Anybody else watching this? It’s kind of an 80’s throwback mishmash of “Super 8” and “ET” with a bit of “The Goonies” thrown in for good measure.
I came for the nostalgia and Winona Ryder, but I’m 4 episodes in and it’s really well written and acted. Don’t mean to sound like a shill, but it’s fun and seems like a good fit for Dopers of a certain age.
There’s also a lot of Firestarter and a little It in there too… at first I was turned off by the fact Winona Ryder was in it because she just makes me sad these days but we also were sucked in and binge watched it in two days. Fun story coupled with a very 80s soundtrack…
Just finished it last night. We were both blown away with the story and everyone’s performances.
No spoilers, but if you enjoy Stephen King mixed with 80s movies and a dash of X-Files, you’ll like this.
I’m only four episodes in, but for some reason my wife thought it was a horror anthology, not a miniseries. So I was kind of disappointed coming in.
So far, so meh. I find many child actors annoying, and this is no exception. Aliens, evil government conspiracies, androgynous children with mental powers - been there done that. A combination of X Files, Firestarter and The Goonies is pretty much what I am expecting and don’t want. My wife likes it, and she makes me watch it with her because she gets scared.
How many episodes are there?
Regards,
Shodan
Ever heard of Google?
Binge watched it yesterday with my wife, I liked it, she loved it (big Stephen King fan).
Now planning to put a Demogorgon in my next D&D Campaign.
Binged it over two days. Yep, a total 80s hat-tip. Lot’s of fun and very Spielbergian with a healthy dose of Goonies, X-Files, Stephen King, as mentioned and also some Beyond the Black Rainbow.
Winona Forever.
I liked this a lot even if almost every single thing was lifted from a different work. Even the monster was straight out of Alien.
It is amazing the number of different movies this show smacked of. I myself particularly thought of Silver Bullet, ET, Firestarter, Warning Sign and Watcher in the Woods. I think they did a fine job of integrating these influences.
Great show.
So…
Did Eleven blend/meld with the monster–and now she stalks those woods and will become a urban legend type monster? And Hopper is kind of her appointed warden by the government. I kind of want season 2 to be a larger time jump and the kids be young adults and riff more on “It” with something bringing them back to town.
Two episodes in.
I’m always lukewarm at best on kid-centered stories like this and don’t really have the Steven Spielberg nostalgia warmspot that people who like Super 8 have.
But I’ve enjoyed the Stephen King echoes (when Eleven’s nose bleeds in ep 2 my wife and I both said “check Firestarter off the list”).
I’ll stick with it since it is only limited episodes and I don’t have anything else in the queue, but it isn’t a slam dunk winner yet.
I don’t know what we’re supposed to make of the sheriff’s being carried away in a car, then returning with apparently nothing happening. Or if him putting food in that box in the woods is ceremonial, or if secretly the girl lives. Or if we’re supposed to be sure Mathew Modine’s character is dead.
Loved it. This show had a very authentic 80s feel to it. Even the intro was totally 80s!
I’ve watched two, and it’s okay, good enough that I’ll finish. But it is so unabashedly derivative that it seems less like a tribute and more like output from a movie genre generation algorithm.
It was the EGGOS that he also left in the box which makes me think at least he thinks she lives on.
From what we saw of the upside down you can get things from the rightside up world in the upside down in certain places. I think he is leaving food for El. My guess is that her stopping the faceless monster banished her to the upside down and she closed the door behind her so it couldn’t get back out. So now she is stuck.
I finished it night before last and really really loved it. I loved the world building and how they mixed in a lot of humor without sacrificing the scariness or making it seem like cheesy comic relief. They played with expectations by sometimes following tropes to the letter and sometimes going directly against the grain. It was a really really well done show. Maybe my favorite Netflix original. Maybe. Jessica Jones was pretty darned good too as were Sense 8 and the first couple seasons of Orange is the New Black. But this was pretty great.
Based on an original script by Melania Trump. A copy+paste production from Cliché Studios. To call it merely derivative would be generous. Atomic clocks are less predictable.
Toss in the mumbling sheriff and a screechy Winona Ryder (she was an actor once, right?) and this is a super-sized cup of no fucking thank you.
I was starting to feel alone in my corner of the internet. I don’t like kid (or teen) centered stuff either, and add in bickering and I’m actively annoyed.
I’m forcing my way through it because…well, I’m not sure why, but I’m lukewarm toward it at best.
My wife and I just finished the season last night. I enjoyed it a lot, watching with the clear understanding that it was extremely and purposely derivative. It was clearly aimed directly at my demographic bulls-eye, having grown up on Spielberg and Stephen King. Definitely pinged the nostalgia meter.
I thought the guy who played the sheriff did a really good job, and Matthew Modine was a great bad guy. Really gave off a quiet vibe of icy, soulless psychopathy. Maybe he would’ve had a better career if he tried doing bad guys earlier.
I only watched the first ep to see if I should make time to watch the rest and so far I like it. Really glad to see Winona Ryder and I think she’d doing a great job. She’s supposed to be screeching; her kid has disappeared. I’m also another one that doesn’t really care for kid centric themes - and these kids are the most unappealing I’ve seen since that little twit from *The Shining *mini series-- yet somehow it isn’t deterring me.