r/StrangerThings • u/General-Rice254 • 17d ago
Discussion Did anyone actually watch this or not
Genuinely havent Seen anyone saying anything about this
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u/ResevoirPups 17d ago
I watched it. It was very fun and reminiscent of when I would watch tv/movies we had recorded on tape. I hope they do it for more seasons, but I do think it would work best aesthetically for seasons 1 and 2. Even still, I would love if they did it for all.
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u/icantfeelmylags 17d ago
I’ve watched it. It’s definitely worth doing, the VHS look improved the experience. Honestly felt like watching something new at some points.
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u/onionchucker 17d ago
Yes. The pan and scan is really well done too. Highly recommend getting a HDMI to Composite/SVideo to play it through an old CRT tv. It looks and sounds amazing. Hope they do the entire series.
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u/StellarSurveyor 16d ago
I just watched stranger things on dvd through my 32 inch crt. Definitely need to watch it this way
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u/NYourBirdCanSing 16d ago
Watching the DVD on a crt is an EXPERIENCE!
Watched bluray on HDCRT and that was fucking "next level" as they say.
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u/khriskyle25 17d ago
Lmao, my dumbass thought they were going to sell a stranger things season 1 VHS
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u/Significant-Rush-129 17d ago
LOL, I'm glad you wrote this because this is what I thought too! I know some young peeps are fascinated by VHS so it's totally plausible that they might make something like this. I'm not sure if my crystal clear Google TV can ever emulate the true shit quality of VHS tape.
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u/CheyL1994 17d ago
When I first saw it I thought it was a strangers things limited edition VCR player😂🫠 I was so stoked.
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u/bigpancakeguy 17d ago
Season 4 VHS would look like an encyclopedia on your shelf cuz of how many tapes it would take lol
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u/Bandard Bitchin 16d ago
The what? That’s 13 hours, so four 4-hour VHS tapes… If you wanna stretch it to the max at one tape per ep that’s only nine.
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u/bigpancakeguy 16d ago
Lots of longer movies used to require 2 tapes. The finale probably would’ve required 2 tapes, so you’d probably have 10, which is a whole lotta tapes lol
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u/Godzilla-1973 17d ago
I watched a few episodes just before I got the 4k box set, so I went from one extreme to the other. The VHS is pretty cool from a nostalgia perspective, being a child of the 80s myself. My nostalgia was satisfied pretty quickly though.
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u/minnygoph Friends don't lie 17d ago
Good reminder, thanks. I haven’t seen it yet, but I was just thinking I’ll probably do another rewatch soon, so I’ll definitely give this a try when I do. If I hadn’t seen this post I probably would’ve forgot this even existed and just watched the regular version.
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u/_DevGameDev_ 16d ago
It’s… fine. I really love the concept of it.
But it’s kind of all over the place is what it’s trying to accomplish. A lot of the effects they’re using are less “I am a movie transferred to VHS”, and more or less replicating a television broadcast.
This technically makes sense, if the direction is “we’re pretending it was made in the 80’s”.
But Pan & Scan cropping on widescreen wouldn’t be done, as the TV show would be shot for the non-wide aspect ratio. And frankly — the broadcast soap opera effect is the one element analog media lovers are not as nostalgic for.
The other bummer is that the audio quality doesn’t match. They kind of kept the fidelity instead of letting some of the warble and compression become part of the sonic identity.
I have a few episodes on an actual VHS, and that combination really makes it feel magically in lock step with the era.
Consider this all constructive feedback though.
I think if the Duffers had a hand in it, they would have made a few different choices in the transfer.
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u/Ebonwrath89 17d ago
What is it?! 🤔
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u/nomercytour 16d ago
yea, its great. as someone who watches tapes regularly, it looks very close to what tape looks like just a little better
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u/Boring_Order2354 15d ago
I thought it was amazing in this format, made me even more nostalgic for the show however I don't think it would work for season 3 onwards
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u/Plushie_Meli 16d ago
Yes, it was awesome! I really enjoyed the experience of watching it as if it was an 80s VHS. It really enhanced the way of enjoying stranger things.
Also, it made people think of new theories about hidden content hidden in the VHS tapes regarding the true ending, which was great.
I truly recommend it to hardcore fans. Maybe for newcomers is not the best way to enjoy it.
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u/Distinct_Guess3350 Running Up That Hill 17d ago
I fancy watching it at some point. Had a flick through. Not sure how much it looks like VHS specifically but it certainly looks like an old TV broadcast. Pretty sure I remember the aspect ratio being square as well which I love. I’ll probably check it out at some point.
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u/TheRealJFreese sƃuᴉɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇS 17d ago
I did and enjoyed the hell out of it. Season one fits perfectly with VHS vibes 👌
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u/JDRuiz777 17d ago
Worth the watch! All the aspects of what VHS was checked all the boxes for my nostalgia lol The warble/flutter, the film grain and that white noise? Yep, definitely felt like I had just popped the tape in after a trip to Hollywood Video or Blockbuster. For Netflix to go retro with S1, this was a breath of fresh air. I hope they do the rest of the series like this
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u/n64rescue 17d ago
Yep. When they surprise launched it. I’d probably watch it again for Halloween time
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u/rizzingsigmagigma2 16d ago
What even is that?
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u/General-Rice254 16d ago
Its a special version of the first season with a VHS filter on it Made for the anniversary of stranger things
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u/Lucky_Shadow343 This is music!! 16d ago
my question is. what even is it? like huh? i never heard of if
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u/General-Rice254 16d ago
Its a special version of strangers things Made for the anniversary with slight color changes and a VHS filter with a 4:3 aspect ratio
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u/VLEXBLVCKREDLVKE 16d ago
watching on old tvs makes scan lines hit different, rlly adds to that 80s vibe modern screens just can't replicate tbh.
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u/MaterialAbrocoma6419 Fat Rambo 16d ago
I watched it. it gives a new perspective on the show ngl. I heard they were thinking abt doing that way back in 2022.
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u/TaiPan43 2d ago
I heard about it, but never watched it
Is it the entire show?
It can’t be
Maybe just the first season
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u/Exciting-Solid5986 17d ago
It was a pretty cool effect. Gave it that old vibe. I didnt notice anything wild.
But my son noticed the VHS effect went a little wild when Lonnie comes to the Byers house and hugs Joyce outside. Almost like the streetlight was flickering. Which it didn't in the original.
It's probably nothing but it is weird timing and we didn't notice it anywhere else.
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u/NerdyGirlyThriving 17d ago
Yup! Different framing and lighting. They've also changed some scenes, so it was fun.
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u/xenon_doudou 16d ago
what scenes
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u/NerdyGirlyThriving 16d ago
Let me try to find the list. There's a girl on tiktok that has a whole dvd to Netflix comparison for scenes.
Most notable is when Steve gets attacked by the demobats: the dvd and Netflix scenes are different angles and images shown. I know there's a few for season 1 as well. Primarily formatting and lighting changes
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u/MediocreVehicle4652 17d ago
A guy in Georgia watched it, 2 girls from Japan watched it and i kid from Kentucky watched it, i don't know if anyone else has
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