Stranger Things on Netflix

Yes there are a few outliers in the sound track, many nods to the syth bands with The Modern English, Joy Division, etc. The score by two guys from the synth band Survive is what really got me.
 
I agree, the best Netflix original series yet (not that I've seen all of them, but I've seen most). Overall, really, really well done, on a purely technical level. A great story too. But when you have different writers involved in the various episodes, it's bound to be at least a little uneven. For me, the weakest episode by far, was number 6. It had horrible things like disconnected flashbacks - when the David Harbour and Winona Ryder characters visited Terry Ives, the mother of the girl, they were discussing the girl with the sister, and she (the sister) was telling them about the 'abilities' that the girl (Eleven) possessed etc. - and while she was talking, there were flashbacks to (1) when Eleven killed the two guards who opened her cell (throwing one against the wall) (2) the cat interactions (3) her throwing Lucas a big distance. Now, every other time we've seen flashbacks in this series, they had two important characteristics - FIRST we were simply shown (in flashback) something that happened in the past that we've never seen before, never just a repetition of what we've already seen before and now the flashback is supposed to work as a "reminder" of what we've seen, instead, we were given brand new information in the flashback, scenes we've never seen before. But these flashbacks in this scene (all stuff we have seen before) in episode 6 are disgusting - what were the filmmakers thinking for God's sake?? That we forgot those events? Hardly possible, given how dramatic these events were in the story. Or did they think they needed to explain to us what those 'abilities' Eleven had, "telekinesis" or "telepathy" are, by illustrating the concept through showing in revolting flashback the exact events we've already seen? How insulting. Utterly vile. It's always the very cheapest movies that use cr@ppy flashbacks in that particular manner (to either remind the freakin audience, or illustrate for the audience basic concepts like "telepathy")... these flashbacks were for nobody else, but the audience - like breaking the 4th wall type violation (not exactly, but a similar type offence), unprecedented in the rest of the series (SECOND) every other time in the series when we've seen flashbacks, they were things the characters imagined, and we the audience only saw what the characters were recalling in their minds. But here, in episode 6, those particular flashbacks were happening to NOBODY in the story - after all, none of the characters in that scene (Harbour, Ryder, Terry Ives) saw those events with their own eyes, so they were not "recalling for themselves" anything - this was completely disconnected from the characters - this was the filmmakers jarringly stepping in (akin to breaching the 4th wall - not exactly, but akin), completely defying the convention established so far in the rest of the series (flashbacks only show memories and recollections of the characters). Those flashbacks violently threw me out of the story in that moment, and waves of utter disgust washed over me when I realized what was happening. Major, major flaws.

Otherwise, it was excellent, and other criticisms are somewhat minor. All IMHO.
 
The writing was a bit uneven.

A few months ago, on Facebook, I identified two of the worst, most hackneyed, pervasive writing cliches, and the funeral episode had them both.

The first is a character saying "how are you holding up?" In that episode, it was said TWICE.

The second is characters pulling out knives and slicing open the palms of their hands when they need a little blood. No one would do that. No one. I don't think it would even occur to anyone. But, they did it in the ep.
 
David Jimerson said:
The second is characters pulling out knives and slicing open the palms of their hands when they need a little blood. No one would do that. No one. I don't think it would even occur to anyone. But, they did it in the ep.
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Back when I was young and hunting vampires... we always rendered one of our hands useless by slicing through it. The Vampires would be eating out of our hands and then we could kill them...
 
Batutta said:
This series has really made me contemplate wether or not feature films as an art have reached their creative end, and if these limited series are a superior form of storytelling. When the production values are this good, without any feeling of compromise, and the stories told with a level of depth no film could hope to match, just by virtue of running time, I really can't see what movies have to offer anymore other than bigger special effects. But special effects can only get so big before they are boring and routine, and I as a viewer reached that point several years go. The Marvel movies are basically becoming a long TV show in a way, and would probably be better suited in the end in this format. The paradigm is slowly shifting, and if the results keep looking like this, the idea of the feature film as we know it may be coming to an end.
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this is a huge thought. I've had similar thoughts running through the back of my mind in recent years. I think the draw of the cinema is going to wane as TV content providers continue to shine.

Can't wait to see this particular series, I've heard nothing but good.
 
Definitely enjoyed the show.

I don't think Winona Rider was as distracting as has been mentioned. I think she's done her best work in many years here.

Definitely thought the kids were excellent.

As for series going forward, hope it maintains this quality at least.

-M
 
disagree with alot of the points here.

Winona Ryder KILLED IT here. Totally bought her as a frazzled parent driven to saving her son no matter what.

Its also funny people say they gave away too much too early. I actually told my girlfriend around episode 3 that if they dont throw us a bone and give us some answers before raising new questions, Ill give up on the show out of frustration. Just enough mystery, sustained just long enough. Great pacing overall.

I started out wanting to hate this show because the retro 80s thing is sooooo played out by now, but it won me over with how well executed it all was.
 
What I liked best about the storytelling is how well it balanced the three different stories. Young kids adventure tale, teenage horror and adult conspiracy. As one would start to wear its welcome one of the other two would surge forward and grab my interest. It's one helluva balancing act. When the show first launched it seemed the hype was mostly about the kids, and frankly I didn't dive in right away because I was afraid it was going to be too much mock-Spielberg, like a re-tread of Super-8. But there's a lot more to it. When I started to watch I thought the teenage sister story was going to be superfluous and drag the story down, but it really comes into its own about midway through.

I didn't feel that Winona Ryder's portrayal was rounded enough, you didn't really see the transition. It's not that she was too whiny, it's more that she started too whiny and didn't give herself enough room to grow. Compare that to the rather brilliant portray of the Sheriff, which really is both touching and really propels the story.

I will agree that there are more than a couple moments when I thought, wait, why did they let that happen? As in why did a character in the story not quite follow through on something. Too many times there were scenes that led up to a wondrous or shocking moment, and then we cut away to a different storyline. When we come back to those characters it often felt like something rather important was either skipped, or they just kinda decided, "well, let's just put them over here now and they can kind of wonder about it." You can get away with that once or twice, but not a dozen or more. So that bugged me. But all in all it's quite compelling storytelling. The miniseries Stephen King never wrote but kinda wished he had.
 
THOSE SYNTHS!!!!

Home run, out of the park series, (especially the final episode) but my favorite aspect may be the score. Think I'm going to have to re-watch. As hit upon by Mitch, I wasn't clamoring for an 80s Spielberg retread, but this was a great show.

What's next?
 
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