The Duffer Brothers Just Took a Page From James Cameron With ‘Stranger Things’ Most Action-Packed Sequence Yet

The Duffer Brothers have made it no secret that Stranger Things was deeply inspired by many of the ‘80s films they enjoyed growing up, as the notion of young characters fighting supernatural threats has its origin in many “kid-venture” classics like The Goonies, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Gremlins, and The Lost Boys. Although Stranger Things has incorporated references to everything from Ghostbusters to Mad Max, the final season of the show necessitated a more mature direction in order to indicate that the stakes are higher than ever. The characters who began the series as innocent Dungeons & Dragons fans have now experienced trauma and seen their friends die, and the fifth season of Stranger Things has turned what was once a series of misadventures into a true epic. When looking at the ways that the Duffers approached the scale and emotional weight of their story, it’s easy to see how they’ve been embodying the style of James Cameron.

In the penultimate episode of the first half of Stranger Things’ fifth season, “Sorcerer” sees all the heroes coming together to face off with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), who has unleashed the Demogorgons to capture the “perfect vessels” he needs to complete his evil plan. While Max (Sadie Sink) is still trapped in her dreamscape, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Hopper (David Harbour) attempt to break into a facility to discover what secrets lie in the Upside Down. The intensity, kineticism, and ability to weave in multiple characters through different plotlines bear a striking resemblance to some of the classic genre films of the ‘80s that turned Cameron into the legend that he is today.

‘Stranger Things’ Reaches Its Most Epic Battle To Date in “Sorcerer”

It’s not the first time that Stranger Things has paid homage to Aliens, as the second season featured a thrilling Demogorgon-centric set piece that captured the same terrifying quality as the Marines’ battle in Cameron’s beloved science fiction sequel, and even featured an appearance by Paul Reiser to make the connection clearer. However, “Sorcerer” has the density of a Cameron set piece because it is very goal-oriented, and doesn’t just exist to serve as a mindless spectacle. The primary reason that Cameron is considered to be a maverick within the action genre is that he thinks about the practical concerns that characters would face in life-or-death situations, and explores how small actions of heroism contribute to a larger struggle. This is particularly true of “Sorcerer,” as even the seemingly inconsequential attempts by Steve (Joe Keery) to run over their opponents with his car set up a precedent that is of use when the situation gets even more intense.

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A theme that Cameron often returns to is the notion of a character discovering their inner heroism in a moment of danger, which allows them to define who they are; this is true of Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) transition from victim to maternal badass in Aliens, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) accepting his place among the Na’vi in Avatar, or the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) saying “hasta la vista, baby” in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Stranger Things reaches its Cameron-esque moment of empowerment when Will Buyers (Noah Schnapp) finally reveals the extent of his powers in the final moments of the episode and reveals his true self to his friends; beyond how cool it was to see the Stranger Things character with the worst luck finally get the chance to save the day, it serves as a metaphor for Will coming out and embracing his identity.

‘Stranger Things’ Borrows From James Cameron’s Approach to Action

Aliens is highly influential on Stranger Things (and frankly every work of action filmmaking since 1986), but “Sorcerer” also contains some homages to Cameron’s more underrated films. While most fans of the series would agree that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the best in the franchise, the original The Terminator was groundbreaking in how it showed a relentless killing machine that could not be stopped by any typical human defense; in “Sorcerer,” Vecna is so resolute with purpose that he easily slices through the military commandos that have occupied Hawkins.

If the parallels with The Terminator weren’t apparent enough, the fifth season of Stranger Things even includes Sarah Connor herself, Linda Hamilton, in a memorable role. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is credited with advancing the art of computer-generated imagery, which is certainly plentiful in Stranger Things’ entire run, but Cameron made some of his most ingenious decisions when crafting the underrated science fiction adventure The Abyss. The ways in which The Abyss was able to give a unique, sci-fi quality to naturally existing elements were more impressive than it would have been to create something from scratch, and some of Vecna’s powers resemble the aquatic creatures in Cameron’s underrated 1986 masterwork.

The reason that Cameron remains one of the few directors who is given unlimited clout to pursue his passion projects is that every one of his films feels like an event that brings people together. Stranger Things is one of the few television shows to feel like it exists within the monoculture, which is an incredible achievement when considering how stratified viewing habits have become due to the various streaming services at play. Neither Stranger Things nor Cameron’s Avatar sequels are above criticism, but it’s hard not to admire a work of art that inspires such a heavy degree of discourse and sparks emotional responses for viewers.

It’s also no small feat that Stranger Things has learned the right lessons from Cameron’s willingness to imbue his own personal beliefs into the story. Avatar is a powerful statement about environmentalism that warns about the evils of colonialism, while Stranger Things suggests that a compassionate community of diverse characters has a better chance at saving the world than a highly militarized group of soldiers. The fact that the final episode of Stranger Things will debut in theaters (coincidentally, at the same time that Avatar: Fire and Ash will likely be topping the box office) is an indication that the Duffers may have learned a thing or two about spectacle from the director who once coined himself as “the King of the World.”