I have watched Stranger Things twice through now and the more times I view it the more references and nods I see to properties from the 80s that I LOVED. The Duffer Brothers set out to recreate the FEEL of all those movies we loved through the early 80s (War Games, ET, Stand By Me, Flight of the Navigator) without directly referencing those particular films. You get direct mentions for things like Dungeons and Dragons, The Millennium Falcon and a throwback snack like canned Hunt's Chocolate Pudding... but most of the more obvious references and tonal inspirations are there only at the abstract level. They are not ham-fisted, and the Duffer Brothers DO NOT make the mistake of trying to slam as many blatant nods as they can into their little 8 episode gem.
But the more I watch the show, the more I realize that whether it was intentional or not, The Duffer's have DIRECTLY copied many of the character traits of the seminal 80s kid gang classic The Goonies. I can draw a direct comparison between almost EVERY SINGLE character in the original Richard Donner film and their Stranger Things counterparts... This is going to be FUN!!!!
