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Its summer in Hawkins, Indiana, and invading the town for season three is: one mom-and-pop-clearing shopping mall, hundreds of fashion staples, action figures, comics, boxed cereal, meticulously-placed props, New Coke, and 'The NeverEnding Story' song-all here to remind us that, yes, we get it, Stranger Things is set in the 1980s. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the show also knows that its set in the 1980s-and the show knows that we know that its set in the 1980s. When did watching TV turn so meta?
While we couldnt catch every Easter egg, here are the biggest '80s movie references in Stranger Things 3. Get your VCRs ready.
1. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
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There are a lot of Phoebe Cates references in Stranger Things 3. Cates plays Linda Barrett in 1982s Fast Times. Not only does Karen Wheeler wear Cates famous swim suit in a pool scene, Steve knocks over a cardboard cutout of Cates in the video store during the last episode. Oh, and Dustin says his girlfriend (Suzie-Poo!) looks like Cates, "only hotter." Damn, why not just name a character Linda?
2. Day of the Dead (1985)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
Stranger Things 3 effectively opens and closes in a movie theater, the first character sequence taking place during a showing of Day of the Dead, and the final-ish sequence during Back to the Future (1985). (And then the show really ends in a VHS store, where the massive theater-going experience went to die.)
Day of the Dead, however, better informs this season than Back to the Future. In many ways, Stranger Things 3 plays out like a typical monster/zombie campy horror thriller. The genre conventions very much began with 1985s Day of the Dead.
3. The Terminator (1984)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
The close-cropped hair, the boots, the staccato speech, the unstoppable, hard-hitting machismo. That Russian hitman was perhaps the least subtle reference of the season. Its Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its the Terminator. Hell, Mayor Larry Kline (Cary Elwes' character) even literally says "It's Arnold Schwarzenegger." And we hope it wont be back.
4. Magnum, P.I (1980-1988)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
Hoppers sartorial choices this season (read: button-down Hawaiian shirt) along with that ginormous thing above his lip call back Tom Sellecks Thomas Magnum from Magnum, P.I, which first aired on CBS in 1980. David Harbour also shared a very funny tribute on his Instagram. We guess that would make Joyce Higgins?
5. Rambo (1985), Indiana Jones (1984), Die Hard (1988)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
Once they went Terminator, Stranger Things went all in with the '80s action movies. In one scene, Hopper is endearingly referred to as fat Rambo for his bravado-and his gut. Erica also references booby traps when attempting to infiltrate the Russian base. Steves attempt to hold the door open as the team scrambles out also feels Indiana Jones-esque. As for Hoppers Hans-Gruber-back-of-the-head gun mistake... yeah, thats straight-up Die Hard. Did we miss any Chuck Norris references?
6. Cheers (1982-1993)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
The will-they-wont-they awkwardness of Joyce and Hopper finds filmic precedence in Ted Danson and Shelley Longs Cheers characters. Cheers also plays in Joyces flashback: she and Bob sitting on the couch together in classic 80s TV dinner style.
7. James Bond (1962 - ), Red Dawn (1984)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
As soon as Soviet forces appeared in Hawkins, you knew there would be at least a few Cold War film allusions. The funhouse mirror scene may be the most obvious-a shout out to The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). Steve and Robins torture scene alongside Hopper and gangs disguised infiltration find Bond equivalents across every decade. Admittedly, these could also be classic Cold War film tropes rather than explicit 007 callbacks.
Still, we like to think that there was a spy thriller somewhere in Stranger Things 3. As for all those High schoolers inadvertently sucked into a Russian plot? That comes straight out of Red Dawn.
8. The Thing (1982)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
John Carpenters '80s monster flick may be the most direct filmic cousin to Hawkins Mind Flayer . Like the Thing, the Mind Flayer prefers the cold-the sauna scene with Billy a strategy employed by both casts of protagonists. Like the Thing, the Mind Flayer also plays a game of town mind possession. And like the Thing, the Mind Flayer is just, like, pretty frickin' gross.
9. Alien (1979)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
The way in which the Mind Flayer bursts out of Elevens ankle and slinks around the shopping mall and hospital, sliding up to Eleven and Nancy and screaming at them-yep, thats all super Alien. Eleven herself may be seen as a kind of Ripley, trapped with and battling the monster.
10. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
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10 'Stranger Things 3' '80s Movie References
Star Wars had wrapped up by 1985, but it was a sensation popular enough that even film-illiterate Steve could name it during his video store interview. Which one? The final installment climaxes with the most famous character redemption moment of all time: Darth Vader throwing down with Emperor Palpatine. Were not saying Billy is Vader, but were also not saying Billy isnt Vader. Also worth noting is Elevens Luke-like force moment where she tries and fails to lift the mall car-just as Luke failed to free his X-Wing fighter from Dagobahs swamp.
Youll get em in Stranger Things 4 , El.