![]() The device first appeared in the comic books in 1964 and is still a major part of the X-Men mythology, playing a role in recent print editions and feature films.Netflix has released a terrific new poster for Stranger Things 3, the third season of the wildly popular original series. The X-Menĭustin calls his high-powered machine Cerebro, a name-check to the device used by Professor X in this Marvel Comics series to find mutants around the world. Perhaps the comics helped give El the confidence she needed for her own heroism in the final episodes. Max introduces El to “Wonder Woman” comic books at the start of Episode 4, telling her about Princess Diana and her life in a place filled with only Amazon warrior women. (Much to the dismay of his friends with better taste, Lucas compares it favorably to New Coke.) Billy and others are taken over by a force not unlike the alien of “The Thing,” and the Mind Flayer bears a striking resemblance to that alien as well, not least because of its spider-like legs. But the movie is also referenced by Lucas when the gang is in Bradley’s Big Buy. We know Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is a fan: The poster for this 1982 horror masterpiece from John Carpenter - a remake of “The Thing From Another World” (1951) - has been hanging in his basement since Season 1. The Russian enforcer on the motorcycle who keeps coming for Hopper like a silent killing machine (Andrey Ivchenko) bears a striking resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi action thriller, “The Terminator.” The supernatural goop that slides through the bars of the rat cage in Episode 2 and under the door in Episode 6 could be a nod to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” but that could also be coincidence: The Duffers seem to mostly reference films and TV shows from before or during the era in which the show is set “Terminator 2” didn’t arrive until 1991. Sound familiar? The film is name-checked on the marquee at the Starcourt Mall in Episode 7 along with “Back to the Future” and four more 1985 gems: “D.A.R.Y.L.,” “Return to Oz,” “Cocoon,” and “Fletch.” Larry Cohen’s bizarre satirical horror film “The Stuff” debuted in 1985 and features a substance that oozes and turns normal people into zombielike creatures. Dustin name-checks the movie when they get to the underground bunker in Episode 5, muttering simply, “Red Dawn,” under his breath. This 1984 Cold War action movie from John Milius, about a Russian invasion of Middle America, seems like an obvious thematic influence on Season 3 given the Russian subplot. ‘Rambo’Īlexei calls Hopper “Fat Rambo” in the sixth episode. And now it will forever be associated with the Netflix hit, too. The title track of the film, by Limahl, was a major hit at the time, cracking the Top 20 singles chart in the United States and doing even better abroad. This 1984 fantasy film from Wolfgang Petersen becomes a major part of the climax of “Stranger Things 3” when Suzie forces Dustin to sing the theme song before she gives him Planck’s constant, a figure in quantum physics that Hopper needs in order to access the Russian compound and destroy the machine causing most of this season’s havoc. the Extra-Terrestrial.” But for Season 3, the Duffer Brothers harked back to a Spielberg film from 1975: Both “Jaws” and “Stranger Things 3” feature plots that spin around the Fourth of July, and both feature incompetent mayors named Larry, who don’t seem to care much about the well-being of their constituents. The influence of Spielberg’s movies are all over “Stranger Things,” perhaps none more than “E.T. Both cinematic versions could be influences, but Kaufman’s visceral, terrifying take on alien assimilation seems the most apparent. ![]() The first half of Season 3 - particularly in scenes featuring possessed characters like Billy and Heather (Francesca Reale) - offers variations on the concept of pod people: normal-looking folk who aren’t quite in complete command of their own actions. The gold standard when it comes to movies about possessed townspeople will always be “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake of the 1956 sci-fi film by Don Siegel. Behind her, you can spot boxes of Ziploc bags featuring Gizmo from “Gremlins.” Sure, “Gremlins” came out a year earlier, in the summer of 1984, but one gets the impression that retail turnover at Bradley’s may not be that high. At Bradley’s Big Buy, the kids treat Eleven’s injury as she sits in the middle of an aisle. ![]()
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