Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Stranger Things; Netflix Original Series Review


I decided to watch this whole series back to back before I even knew what it was about. From the poster and the screenshots provided by Netflix, I was thinking that this was a Stephen King story that I read in the 80's, but that is not the case. I was hooked as soon as I saw the main characters playing D&D! The show is only eight episodes so it is pretty easy to binge on them (especially since I took time off from work for the week). The opening title sequence screams 1980's sci-fi/horror, and I loved it. It even had the look of an old VHS with bad tracking.



The cast does a great job throughout the entire series. At first I was worried when I saw Winona Ryder since I only liked her in Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, but after the second episode I quit thinking of her Babe Bennett from Mr. Deeds. I really enjoyed the acting of the kids since each one had a different characteristic that makes it easy to identify with them, even though we have seen a ton of movies and shows with kids who have to save the day.

I decided not to do a spoiler review since the show just premiered and since the whole season was released at once, it may take others a while to get through all eight episodes.  So would I recommend this series? Definitely. It takes all the elements that I love and wraps it up into one nice package for me. Let's go over DatBeardedBastard's checklist of awesomeness to see what this series has to offer.


DatBeardedBastard's Checklist of Awesomess!

  • 1980's Setting
  • D&D
  • Horror Movie Posters
  • BMX Bikes
  • Walkie Talkies
  • Parallel Universe
  • Comic Book References
  • Stephen King, John Carpenter, and Dean Koontz Vibes
  • Cool Weapons (Spiked bats, bear traps, and sling shots to name a few)

There were times when this show made me thing of other movies and TV shows, but instead of bugging me, I was actually digging it. It had elements of E.T., Goonies, IT, Monster Squad, Super 8, and Earth to Echo.

Once I think enough time has passed I will do a spoiler review and go into more detail of what I liked and disliked. For a show that I was not anticipating or even looking forward to prior to today, it did a great job of taking me back in time where movies and TV shows were based on the experience and not what the budget was or what merchandise tie-ins are forced down our throats.

So in all I would have to give this a 9/10, and I can't wait for season 2.

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