Netflix’s Stranger Things furthers contemporary pop culture’s ongoing efforts to mine the entertainment of the 1980s and ’90s for the comforting tropes of yesteryear, divorcing them from their original political and domestic resonances. The series takes seemingly everything to which Steven Spielberg and Stephen King have signed their respective names, particularly E.T., Poltergeist, The Goonies, Firestarter, The Talisman, It, and The Langoliers, throws them in a blender with portions of Alien and A Nightmare on Elm Street, then hits puree.

You could argue that Netflix’s “Stranger Things” was the spiritual sequel to “E.T.,” a scavenged-together pastiche of Spielbergian sci-fi laced with 1980s horror themes. Like “E.T.,” it seemed like a complete work that didn’t need a follow-up. But it got one anyway.

The good news is, “Stranger Things 2” — it’s called that, like a movie rather than a season of TV — is no “Nocturnal Fears.” It does no harm. It doesn’t betray the spirit of the first outing. But is it stranger? It’s mostly — though enjoyably — familiar.

The first season, set in 1983, was a delightful surprise because it was more than the sum of its callbacks. Yes, it involved a bike-riding team of nerd-boys, who rescued their friend Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) from the “Upside Down,” a monster-filled parallel dimension. Yes, there was a pint-size being with mysterious powers — the telepath Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). Yes, it cast ’80s stars Matthew Modine and Winona Ryder (as Will’s anguished mother, Joyce).

Excerpt from TheNYTimes located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Netflix Blu-ray boxset for Season One of Stranger Things has two dual-layered BD discs and 2, slightly more hidden, DVDs. The transfer is adept with a supportive bitrate. It looks flawless in 1080P shot with a RED Epic Dragon. There is depth, bright true colors and no noise or digitization. It is pristinely clean in the 2.0:1 aspect ratio. This Blu-ray gave me an excellent viewing in regards to the picture quality.

NOTE: This was first listed as a Target Exclusive as well as in 4K UHD HERE

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netflix use a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround channel track at 3051 kbps (24-bit) in the English language. There are plenty of effects and sneaky separations. The show's score is by the pairing of Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (half of the Austin band S U R V I V E). It adds a wonderfully subtle atmosphere of mystery and sounds supportive via the lossless. There is an optional 'descriptive audio' track and English subtitles offered (see sample above) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A' Blu-ray set - despite the discs having 'ABC' printed on them.

Extras :

Only trailers for The Defenders and Stranger Things 2. There are two DVDs included.

NOTE: James tells us in FB: "Should be noted that the start-up trailers not skippable, No fast forward, no chapter skip. So stupidly you MUST watch the trailer for "Stranger Things Season 2" before you can watch any of season 1. Worst authoring decision of the year."

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Firstly, Stranger Things is great fun... and all at once, creepy, adventurous, nostalgic and, yes, Spielberg-ian. It reminds me of something between X-Files and J.J. Abrams , Spielberg-produced, Super 8. It's story arcs and continuation/cliff hangers are very appealing. This, bare-bones, Blu-ray set gets the whole 6.5 hours worth of Season One in stellar 1080P. It's not hard to see why the series is so overwhelmingly popular. The VHS-style packaging is very cool - perhaps the most suitable and unique of the year - and there isn't much to dislike here... fabulous entertainment that we can very strongly recommend!