July Netflix Series - Stranger Things (1 Viewer)

[Lou Sytsma]

Has a real Stephen King IT vibe to it. Series is a homage to 80s horror flicks.

And one of the kids has been cast in the IT movie too.

 

[spshultz]

Ok, that gave me goosebumps. Thanks for posting this. I will definitely have to check it out.

 

[SamT]

Stranger Things: Netflix’s Spielberg-esque series

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/30/stranger-things-exclusive-trailer-poster

 

[SamT]

Saw so many Spielberg shots in the new trailer.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

STRANGER THINGS: SEE HOW THE OPENING CREDITS AND MUSIC SETS THE MOOD

 

[SamT]

Looks old school and "low" quality

 

[spshultz]

Ok, did that opening music make anyone else think "Tron"?

Man, that opening sequence has a real 80's vibe to it. I love it.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Devoured it. Loved it.

It really was like reading a Stephen King story a la It. One of the best, if not the best, performances by Winona Ryder. Really liked how all the main characters were treated intelligently - kids, teens, & adults.

BTW the kid who plays Mike - Finn Wolfhard is also playing Richie Tozier in the latest It movie being filmed right now.

 

[spshultz]

I just finished episode 2 yesterday and so far I think it's been fantastic.
It took every fiber of my being to resist binging the rest.
Unfortunately I won't even have the time to start ep3 until the 21st.

 

[ChristopherG]

Loved every second of this series. All of the actors, both young and old were great. Wished it had 10 more episodes....

 

[MarkMel]

Excellent show! Has a ET/Poltergeist vibe. I just finished episode 5. Bummed I only have 3 more to go. The kids are great in this as is the chief. I just read today that there will be a second season!

 

[Sean Bryan]

I absolutely loved this show! Just really fantastic.

My best summary would be Goonies mixed with X-Files/Fringe and Spielberg's films in the 80's. But yeah, the Stephen King vibe was also strong too. Felt like a great book I just couldn't put down.

I've been meaning to watching his for a while but just hadn't. I started last night and couldn't stop. Went though 5 and then finished the last 3 tonight.

I like a lot of shows. I LOVED this. Best thing I've watched in along time. I can't wait for Season 2.

 

[ChristopherG]

Well, here is some really good news...

 

[Sean Bryan]

I'm glad we now have the official word of season 2 in 2017.

Nine episodes too!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The real test is whether it holds up once you strip all of the eighties nostalgia away -- the cinematography, the set decoration, the art design of the fonts and the music. I finished episode eight, and it definitely passes that test will flying colors. A tense, well executed story with a compelling beginning, middle and end that fills in information for the characters and the audience at exactly the right pace. No filler, no rushing, just the exact right number of episodes to tell this story.

An old grade school friend of mine described it as follows: "it's like Stephen King wrote a Silent Hill story, adapted into a miniseries by Spielberg, music by John Carpenter. I've been waiting my whole life for this basically" And that about sums it up.

The whole cast was great, from top to bottom. All four storylines -- Joyce's attempts to reach her missing son, the boys' adventures with Eleven, Nancy and Jonathan's monster hunting, and Hopper's investigation into the underlying conspiracy -- all worked incredibly well.

The end leaves open plenty of loose threads to explore in a second season, while providing a fully satisfying ending to the disappearance of Will Byers arc.

 

[Wayne_j]

The best description I heard is that the kids were in a Spielberg movie, the teens were in a John Carpenter movie and the adults were in a Stephen King movie.

 

[DaveF]

I loved the 22-ep seasons I grew up with. It was all I knew. When I started hearing about 12-episode "seasons", such as popular on BBC, in the early 2000's I didn't understand it. Why order Small when Super Size is on the menu?

I've come to appreciate the compact season. Tell me a story in 10 episodes and I'm your viewer.

Stranger Things pushes the concept of a "TV Show" further. This is an 8-hour movie. Remove the opening and closing credits and the episodes flow seamlessly. It is the ultimate bingeable show.

So I did. I watched it all yesterday, for my Labor Day holiday.

I'll say one more thing about the content: this was written for me. It's about nerdy boys in middle school in '83. It it touched on both the highs and lows of that time in my life. It showed me at times who I was. And at times who I wish I was, were I as articulate and emotionally healthy as scripted kids.

My only critique: it doesn't live up to the hype for me. It was a good, rich, satisfying show. But the hype was too high. For me, it wasn't Jessica Jones which met and exceeded its reputation.

A very good show, well worth watching. Maybe not sublime or utterly mind-blowing. But yes, watch it.

And if you've got a day to kill, and you want to recharge from long weeks of work, kick back on the couch and binge the full series. Maybe have some chocolate pudding to snack on.

 

[DaveF]

As a Moderator, I'm making the decision to remove "Horror" from the thread title. While it's tense and jumpy, this isn't a "horror" show. I hate to think people could be turned off from ST mistakenly thinking it's a terrifying, gore-ridden "horror" series.

 

[ScottH]

Watched this with my 13 year old daughter, which was kind of a milestone for us because it was probably the first show we've ever been able to watch together where we were both thoroughly into it.

Definitely liked the overall feel of the show right down to the opening credits. Some good performances as well, particularly David Harbour.

I enjoyed it a lot overall, but I will say in the end I felt a little disappointed. Like there was a lot of intrigue built up but I was left thinking, "That's it?"

 

[SamT]

This series was OK but it was not great. No satisfying ending and no explanation of nothing. Just some weird shots of creatures and people doing weird things for the sake of it? That's not enough.