From Akira to Ghostbusters to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Stranger Things has referenced some of the most beloved sci-fi movies ever made across its four seasons. The Duffer brothers have always worn their influences on their sleeve when it comes to Stranger Things. Stranger Things was primarily inspired by the works of Stephen King; Eleven is comparable to Carrie White, while Mike Wheeler and his nerdy friends, riding around a small American town in the ‘80s and going on wild adventures, have been compared to characters from King stories like It and Stand by Me.
There have been broad references to cinematic staples, but Stranger Things also has obscure references to ‘80s pop culture. The show’s creepy atmosphere was inspired by the films of John Carpenter. The creature designs were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. The shady underground government projects were inspired by real-life Cold War conspiracy theories. More than any other genre, Stranger Things has paid homage to the classics of science fiction, ranging from The Thing to Back to the Future to The Empire Strikes Back.
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Predator
One of Stranger Things’ subtlest sci-fi movie references is to John McTiernan’s man-versus-beast action-adventure classic Predator. Neither Vecna nor the Demogorgon bears much of a resemblance to the Predator, and Mike and co.’s brainy approach to defeating the monster is very different from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s brawny approach. There are no scenes in Stranger Things that take place in an exotic jungle. Stranger Things’ nod to Predator isn’t as obvious as that; in fact, most viewers missed it completely.
The name of Jim Hopper, one of Stranger Things’ most quotable characters, was taken from Predator, but it wasn’t taken from any character that appears on-screen. It’s the name of the leader of the original rescue team who failed before Dutch and his guys were sent in. The name can only be seen on a set of dog tags in a blink-and-miss-it close-up shot.
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Ghostbusters
Stranger Things’ reference to Predator is so subtle that most viewers missed it, but the show’s nod to Ivan Reitman’s classic sci-fi comedy Ghostbusters is so overt that even people who haven’t seen the movie picked up on it. In the season 2 premiere, when Halloween rolls around, Mike and his pals dress up in Ghostbuster uniforms. There are four Ghostbusters and there are four of them, so it lined up perfectly.
Season 2 picks up a year after the events of season 1, in October 1984, just four months after Ghostbusters was released in theaters to massive box office success. So, it makes sense that the movie would be fresh in their minds and they would’ve enjoyed it enough to honor its characters with their Halloween costumes. Coincidentally, a couple of years later, Finn Wolfhard would join the official Ghostbusters universe.
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Akira
Stranger Things doesn’t share the cyberpunk aesthetic of Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal anime Akira, but it does share many of its plot points. Primarily, the character of Eleven in Stranger Things has a lot in common with the titular hero in Akira. Both Akira and Stranger Things revolve around children with psychic powers, who have been experimented on in a secret government project. In Akira, much like in Stranger Things, these young test subjects are assigned numbers instead of names to dehumanize them; Akira himself is number 28.
In both stories, the government is planning to use these psychic kids for military purposes. In Stranger Things, the Department of Energy uses Eleven’s powers to spy on the Russians. Both Eleven and Akira use their powers to fight back and essentially become superheroes to protect their friends.
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Back To The Future
Robert Zemeckis’ classic time-traveling comedy Back to the Future is referenced directly in Stranger Things. It didn’t inspire any plot points — Stranger Things hasn’t utilized traditional time travel (yet) — but the movie itself is a plot point. Back to the Future is playing at the movie theater in the Starcourt Mall all throughout season 3. After escaping from the underground facility, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica all hide out at a screening of the film.
Arriving halfway through and still feeling the effects of the drugs, they struggle to follow the plot. Robin is pretty sure “that mom was trying to bang her son.” She’s technically not wrong, but the fact that Lorraine doesn’t know Marty is her son is crucial context. This gag is a hilarious nod to the disturbing implications of the film’s plot (if the context isn’t there).
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Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers is one of the rare literary classics that have been adapted into not one, but two of the greatest movies ever made. In 1956, it was adapted for the screen by Don Siegel as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, using the storyline of invading pod people to comment on McCarthyism. In 1978, it was re-adapted by Philip Kaufman and recontextualized to reflect distrust in the U.S. government following the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War.
Stranger Things borrowed the basic concept of pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers for its season 3 story arc. The Mind Flayer possessing residents of Hawkins to do its bidding is comparable to the alien impostors that flood the streets in both film versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The source of the pods is different, but the result is the same.
In broad strokes, an Amblin-esque story about kids on bikes trying to keep their new supernatural friend out of the hands of shady government forces was clearly influenced by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. But there are more specific parallels with the Spielberg classic, too. The Byers family is very similar to Elliott’s family (minus Gertie): a single mother struggles to raise two boys whose father’s absence has deeply affected them.
Plus, the initial bonding moments between Mike and Eleven in Stranger Things season 1 have a lot of similarities with Elliott’s early bonding moments with E.T. in the movie. He gives her a tour of his house, he shows her his toys, and he introduces her to his favorite food brands. And much like E.T. with Elliott, Eleven uses her powers to help Mike when he’s in trouble.
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The Thing
John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror masterpiece The Thing was a major influence on the Duffer brothers’ approach to making Stranger Things. Rob Bottin’s iconic special effects from The Thing influenced the Duffers’ decision to use practical methods to create their monsters. Obviously, there’s some CGI involved in bringing environments like the Upside Down and characters like the Demogorgon to life, but the monsters are built on a basis of practical effects, which makes them feel more real and tangible.
Bottin was just 22 years old when he designed and created the groundbreaking special effects for The Thing. Carpenter needed Bottin to come up with the various grotesque forms of a shapeshifting alien entity, and Bottin delivered in spades. The Duffers honored the influence of The Thing by including its poster on the wall of Mike’s basement.
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The Empire Strikes Back
Since it revolves around a group of fanboys in the ‘80s, Stranger Things naturally contains a bunch of references to the original Star Wars trilogy. Dustin uses Lando Calrissian as an example of someone known for betraying his friends. Joyce uses Star Wars toys to jog Will’s memory when he’s suffering from amnesia. Mike tells Lucas that trying to find Will without Eleven’s help would be like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. While attempting to defeat Vecna with a perfect dice roll, Steve quotes Han Solo: “Never tell me the odds!”
Early in the show’s first season, Mike compares Eleven’s supernatural powers to Yoda’s command of the Force in The Empire Strikes Back. Eleven likely would’ve been powerful enough to lift Luke Skywalker’s X-wing out of the swamp, too. When he’s showing her around his house, a miniature Yoda figure can be spotted amongst his toys.
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Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
The character of Joyce Byers has been compared to Roy Neary, Richard Dreyfuss’ lead character from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece revolves around a UFO sighting, not a parallel dimension full of malevolent demonic spirits, but the protagonist’s response is the same in both cases. Much like Roy, Joyce has a close encounter with a mysterious otherworldly force and becomes obsessed with tracking it down and proving its existence.
Everyone around them thinks they’re losing their mind, but they know what they saw, and they’re determined to prove it. The stakes of Joyce’s supernatural obsession are a little higher, because her son has been captured by these otherworldly beings. Roy just wants to prove he really did see an alien spaceship, but Joyce wants to save Will from the Upside Down.
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Altered States
One of the biggest aesthetic influences on Stranger Things is Ken Russell’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller Altered States. The most obvious visual reference is the use of flotation tanks. In Altered States, a psychopathologist conducts experiments on the human mind by hooking himself up to nodes and getting in a big water tank. In Stranger Things, the scientists behind the Nina Project do the same thing to Eleven: they strap nodes to her and lock her in a water tank to try to gain access to the Upside Down.
Altered States didn’t just influence the look of Stranger Things; it also lent the series a key plot point. Terry Ives’ backstory as a test subject in Dr. Brenner’s Project MKUltra experiments was taken from Altered States. During these experiments, much like in Altered States, she was subjected to sensory deprivation and mind-altering psychedelic drugs.