It’s interesting that the reason it feels like a mashup of specific period movies, homages, tropes, etc. is that the original pitch was exactly that:
They also talk about how the designer approached the early 80’s setting with subtlety and realism, Barb, and despite being a great actor the girl who plays Eleven is really a little girl. Cool stuff.
I enjoyed this. But I love me some 70s-80s era Stephen King, and this played like an homage to him, along with so much other pop culture of the early 80s I remember well. I did question a lot of the plot points, but decided to just shrug and enjoy. Nice summer series.
Something I didn’t pick up on myself, but heard mentioned on a podcast (“Still Untitled” with Mythbuster Adam Savage and friends):
There are three different instances where someone at the Byers house goes out of the house and gets in their car to leave, but then pauses and gets out of the car and returns to the house. Joyce does it. Hopper does it. And Steve does it (and ends up helping Nancy and Jonathan fight the monster.)
The song that Jonathan plays for Will, and that the other kids hear Will singing through the radio: “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” :dubious:
Have just finished watching episodes 3 and 4 last night. Can’t watch more than 2 eps in a night because scary. Love it so far but need to space it out.
I finished watching it last night. Fantastic. I loved the homages. I also loved the actress who played Eleven…she has a very evocative face, and I could tell just from her eyebrows that she couldn’t get in touch with Will and Barb (right before the bathtub scene.)
I liked how Steve stepped up and ran back in the house. I could see from the outside it appears Joyce and Hop were losing their minds.
I want season 2.
One question…are the Duffers joined at the hip or something? Because I noticed a couple of credits that said “Directed by the Duffer Brothers.” No individual names, which caught my attention.
I just finished it. The whole thing was excellent, right up until the ending. The ending was okay, but unexceptional. Not bad at all, just average rather than extraordinary. It felt very risk-averse. The series as a whole successfully reproduced the look and feel of an 80’s movie but did not elaborate upon it, deconstruct the tropes, or subvert expectations.
My wife and I were debating the nature of the ending. She insists that the unresolved scenes are the set up for the next season, which will be a direct continuation. I disagree. I interpreted it as one of those ambiguous “Twilight Zone” kind of endings. Hinting that the monster is still alive or may return is a pretty common horror trope, so I see no reason that every single plot point has to be completely resolved.
I enjoyed it very much with the exception of Natalia Dyer’s physical appearance. Some may think it crass to raise here, but when she was pushing a wheelbarrow or being grabbed by the arm by the Sherrif or running; I was entirely in work mode. I hope she’s getting some help from people who care about her.
As already noted, Stranger Things is a mashup of a lot of 80s weirdness. I’m a little too young (and just a little) to get too nostalgic about most of the references. I’ve seem many of them, because I like sci-fi and the supernatural, but I didn’t see any of it in theaters.
I thought it was a great mashup of the tropes that is more than the sum of its parts.
Regarding the ending:
[spoiler]My wife’s reaction to the end and the fact that some elements were left dangling or unresolved that were not obvious foreshadowing for season two is that the final D&D session against the Thessalhydra was a lampshaded acknowledgement of those elements (missing people other than Barb and Will).
Invading realities such as the Upside Down coming to our world are a favorite trope of mine and I hope they don’t drop or gloss over what they implied in the finale. Silent Hill and the Delta Green take on Carcosa/The King in Yellow, with their realities that invade ours, are some of my favorite horror fiction.[/spoiler]
Heh. what Stranger Things reminded me of more that anything, was the animated kid’s show Gravity Falls.
It, too, is a mash-up of tons of tropes (including, in one episode, D&D); it too is
largely organized around the concept of a portal to another, evil dimension - though to be frank, the evil creature in Stranger Things is basically a mindless shark-like predator, while the evil creature in Gravity Falls - Bill Cipher - is basically a demon intent on destroying our entire freaking universe, and is a lot more frightening - kid’s show and all.
The Wachowskis do this too. There can be only one director credit, if there is a second they’re reduced to a co-director. They just made it one name to make it DGA “legal”.
The specific “saving throw” question was asked. I haven’t played D&D in 20 years now, but back when I did play, the question about strictness wouldn’t really have made sense. No two groups I played with played exactly the same way. D&D is essentially a group of people sitting around a table telling each other a story. Pretty much all the rules are optional and it’s up to the dungeon master how to run the game.
The guild allows two people to be credited together as directors under certain circumstances, such as if they are a team who always work only with each other—not alone and not with anyone else—and share directorial duties equally.
The opening credits did it for me. Outstanding stuff, loved it. Special shout out to the Tangerine Dream/John Carpenter-esque score, and putting Joy Division, New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen on the soundtrack just sealed the deal for me.
