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[Fuu]

Finished it today. Show managed to surpass my expectations. It starts solid and just keeps getting better.

So many awesome little touches from beginning to end. It's a love letter to a certain type of entertainment, yeah, but it never gets bogged down by that fact. It earnestly uses those influences in smart ways to elevate itself and become its own thing. There's no need to be a fan of those tropes to fully enjoy what they did here.

Outstanding atmosphere with a perfect balance of drama and comedy. Characters were well written and well acted, and the way their relationships develop is excellent and engrossing. Also, I need the soundtrack.

This is the best paced TV show I have watched in a long time. I'm sooo happy they didn't try to stretch it into a 10 or 13 episodes season. More shorter shows with this level of quality, please.

 

[WillyFive]

Trailers made it seem like a made-for-TV budget version of Super 8;but I think it's Netflix's best single season since the original House of Cards. Pacing and writing are stellar.

If there's one downside to the show, it would be the music. For something inspired by so many Spielberg films (and coming so soon after Super 8 which was very similar), the score absolutely dropped the ball. There are so many scenes in this show that were fantastic, but would be even more amazing with a strong John Williams/Giachhino-style score moving it.

It's sequel hook was not that compelling to me, but considering the great writing this season had, I'm sure they'll make it interesting.

 

[kai3345]

Trailers made it seem like a made-for-TV budget version of Super 8;but I think it's Netflix's best single season since the original House of Cards. Pacing and writing are stellar.

If there's one downside to the show, it would be the music. For something inspired by so many Spielberg films (and coming so soon after Super 8 which was very similar), the score absolutely dropped the ball. There are so many scenes in this show that were fantastic, but would be even more amazing with a strong John Williams/Giachhino-style score moving it.

It's sequel hook was not that compelling to me, but considering the great writing this season had, I'm sure they'll make it interesting.

Dude, what? The score is Carpenter as fuck, totally appropriate for the time period they're evoking.

 

[Fuu]

Yeah, couldn't disagree more. I'm a huge fan of synth music and I was pleasantly surprised they went with a synthwave sound instead of symphonic, large scale orchestra. The music was great and it was skillfully used in every scene. I'm glad to see it's being praised by the majority of viewers.

Forgot to mention the editing, which was also stellar. A lot of good scene transitions too.

 

[KissVibes]

Spoiler

What if the Will that was brought back isn't even the true Will; What if he is an Upside Down version of Will, but he himself doesn't know that? Punished Will.

 

[HStallion]

Watched ep 1.
Was pretty good.
The best part were the production values.

Unfortunately, all the nostalgia stuff, really falls on deaf ears for me (despite being in the right age range, more or less) because i don't care much about that whole Goonies/80s stuff.

Wynona Rider's side of the plot is the most interesting so far, as i'm not finding the kids all that compelling (though it's nice that they gave them quirks) especially the sister plot line.
Seems like things may turn around in the next episode, though.

As far as new series go, The Night Of had a much more engrossing first episode for what are my tastes.

I know opinions are different but I'm actually a little annoyed when people just play it for a nostalgia trip. Its not just riding on nostalgia to sell the show otherwise I don't think it would be getting the huge amount of praise that it has so far. Its a period piece that takes place in the 80's and works with both the cinematic stylings of the era as well as the realities of many things from the freedom kids had to the different values and so on. Its nostalgic but that is by no means the only thing going for the show.

Trailers made it seem like a made-for-TV budget version of Super 8;but I think it's Netflix's best single season since the original House of Cards. Pacing and writing are stellar.

If there's one downside to the show, it would be the music. For something inspired by so many Spielberg films (and coming so soon after Super 8 which was very similar), the score absolutely dropped the ball. There are so many scenes in this show that were fantastic, but would be even more amazing with a strong John Williams/Giachhino-style score moving it.

It's sequel hook was not that compelling to me, but considering the great writing this season had, I'm sure they'll make it interesting.

Just pointing out that this wasn't solely inspired by Stephen Spielberg. It draws its influences from many 80's movies and many of them have nothing to do with Spielberg. The score is based on the moody synth soundtracks found in many classics from the 80's, notable John Carpenter who the show makes tons of shout outs too or did you mess stuff like the Science teacher watching the Thing. Or how about the Goonies or Monster Squard and so on. Synth music was huge in 80's soundtracks so its actually pretty damn accurate and fitting.

 

[Elitist1945]

Also what's up with the shows weird aspect ratio?

 

[Extra Sauce]

Austin, TX based synth duo SURVIVE

Had no idea that was SURVIVE. It all makes sense now.

SURVIVE is amazing.

 

[wetwired]

I'll just leave this here Stranger Things Soundtrack - Main Theme (Extended)

 

[Fuu]

Austin, TX based synth duo SURVIVE

Oh shit, I didn't know the OST was by Survive. Wikipedia lists "Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein" as the composers and I wasn't familiar with the names of the members.

They're not a duo though, turns out Survive is comprised of four people: Adam Jones, Kyle Dixon, Mark Donica, Michael Stein.

 

[Social]

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

 

[SplitYourInfinities]

Just finished watching this, what a ride. It's a great 80's mashup: ET, Stand by me, Alien, The Goonies.. and synthesizers (that OST is amazing).

EDIT: Jonathan is like a Stephen King carbon copy.

 

[HStallion]

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

When I was a kid my parents let me go out with friends for the entire day and well into the night. No calls to let them know what I was doing or anything, we just did what we wanted and went where we pleased. Its how it used to be so that's actually very accurate.

 

[Matty77]

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

How old are you? As myself and other eighties kids have mentioned we had hardly any parental supervision back then, at least no one I knew did as long as you were home by dark was usually the rule.

In fact that was one of the details that actually worked for me because it was authentic to my experience.

 

[DirtyLarry]

Myself and my wife binge watched it Friday night / Saturday Afternoon into early evening. She happened to not be feeling well so it was just a stay in and take it easy day.

It is really good, but not what I would call great.
I felt Winona, even keeping in mind the gravity of her character's situation, really over acted. She was just a bit too crazy for my taste.

I thought all of the kid actors were pretty good, but the girl really stood out as great among them. So in a weird way she somewhat made them look not so good.

I also felt it could have been 6 episodes and the length would have been perfect. The 8 somewhat dragged out a little.

Overall a very good show. Better than most. However with shows like Mr Robot out there, the bar is very high. It was not in that league imho.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Trailers made it seem like a made-for-TV budget version of Super 8;but I think it's Netflix's best single season since the original House of Cards. Pacing and writing are stellar.

If there's one downside to the show, it would be the music. For something inspired by so many Spielberg films (and coming so soon after Super 8 which was very similar), the score absolutely dropped the ball. There are so many scenes in this show that were fantastic, but would be even more amazing with a strong John Williams/Giachhino-style score moving it.

It's sequel hook was not that compelling to me, but considering the great writing this season had, I'm sure they'll make it interesting.

Wat

 

[HStallion]

Myself and my wife binge watched it Friday night / Saturday Afternoon into early evening. She happened to not be feeling well so it was just a stay in and take it easy day.

It is really good, but not what I would call great.
I felt Winona, even keeping in mind the gravity of her character's situation, really over acted. She was just a bit too crazy for my taste.

I thought all of the kid actors were pretty good, but the girl really stood out as great among them. So in a weird way she somewhat made them look not so good.

I also felt it could have been 6 episodes and the length would have been perfect. The 8 somewhat dragged out a little.

Overall a very good show. Better than most. However with shows like Mr Robot out there, the bar is very high. It was not in that league imho.

I don't get quite get the pacing complaints as no scenes were wasted, no scenes dragged on, no plot points were repeated to pad things out or no crazy side stories to randomly fill up time (I'm looking at you Jessica Jones), and everything was always advancing. Its probably the best paced show I've seen in a long damn time and most likely the best on Netflix so far.

 

[uniform]

They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring

I didn't pick up on this.

Spoiler

It seemed Nancy's mother is very concerned about her being out

, and I guess we didn't need to see parents repeatedly scolding the kids for being out late. Hell I'm on ep.7 and don't think I've even seen more than Mike and Will's parents.

Also, from my experience, it wasn't uncommon to be out at night with friends, as long as you were either home by set curfew or lied about where you're going to be.

 

[RastaMentality]

Trailers made it seem like a made-for-TV budget version of Super 8;but I think it's Netflix's best single season since the original House of Cards. Pacing and writing are stellar.

If there's one downside to the show, it would be the music. For something inspired by so many Spielberg films (and coming so soon after Super 8 which was very similar), the score absolutely dropped the ball. There are so many scenes in this show that were fantastic, but would be even more amazing with a strong John Williams/Giachhino-style score moving it.

It's sequel hook was not that compelling to me, but considering the great writing this season had, I'm sure they'll make it interesting.

This might be the worst thing said in the thread. The music is amazing.

 

[HyperCroutons]

I just finished the first episode and I have to say its pretty good this show, really feels like a 80s Spielberg/goonies film made into a series. I like how its set in the early 80s too I think it adds to the atmosphere of the show can't wait to watch the rest of it.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Just finushed ep 1. Getting strong kaminsky vibes from the soundtrack. I'll keep watching based on that alone.

 

[Goose_Se7en]

Just finished the last episode and boy what a show. Netflix and Co. continue to deliver quality here. As someone who was born 7 months into 89 I dig that I still managed to get the subtle and not so subtle homages to 80s films.

So many questions left unanswered, but hopefully Netflix will pick up season 2.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Also what's up with the shows weird aspect ratio?

Was wondering about that too. If they wanted to go more of the 80's look they could have used some dirt/grain like they did for the title opening.

 

[MaKTaiL]

Also what's up with the shows weird aspect ratio?

House of Cards and Marco Pollo also use this aspect ratio. It's not wrong, it's just different.

 

[Baroquemantic]

I'll just leave this here Stranger Things Soundtrack - Main Theme (Extended)

So good. Hurry up and release the soundtrack, Netflix!

Also, I like how the user's name is Atreyu.

 

[Tranqueris]

Is it me or was the

Spoiler

funeral

scene reminiscent of Nightmare on Elm Street? Specifically the

Spoiler

"adults aren't gonna do shit, we're gonna solve this instead"

part? Or am I remembering the movie wrong?

Also the way some scenes tended to linger when someone drove away or was in the house creeped me out, kept thinking I was gonna see something appear at the last second.

 

[criesofthepast]

Just finished the first episode. Show is legit as fuck.

 

[rjinaz]

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

Small town of about 6,000 in the late 80s and early 90s. Me and a small group of friends used to wake up in the morning and go hangout in the woods where we made little forts. The only rules any of us had was to be home for dinner.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I'm still amazed I watched this all in one day when it was released, started at 6 am. I was hooked and couldn't stop watching. The first series I've ever done this to in recent memory.

 

[Mix Master]

With the overwhelming amount of love this is getting, I'm going to have to watch it after Marco Polo.

 

[More_Badass]

Small town of about 6,000 in the late 80s and early 90s. Me and a small group of friends used to wake up in the morning and go hangout in the woods where we made little forts. The only rules any of us had was to be home for dinner.

Yup, was asking my dad, and he said he and his brother would take their bikes and hang out with friends all day. His mom's rule was to be back when the streetlights went on'

They lived in the Bronx too, so it wasn't just a suburban thing

 

[Mix Master]

Anybody else glad Netflix is seemingly letting go of the 13 episode seasons? HoC, JJ, Daredevil and OiTNB all dragged along somewhere through out their seasons. But Narcos and MP seem just fine at 10 eps.

 

[SDCowboy]

Finished watching this last night. Man alive, it was superb in pretty much every way. I still can't get over how good the acting and music was. Can't wait for season 2 (assuming there will be one)!

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

This isn't still a thing? Growing up in the 90's, my cronies and I would roam the neighborhood and just do whatever, and this was obviously long before cell phones. We just had to be back by dinner. Only time I'd let my folks know where I was going was if we were actually going somewhere like the mall or something (man remember hanging out at malls? lol). It's not that parents don't care, kids were just trusted a lot more back in the day.

 

[Tabarin]

24h after bing watching and im already feeling thirsty for more...

So me and my girl started binge watching banshee since a few friends told us it was very good.

EPi s01 e06 so far... pretty good indeed

 

[Fou-Lu]

Just finished. It was so damn good. It felt authentically 80s the entire time, like an 8 hour long 80s movie. Every character was incredibly well done and the score was absolutely perfect. I'll be back for season 2 for sure!

Spoiler

Team Jonathan

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

My friends and I spent a lot of time riding our bikes down to the river or running about through the woods when we were kids. It's just what you did in a small town.

 

[burgervan]

Great season of TV. My only (minor) nitpicks are that everyone is constantly screaming at each other and it gets a bit annoying after a while.

Also, Winona Ryder could've toned it down. I get that her character is a panicked mother, but a better actress probably could've found a way to convey that without trembling and crying ALL THE TIME.

That said, I doubt I even would have noticed if I hadn't just watched 6 episodes in a row.

The entire thing was really, really well done. I'm super impressed.

 

[SDCowboy]

Great season of TV. My only (minor) nitpicks are that everyone is constantly screaming at each other and it gets a bit annoying after a while.

Also, Winona Ryder could've toned it down. I get that her character is a panicked mother, but a better actress probably could've found a way to convey that without trembling and crying ALL THE TIME.

That said, I doubt I even would have noticed if I hadn't just watched 6 episodes in a row.

The entire thing was really, really well done. I'm super impressed.

Yeah, Ryder was my only minor gripe. She was still great, I agree she could have toned it down a bit. Either way, superb acting throughout.

 

[Sheroking]

Anybody else glad Netflix is seemingly letting go of the 13 episode seasons? HoC, JJ, Daredevil and OiTNB all dragged along somewhere through out their seasons. But Narcos and MP seem just fine at 10 eps.

Eh... Marco Polo seemed rushed at 10 episodes.

It's really situational. Having the exact amount of episodes you need and not too many or too few seems like another luxury Netflix shows can have.

 

[Iadien]

Binge watched this with my wife over the weekend and we both loved it. They nailed most of it, was just a bit annoyed at certain things like the kids always being out without the parents caring or the switches from daylight to night happening quite fast. Little things like that. But overall, top!

I did this exact thing starting at age 6. On weekends and during summer vacation I would be outside from 8 or 9 am and not come back home until dinner time almost every single day.

 

[~Kinggi~]

Yeah man parents didnt give a fuck about kids playing back then cause they werent worried they would be abducted all the time.

 

[More_Badass]

Yeah man parents didnt give a fuck about kids playing back then cause they werent worried they would be abducted all the time.

Mentioned it in another thread, but there was a episode of the podcast of Invisibilia where they discuss this. There was a groundbreaking study back then that observed kids at play in a town and tracked how far they ventured and explored. The kids practically went around the entire town and surroundings.
Then they did the same with the children of those kids today, and most only went as far as their yards
The crime stats in the town hadn't really changed at all, but the mindset of the parents were different. More fear and such

 

[rjinaz]

Yeah man parents didnt give a fuck about kids playing back then cause they werent worried they would be abducted all the time.

True but I never would have went alone into the woods and I don't think my parents would have let me. Always went with somebody, usually 3-4 kids.

 

[SDCowboy]

Mentioned it in another thread, but there was a episode of the podcast of Invisibilia where they discuss this. There was a groundbreaking study back then that observed kids at play in a town and tracked how far they ventured and explored. The kids practically went around the entire town and surroundings.
Then they did the same with the children of those kids today, and most only went as far as their yards
The crime stats in the town hadn't really changed at all, but the mindset of the parents were different. More fear and such

It's sad. Kids today are probably much safer than we were back in the day, but now, many kids can't even shoot hoops in the driveway without their folks monitoring them. It's sad. I mean, cut the fucking leash. Kids need to learn some independence.

 

[rjinaz]

It's sad. Kids today are probably much safer than we were back in the day, but now, many kids can't even shoot hoops in the driveway without their folks monitoring them. It's sad. I mean, cut the fucking leash. Kids need to learn some independence.

This is so true. My neighbors have two kids, one girl about 13 and one boy about 11. The Mom sits in the drive way and watches them any time they play outside.

We even had a quarry just like the one in the show. Used to love throwing things into it when there were no workers. It was deep as all hell. And it was right next to our spot in the woods we played in. It's filled now to the brim though last I was there years ago.

 

[Zombine]

My only minor gripe with Stranger Things in regards to the soundtrack is that the 80s songs that they licensed for the show are a little bit too on the nose and "80s greatest hits." I wish they dug just a tiny bit deeper and played some tracks that might not have stood the test of time.

The show is wicked derivative and it's just a melting pot of a bunch of 80s movies and pop culture, but it's good at what it does and it's one of my favorite Netflix shows.

 

[criesofthepast]

Mentioned it in another thread, but there was a episode of the podcast of Invisibilia where they discuss this. There was a groundbreaking study back then that observed kids at play in a town and tracked how far they ventured and explored. The kids practically went around the entire town and surroundings.
Then they did the same with the children of those kids today, and most only went as far as their yards
The crime stats in the town hadn't really changed at all, but the mindset of the parents were different. More fear and such

Really sad.

Growing up in the late 80's and early 90's was the best. I remember being on the other side of town roaming the woods with friends and racing home on my bike to get home before it got dark. I'd be out all day with not a word or worry from my parents. They'd ask what I'd be up to and that's it. The show portrays things accurately 100% in that regard.

 

[SDCowboy]

This is so true. My neighbors have two kids, one girl about 13 and one boy about 11. The Mom sits in the drive way and watches them any time they play outside.

We even had a quarry just like the one in the show. Used to love throwing things into it when there were no workers. It was deep as all hell. And it was right next to our spot in the woods we played in. It's filled now to the brim though last I was there years ago.

What's weird is the parents of kids today were 70's-90's kids themselves so it's odd that they suddenly don't even like their kids leaving the damn house.

 

[HStallion]

This is so true. My neighbors have two kids, one girl about 13 and one boy about 11. The Mom sits in the drive way and watches them any time they play outside.

We even had a quarry just like the one in the show. Used to love throwing things into it when there were no workers. It was deep as all hell. And it was right next to our spot in the woods we played in. It's filled now to the brim though last I was there years ago.

I don't usually like to generalize this stuff but it is weird seeing how some of my coworkers parent their kids. I mean they love them, treat them well, etc. but many of them treat the outside world like its worse than the Upside Down. Its their priority and all but I remember my parents and basically most everyone else's in my town of like... 4 or 5000 just letting us loose, especially in the Summer. There was one weekend I didn't even see my parents from when I left for school in the morning till Sunday night because I slept over each night at a different friends house.

My only minor gripe with Stranger Things in regards to the soundtrack is that the 80s songs that they licensed for the show are a little bit too on the nose and "80s greatest hits." I wish they dug just a tiny bit deeper and played some tracks that might not have stood the test of time.

The show is wicked derivative and it's just a melting pot of a bunch of 80s movies and pop culture, but it's good at what it does and it's one of my favorite Netflix shows.

I don't think a show the show is derivative. Its like I said with people just calling it a nostalgia trip. It doesn't just rely on the 80's setting and themes and what not to sell the show. It relies on the great actors, the kids especially, the tight smartly written script, some great direction and so on. Not that it doesn't wear its 80's badge proudly on its sleeve but it never rests on those laurels and appropriates just enough of the 80's while also doing their own solid work. Now if you want derivative nostalgia masturbation juts read Ready Player One. Now THAT is a derivative work.

 

[rjinaz]

What's weird is the parents of today were 70's-90's kids themselves so it's odd that they suddenly don't even like their kids leaving the damn house.

Ha probably remember the stupid things they did as kids. No way my kids go near a quarry like I did.

I don't usually like to generalize this stuff but it is weird seeing how some of my coworkers parent their kids. I mean they love them, treat them well, etc. but many of them treat the outside world like its worse than the Upside Down. Its their priority and all but I remember my parents and basically most everyone else's in my town of like... 4 or 5000 just letting us loose, especially in the Summer. There was one weekend I didn't even see my parents from when I left for school in the morning till Sunday night because I slept over each night at a different friends house.



I don't think a show the show is derivative. Its like I said with people just calling it a nostalgia trip. It doesn't just rely on the 80's setting and themes and what not to sell the show. It relies on the great actors, the kids especially, the tight smartly written script, some great direction and so on. Now if you want derivative nostalgia masturbation juts read Ready Player One. Now THAT is a derivative work.

I notice that kids don't mind so much these days. My nephew would never leave his room if he could, playing video games online all day.

 

[GK86]

Also, Winona Ryder could've toned it down. I get that her character is a panicked mother, but a better actress probably could've found a way to convey that without trembling and crying ALL THE TIME.

I think the last episode was the only time she wasn't crying the whole time.