Trailer

A love letter to the supernatural classics of the 80's, Stranger Things is the story of a young boy who vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl.


So the newest Netflix Original Series was just dropped on July 15th. I binged it immediately, of course.

I had high hopes for this series and was surprised that my hopes were surpassed. The main characters are mostly kids so I was afraid that one bad actor in the bunch would spoil the whole thing for me, but I ended up being impressed with all of them. The two main kids, Mike and Eleven, ended up being my favorite characters. All of the young actors were very good.

The story and mystery was very good, but the tone and atmosphere were a definite high point as well. There was a definite homage to 80's movies such as E.T. and The Goonies, as well as Stephen King and John Carpenter-esque horror. Nothing ever felt forced about any of it though. It was just fun. It all worked.

I won't go into the story because that's definite spoiler territory, but I will say again that the character interaction, especially among the kids, is the show's top selling point for me. Its nice to know that there are talented kids out there and that we didn't end up with Disney Channel level child actors.

Has anyone else had time to watch this show yet? Its only 8 episodes so I finished it all in one day.

 

I finished it last night. Honestly, I haven't been this into a show in a while. The acting was great, the setting was perfect, and the music/nostalgia was on another level.

It felt like a mix of The X-Files, ET, and the Goonies. A definite throw back to the adventure movies of your youth with enough adult themes to keep you interested.

 

Damn this is this the best show since The Expanse.

Also holly hell where did they find the kid that played Dustin, he looks like he fell straight out of Goonies.

 

Yeah, I had seen the trailer and it looked good so I added it to my queue yesterday. I guess I'm going to start it today if it's that good.

 

Binged five episodes. This is one of those "I must know what happens next" kinda shows.

 

I literally got goosebumps watching this show TWICE. I love how atmospheric it is and I think they've cast the child actors really well. Reminds me a lot of Super 8 in that way.

 

So I'm three episodes in and I've just popped out because I have shit to do and I only meant to watch one, sigh.

But yeah, it's great. I'm glad I'm watching it in the daytime because I am a bit of a wimp and some of the suspense horror shits me up. Also, seconded on the child actors. They're really, really good.

EDIT: annnd done. Enjoyable all the way through. Maybe the ending won't be to your tastes, maybe it will. A suitable number of meta-comments and dangling threads. Would watch another season.

 

This show is goddamn fantastic.

Can't finish all of it in one go, but I'm on Four so far and intend to get through it this week. Even as someone who didn't experience the 80s, I can't help but feel 80s pouring from this show.

Love the Stephen King feeling this gives off, too, they did really well with that. Hell, they even made the title of the show look like King.


The children are great at acting, as well. Eleven especially comes across well with what little she's been given as far as dialogue.

 

Have watched three episodes so far, so I cannot read any of the rest of this thread. That said, I have to say this show is elite-level "what the fuck" in the best possible way. People who are easily creeped out should not apply.

 

Watched it - it is definitely the best show this year for me. Kids acting was fantastic for a change (especially Eleven's), and after each episode i was already eagerly anticipating next! Highly recommended.

 

Absolutely brilliant show. There were definitely weakness to its structure, but they tended to be addressed rather than swept under the rug. Turns out that acknowledging something instead of hiding it does wonders.

But yeah. Kids were fantastic throughout. I think what really got me was that the characters actually behaved like scared, people. Case in point:

Spoiler

When Johnathan (AKA Canadian Tuxedo) actually asks Nancy straight up to describe the monster she saw even though he doesn't fully believe his mother.

Episode three has my favourite example of showing rather than telling. When

Spoiler

Eleven flips over the board.

I literally lost my shit. It was such a perfect way of capturing the horror of the series in a way that made sense to the kids, but would terrify anyone with even an inclination of omniscient knowledge.

Stranger Things wasn't perfect, but it was definitely something special.

 

To describe this as perfection would be ridiculous and hyperbolic...

This is probably the closest anything has come to it in years for me though...

Incredible. I started ep1 earlier today because people wouldn't shut up about it, at through that whole thing.

Spoiler

I WANT TO SEE MIKE AND EL GO TO THE SNOW BOWL GODDAMN IT.

 

I will put it on my netflix watch list. I need need to finish night manager and 19-2. He new season of marco polo was pretty good and hopefully this lives up to the hype

 

Seconded.

I hated almost every appearance by the highschool kids until around episode four. So half the series. They eventually shape up, but too long is spent on establishing the stereotypical high school relationships before any real variation.

 

I'm on the second episode and I'm hooked already. I can see so many influences from Stephen King that it's hilarious and this has to be the best showcase of child talent I've seen in years.

Also, this is probably the only supernatural horror show I've watched where the first victim does absolutely everything right. Going straight for the gun is exactly what I would have done in that situation and it's so, so good to see someone show common sense in this type of show.

 

Don't you just love network television? :facepalm

Matt estimates the brothers were rejected 15 to 20 times by various networks, while other execs had balked at the idea that the show featured four kids as lead characters but that it wasn't TV for children. "You either gotta make it into a kids show or make it about this Hopper [detective] character investigating paranormal activity around town," one told them. Matt recalls replying, "Then we lose everything interesting about the show." Some other people they knew in the industry understood their vision and helped connect them with Netflix. "There was a week where we were like, 'This isn't going to work because people don't get it,'" Matt says.

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/stranger-things-creators-on-making-summers-biggest-tv-hit-w431735

 

First show in a looong time I have invested in the characters. Goddamn, the core group are excellent. The cinematography is great as well, it invokes that kind of Stand By Me/Stephen King vibe. It's brilliant.

 

Loved it. It's like some eerie blend of E.T. and Stephen King. One of the most compelling new shows this year, IMO, although there were a few weak moments.

 

I finished binge watching this over the weekend, and I love it. The acting talent is incredible, from all age groups. The world building is fantastic. For most of the show, the horror is great (kind of falls apart in the end, but so does most horror).

This is the first time in a long time that I've felt the need to piece apart just what the heck is going on in a fictional work, and then try to theorize about future seasons.