Chernobyl (HBO Mini Series)

[StanleyKubrick]

I have watched the first episode and i liked it.I like the "vibe" of the sovietic 80"s and the HBO people got it right.the cast is phenomenal and i think the series will be very good.has anybody watched this?

[Stirchley]

Looking forward to this though The NY Times gave it a very tepid review.

[John McClane]

This show is AWESOME. Episode 2 just introduced the character that is supposed to serve as the stand-in for the hundreds of scientists that were pushing on the government to acknowledge the severity of the issue. And so far they have done an amazing job capturing the essence of Soviet Russia (i.e. trust the State because the State knows all).

[ash_is_the_gal]

why hasn't more people been in here praising this series?!?!?! i just watched the first 3 episodes yesterday, TWICE: once by myself, and again when my husband got home. it's so damn good. well shot, well acted, perfect score.... and absolutely devastating. damn. more thoughts when i'm caught up (i think they aired episode 4 last night, and i have yet to watch it)

[MovieMeditation]

I really enjoy it. I don’t usually jump on television shows that early, but the praise got me interested. And indeed, it’s quite sublime. Love it so far.

[John McClane]

Last night’s episode was a nail-biter. The tension was palpable and I was legit freaking out. Fair warning: if you like pets episode 4 is tough. But what got me was them sending men out onto the roof top to clean up radioactive material. My heart almost stopped at the thought of it.

[Austruck]

I was poor and raising small children when this happened. I remember hearing about it, but watching this series now (with my nuke-plant-worker husband, no less) is sobering. It's chilling just how close they got to annihilating most of eastern Europe.

And it's amazing to see just how little regulation there was. Our nuke plants here are regulated up the wazoo for every little thing. You can barely sneeze there without two or three backup personnel. :D

[TheUsualSuspect]

Not that it means much, but it's currently rated at #1 on IMDB's Top TV shows.

1. Chernobyl
2. Planet Earth 2
3. Band of Brothers
4. Planet Earth
5. Breaking Bad
6. Game of Thrones
7. The Wire
8. Our PLanet
9. Cosmos
10. Blue Planet 2

[John McClane]

It's just crazy how this accident was the perfect storm: unsafe reactor design + operators with no knowledge of unsafe design + safety test that should never have been run = BIG BOOM.

[ScarletLion]

I've done the 3rd episode of this and I am really struggling. I prefer fiction to non fiction, and even though it is good to see what really went on - it is doing my head in. Jessie Buckley and Emily Watson are doing Russian accents - Finchy from the Office is doing his normal Leeds drawl, and Mikhail Gorbychev sounds like he hails from just outside Guildford. Awful. Why couldn't they have just cast Russians? and done subtitles? I keep being taken out of the world they are putting me in because I see Russian words everywhere - on gravestones and buildings etc - I need subtitles for these as I want to know what they say!

[sorry to generalise here] - I assume it's because America might have not tuned in - but the irony is that with so many accents - half americans might need subtitles anyway. Missed opportunity.

[Hey Fredrick]

Been watching it since it premiered. Thought the first 3 episodes were nearly perfect but the 4th showed a few chinks in the armor. Really didn't like them concentrating so much on one aspect of the clean up. I get why they showed it but the amount of time spent on it was unnecessary. Four episodes in and that's my only complaint.

[MovieMeditation]

ScarletLion while I enjoy it I definitely agree that this should have been in Russian and with a Russian cast. It is odd with all the accents but personally I got over it pretty quickly. A shame though.

[gandalf26]

Russians probably wouldn't want to be in it and would be frowned upon for doing so. Especially an American production that negatively portrays (rightly so) the Soviet Union. There was a bit of fuss years ago when Olga Karylenko (prob spelt wrong) was in James Bond.

Loving the series, helping with my rehabilitation after Thrones. Quite tragic the human cost of it all, the mental health of the poor soldiers killing dogs this week, the newborn death, soldiers used as cannon fodder.

Best TV show in ages, and as someone too young to know much about the disaster its educational, a bit like Manhunt Unabomber on Netflix.

[ash_is_the_gal]

i really, really wish they had put some kind of content warning on the last episode. i cried for hours after it was done, not even joking. that was horrible. :(

[ScarletLion]

ScarletLion while I enjoy it I definitely agree that this should have been in Russian and with a Russian cast. It is odd with all the accents but personally I got over it pretty quickly. A shame though.

I think I would have got over it quickly, if some of the cast weren't speaking in Russian accents. Why are they doing that? Someone should have really laid some ground rules that were consistent across the board.

[MovieMeditation]

I think I would have got over it quickly, if some of the cast weren't speaking in Russian accents. Why are they doing that? Someone should have really laid some ground rules that were consistent across the board.
Yeah, I heard - after trying with Russian accents all over - that it didn't work, because too many of the actors and actresses focused on getting the accent right and thereby ruining their performance. The cast were much more authentic without it.

But why some still held on to it, I don't know. Luckily it ain't so thick as far as I remember, but even though I'm currently watching I'm unsure. I'll listen extra carefully with the next episode...

But the different nationalities of the actors definitely plays a role as well. Their english is very different from each other.

[John McClane]

The accents don't bother me, and I haven't even noticed them.

[SFMZone]

I watched this the other night. A reminder of how truly horrific that tragic event was. I also recently watched a documentary on Chernobyl on CuriosityStream I found more enlightening, offering computer graphic reenactments how the tragedy came about. There were heroes who sacrificed their lives knowing they were going on a suicide mission to save thousands.

That said, the HBO series is engaging and delivers the human drama the documentary lacks. Watching the documentary first then the HBO series makes for a more complete experience with the two shows combined as companion pieces.

I was lucky enough to have just watched the documentary a few days before even being aware of the HBO series. So having a fresh recall of "just the facts, ma'am", it gave the series' drama and debate more substance.

[Yoda]

So good. Ended really strong. Just tremendous all the way through. Really impressed by how they made certain facts feel like mysteries.

Like so many of these things, I knew the broad strokes, but the details are what really make it fascinating. The what-might-have-beens and the things people did to prevent them from coming to pass.

It's both inspiring and horrifying how much flesh the Russian people were willing to throw at this problem to stop it from blotting out an even larger portion of the world.

[Austruck]

The hardest part was reading the stuff on the screen at the end. Death toll? Anywhere from 4,000 to 93,000. (Seriously? Wow, nothing like a really general range of numbers.)

But the official USSR death toll, even to this day? 31.

THIRTY-FREAKING-ONE. I yelled "Wow!" at the screen at that.

That was the scariest part: that so much of this was a perfect storm of bad design, lack of proper training, and peer pressure (from the government, from supervisors...). And that there were a bunch of other poorly designed plants in the USSR at that time... and they didn't immediately rush to fix those, all because that would have meant admitting mistakes.

Egad.

[Yoda]

Might be interesting:

https://twitter.com/wrdcsc/status/1136234857556848641

[gandalf26]

Tremendous show, loved how we got to see the crucial control room stuff last.

[MovieMeditation]

Amazing end to a great show. Loved it.

[SFMZone]

Last episode was a bit laid back, but ending with a courtroom drama made for a great finale.

Now bring on the mini-series sequel:
Chernobyl II: Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler, welcome..........to Atomic Park
(they spared no expense) ;)

Visiting Chernobyl "the tourist attraction" is definitely not on my bucket list of things to do before I die.

[Austruck]

Might be interesting:

https://twitter.com/wrdcsc/status/1136234857556848641

I did wonder in some parts whether there was *less* confrontation than they gave us. That Soviet Union was really good at cracking down on any sort of rebellious action.

But I totally understand their reasons for fictionalizing some confrontation, from a cinematic viewpoint. The Emily Watson character was an amalgam of many scientists -- and I understand that, too. We didn't need a dozen extra, small characters interacting with Jared Harris's character. One covering all the bases sufficed.

[gandalf26]

Reddit says the damming speech in the courtroom never happened like that at all.

[Yoda]

Yeah, even having read that, I don't have any major complaints. The liberties sound reasonable and don't seem to interfere with the best parts of the show. I don't have a problem with the "you sold shoes" bit if it's just there to indicate that unqualified people are rising through the ranks.

[SFMZone]

I had read an article that there have been complaints that those in charge of the Chernobyl tourist attraction were staging some areas with fake props to evoke sympathy from tourists, like planting a tattered teddy bear doll in line of sight of the touring routes.

I also read that four years ago, long after it was officially declared a "tourist attraction," a massive forest fire was threatening to spread into the Red Forest, which remains one of the most contaminated areas in the world today, surrounding Chernobyl power plant and it would release radiated particles into the air. Wouldn't that be a lovely experience while you just so happen to be visiting the Chernobyl "tourist attraction."

If it had spread into the Red Forest, bear in mind those in charge deciding whether to shut the tour down are the same ones planting fake props to generate more tourist revenue..... There's a red flag for you.

Not to mention the Red Forest trees were buried in the ground covered with tons of sand. But now there's concern their slow process of decay underground will release radiated particles into the natural water ways in that region. Another red flag.

Also not to mention, when you see your tour guide carrying a Geiger counter (which they are required to on the tours) is yet another red flag that perhaps maybe you should have chose the Bahamas as your vacation choice rather than Chernobyl.

No, I'm fine with exposing myself (pardon the pun) to the whole Chernobyl incident through video - the documentaries, the HBO series. They were dishonest about the disaster and they are being dishonest about the tourist attraction. I fully understand the point you shouldn't explore locales only through video, but this one, I'll pass.

[gandalf26]

The very idea that something invisible is killing you like that, especially when very close to it is quite fascinating. The scenes when clearing the roof and the decimeters going mental was insane, totally reminded me of playing fallout.

Like a horror movie where you never see the bogeyman, only the consequences.

Very educational too for those of us who didn't really know what happened.

The courtroom breakdown of the reactor fault with the blue and red cards was a great and easy to understand lesson on the scientific nature of the meltdown.

[John McClane]

That shot of the reactor going boom was done INSANELY well.

[gandalf26]

I wonder about the timing of the release of Chernobyl. Were HBO looking to limit the "fallout" from the disastrous finish of GOT by releasing this masterpiece around the same time? Even though most people know where to place the blame.

[ScarletLion]

Chernobyl is currently rating at 9.7 / 10 on IMDB (not that IMDB should be THE barometer for everything). That makes it the highest rated television show of all time.

I'm sure it will settle down, and Chernobyl is good. Maybe even very good. But the greatest tv show of all time? Not for me. I think it will be filed as one of those "good but also overrated" shows.

[SFMZone]

I wonder about the timing of the release of Chernobyl. Were HBO looking to limit the "fallout" from the disastrous finish of GOT by releasing this masterpiece around the same time? Even though most people know where to place the blame.

It could just be coincidental considering several months ago when they greenlit the Chernobyl project, I would be surprised if they anticipated it was to be released to offset the GOT season 8 disaster. Chernobyl was released nearly the same date as GOT S8/E3 and up til then the first couple episodes of GOT Season 8 were getting decent ratings. It was episode 3 through 6 the ratings started plummeting.

But you never know, the HBO studio heads were most likely to see season 8 before it was aired and thought, "Oh my, this is going to be a disaster, we need to move up the release of Chernobyl."


I think it will be filed as one of those "good but also overrated" shows.

Where are you seeing it overrated?

[ScarletLion]

Where are you seeing it overrated?

https://www.imdb.com/chart/toptv/?ref_=nv_tp_tv250_2

[SFMZone]

https://www.imdb.com/chart/toptv/?ref_=nv_tp_tv250_2

Ahh, but that's what one would call rated, not overrated. 153,000 IMDB members rated it an average of 9.7. It would only be overrated if the members rated it, say, 8.0, but IMDB falsely displayed 9.7. Then that would be overrated.

Plus IMDB's 9.7 rating is not out of line with other rating services. RT members also have it rated at 9.6 and Metacritic users have it rated also at 9.6.

Back to IMDB, I like to look into the ratings breakdown. I always look at the average rating of the IMDB Top 1000 voters, who rated Chernobyl with an average of 9.0. These people spent years and a lot work earning a spot in the Top 1000 voters. They give details what it takes to earn a spot on the Top 1000 voters, I don't have a link, I just stumbled on it one day.

[ScarletLion]

Ahh, but that's what one would call rated, not overrated. 153,000 IMDB members rated it an average of 9.7. It would only be overrated if the members rated it, say, 8.0, but IMDB falsely displayed 9.7.

:D:D

Fair play that made me laugh.

[MovieMeditation]

https://www.imdb.com/chart/toptv/?ref_=nv_tp_tv250_2
I wouldn’t say this is a case of being overrated either...

Breaking Bad, for example, has a score of 9.5, which is less than Chernobyl, but it is also a show that has 1.2 million votes compared to Chernobyl which is around the one hundred and fifty-ish votes. So for BB to still hold a 9.5 after so many votes (and so many years since release) says more about the show’s quality than what IMDb currently says about Chernobyl.

So for a brand new mini-series, with only 5 episodes and 150K votes, this is not atypical if it’s a solid show. And Chernobyl is. And based on true events often also gives a show “that extra” for a lot of people. I mean just look at the real Chernobyl - people are flocking to the “tourist attraction” like crazy right now. The visits has gone up by 40% after the show ended....

[gandalf26]

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-europe-48559289?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQDoAEB#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

Russia wants to make its own documentary, apparently it was the CIA LMAO.

Wonder how they will portray "traitor" Legasov?

Could be an entertaining watch.

[pahaK]

Finished the series yesterday (watched it in two days). There were some artistic liberties taken but as a whole I liked it a lot. I found it interesting that in many ways it was made exactly like a horror film (if it weren't based on true events some radiation monsters wouldn't have felt out of place). One of the best series I've seen in a while.

I was 10 when the actual accident happened and Soviet Union was just across the border. I wasn't old enough to fully understand what had happened but I remember the general concern in both media and people I knew.

[Yoda]

https://twitter.com/simpsonsfilms/status/1135846865608552450

[Yoda]

https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/1141494845535641605

[gandalf26]

Fukushima

[jiraffejustin]

The music in this series is on point. It really helps set the cold Soviet mood for you. It's a little experimental and reminded me of Under the Skin a little bit, in that it just makes you feel like even the people who live are going to die anyway. Maybe there is a little bit of recency bias here, but I currently think this is the fourth best thing HBO has ever made. Only The Sopranos, The Wire, and the first season of True Detective are better.

[ynwtf]

Just started this today. Halfway into episode 3. Dang. Huh. Naked miners.

https://youtu.be/YChWz_oow6g

[ynwtf]

In all seriousness this is a great series but it's borderline too much to experience.

[Stirchley]

Yeah, I heard - after trying with Russian accents all over - that it didn't work, because too many of the actors and actresses focused on getting the accent right and thereby ruining their performance. The cast were much more authentic without it.


That’s what I recently read too. I wasn’t bothered by the accents or lack thereof at all.

Nobody here, I think, mentioned the special effects from the makeup department. Yikes, I could hardly look at some of the actors in the hospital. Ghastly way to die.

Very very sad when they show the animals being killed. Barry Keoghan so good as the emotionless rookie. Hard to watch & then it’s in my mind forever.

Interesting that Stellan Skarsgård & Emily Watson were in Breaking the Waves together. An entirely different production.

Jared Harris made the show for me. He’s always perfect.