme of things but if you don't normally rate things please do, let Netflix now this was appreciated.
User 85168
Banned
Yep. This for me is the best Netflix Original Series out there. Blows it out of the water, no competition. It was incredible.
Finished.
Really awesome show. It's suitably nostalgic, and revels in its period iconography -- Which I'm totally fine with.
Beautiful production with great acting and characters. The young actress portraying Eleven absolutely slays. Synthwave soundtrack is gorgeous.
Cinematography and editing combine to form a show that is simply beautiful to look at.
The first half is exceptionally strong, towards the end we have some definite plot wobbles. Some tropes are indulged in while others are subverted. I forgive anything negative here, really, because the show hits the right emotional beats. It's an empathetic show that is interested in its characters. It has heart.
I really enjoyed it and I hope there's another season. I'm not sure where it would go, but I'm also not sure why it ended the way it did if there wasn't anything left to do.
Four cartoon bullies out of five!
👦👦👦👦👦
Really awesome show. It's suitably nostalgic, and revels in its period iconography -- Which I'm totally fine with.
Beautiful production with great acting and characters. The young actress portraying Eleven absolutely slays. Synthwave soundtrack is gorgeous.
Cinematography and editing combine to form a show that is simply beautiful to look at.
The first half is exceptionally strong, towards the end we have some definite plot wobbles. Some tropes are indulged in while others are subverted. I forgive anything negative here, really, because the show hits the right emotional beats. It's an empathetic show that is interested in its characters. It has heart.
I really enjoyed it and I hope there's another season. I'm not sure where it would go, but I'm also not sure why it ended the way it did if there wasn't anything left to do.
Four cartoon bullies out of five!
👦👦👦👦👦
jack_package_200
Banned
Finished it. Great show.
It handled its Lovecraftian aspects quite well.
Damn Steve came in with the sick bat tech. The Upside Down reminded me a lot of Silent Hill with more weird shit growing everywhere.
I found myself more invested in everyone except Eleven who I thought was okay. I wonder what the fuck is happening to Will. I want to see more of these characters, even Mike's dopey Dad.
Damn Steve came in with the sick bat tech. The Upside Down reminded me a lot of Silent Hill with more weird shit growing everywhere.
I found myself more invested in everyone except Eleven who I thought was okay. I wonder what the fuck is happening to Will. I want to see more of these characters, even Mike's dopey Dad.
The kids are better than the adults, which is something I never thought i'd say.
The black kid maybe. Everyone else, ehhh...
Obviously this show is heavily inspired by Stephen King (among others), but during the lead-up to the show as I was taking in the promo material I somehow came to think this was actually adapted from a real King book. I just found out it's actually not and it's one of those weird things that is blowing my mind. Like I feel like "there's a Stephen King book called Stranger Things that I haven't read" has been in my brain for years even though that's impossible....lol?
Anyway I've only watched ep 1 and I like it so far
Anyway I've only watched ep 1 and I like it so far
Possibly confusing it with Needful Things? Plus more that one King book from that period used that Font.
Austin, TX based synth duo SURVIVE