It’s time to go back to the Upside Down. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Stranger Things, Netflix has made the first season of the groundbreaking series available in the grainy, analog style of 1980s videotapes. I am talking VHS, not Betamax — even though that’s the format we had at my home in 1983, the year the first season takes place. Don’t judge.
For those pining for a retro screening of the series, this is the perfect time to revisit the boys playing Dungeons and Dragons in their basement, the disappearance of Will Byers and Eleven with her Eggo waffles.
Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobbie Brown and Gaten Matarazzo in season 1 of Stranger Things.
And if you’ve never had the joy of experiencing a movie in the format that initially kicked off the home video boom, long before we could stream TV shows and films from any device with a screen, you’re in for a treat. This special VHS edition of season 1 of Stranger Things comes with all the vintage, gritty, imperfect details of watching a well-loved tape.
“If Stranger Things existed in Hawkins, sitting on a shelf at Family Video, it would look just like this — complete with pan-and-scan,” the Duffer Brothers told Tudum. “And hey, if enough of you nerds watch it, maybe we’ll do the rest of the seasons.”
Will we have to adjust the tracking to remove those pesky lines? Probably not, but that’s likely for the best.
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