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Trailer for HBO's "Chernobyl" miniseries, update: multiple very positive reviews

Commissar SFLUFAN
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CayceG

CayceG

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Either way, I'm eager to see this story told fully and without just being in documentary recreations.

 

I know seeing this will wreck me, but I'm going to anyway. I think it's important and that everyone should see it to understand just how significant of am event this was in our history.

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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More reviews:

 

Variety

The stark contrast between this kind of courage versus the cravenness of every stubborn bureaucrat who stood in clarity’s way is what makes “Chernobyl” as chilling as it is essential. The sheer incompetence and hubris that the series reveals as the catastrophe’s ultimate culprits rather than any one particular person are more frustrating than I can possibly describe. (This is, to say the least, not an easy watch; my jaw hurt after every episode from clenching it so hard.) But even if it’s viscerally painful to feel the true depths of just how badly the people in power failed, and how relentlessly they tried to deny it, that surge of furious empathy is also exactly the series’ point.

 

The Hollywood Reporter

You should at least know what you're getting into with Chernobyl and if you can face that awful, true story, then by all means take it in. But it won't be for everyone.

 

IndieWire

“Chernobyl” won’t be for everyone. With constant, low-simmering intensity and an all-too-visible air of death, the vivid recreation of an unimaginable disaster can be uncomfortable to say the least. (Do not sit down for “Chernobyl” with your dinner in hand.) But Mazin and Renck do an impressive job of inviting the audience into a story filled with so many horrors. Each nauseating moment, be it a shot of decaying human flesh or a decision made for the wrong reasons, has a purpose — and pays back the viewer for their investment. “Chernobyl” is a stunning dramatization, and one worth admiring on many levels.

 

The Telegraph

Sky's new drama about the power plant explosion is mesmerising – and utterly horrifying

 

Decider

Chernobyl never sugar coats or embellishes its central story; it doesn’t need to. The Chernobyl nuclear explosion caused an estimated 28 direct deaths, 15 indirect deaths, and permanently poisoned countless innocent citizens. Yet underneath all of this pain and horror there is a deep unspoken respect. By the end of Episode 1, every scientist and worker at the nuclear power plant knows that continuing to clean up the disaster is suicide. And yet no one stops. As horrible as every minute of the impending terror of this series absolutely is, there’s also a sense of deep respect and empathy for those who gave their lives fixing their government’s mistakes. It may not be enough to work through the horror, but it is a bright spot of hope.

 

TV Guide

The performance also encapsulates Chernobyl's most impressive achievement: making a disaster that occurred long ago and far away seem present and real. The series details what took place before and after the reactor explosion but also the conditions that allowed it to happen, and which came close to making it even worse. As such, it doubles as a warning about who pays the cost when the hard facts of science butt up against political agendas, whether decades ago on the other side of the Iron Curtain or here and now. Some bad decisions have half-lives that last for centuries.

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number305

number305

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I remember watching a documentary on this about a year ago.  They were showing current footage from the site and it was chilling.  There were piles of clothes from firefighters etc that were just abandoned.  Nearby city that was built for workers at the plant was just completely abandoned and it looked like a horror movie set because it was just abandoned in a day.  At the same time there were some people who still live relatively near by and are unaffected.  Not sure if it is downwind or what the reason is, but they are happy and not radioactive at all.

 

This series looks great.  HBO puts out great stuff.

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CayceG

CayceG

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45 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I'm sure it's good, but I don't know if I'm prepared.

 

I'm just going to say, everyone needs to watch this to understand what happened. 

 

But it is truly brutal. Incompetence and coverups caused the accident and exacerbated the human costs. Radiation poisoning is not pretty. This story WILL fuck you up. 

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BuckFly

BuckFly

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58 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I'm sure it's good, but I don't know if I'm prepared.

I remember it.  I remember the stories of the firefighters, responders and workers willing going into an impossible situation and knowing the consequences.

 

I am remember brief glimpses of the footage of many of them dying in the hospital.  They did it to save their families and to save so very many others.

 

My balls could never be so big.  The "heroes" label is very easy to pin on them, albeit unsettling to think about their pain.

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Bloodporne

Bloodporne

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Chernobyl was a big, looming thing in my childhood with us being so close so I'll definitely watch it eventually but admit the whole subject makes me queasy in a way that remembering your parents argue does. 

 

We weren't allowed to play in sandboxes and 'dig around in the dirt' as children after this, I have no idea if this was some 'superstition' that was spread among the adults or if there was anything to it. Also no more mushrooms etc. from the woods. 

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CayceG

CayceG

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Just finished episode 1. Fucking incredible. I'm still tense. 

 

Anyone who is interested should also follow the episodes with a podcast that the creator of the show is doing with Peter Sagal of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (of all people!). It's a good thing that I'm enjoying too. 

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/e/60518572?autoplay=true

 

 

I don't know how I can process this yet. It's fucking amazing. It's awful. It's infuriating. 

I'm already wrapped into the story. 

 

I need people to talk about this with. 

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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7 minutes ago, Jose said:

I can't tell if you're criticizing the show's depiction of Chernobyl or the actions of those who were involved in Chernobyl. Seeks like the latter, but not sure!

He's utterly astounded that anyone would ACTUALLY ORDER ANOTHER HUMAN BEING TO LOOK INTO THE EXPOSED CORE OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR!

 

If anyone is looking to learn more about the accident and the events surrounding it, this very recent book has gotten a great critical reception:

 

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

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CayceG

CayceG

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17 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

He's utterly astounded that anyone would ACTUALLY ORDER ANOTHER HUMAN BEING TO LOOK INTO THE EXPOSED CORE OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR!

 

If anyone is looking to learn more about the accident and the events surrounding it, this very recent book has gotten a great critical reception:

 

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

 

Yes. The power structure around this whole event is what caused this to be so much worse than it was. So many lives were wasted. Only brave, brave men that knew they were going to die being brave kept this horrible thing from getting worse. And at times, they were brave and did things that they even knew wouldn't make a difference. And they are heroes too. 

 

EDIT: I don't mean the Soviet power structure. I mean ANY power structure that buries the truth. 

 

 

This book was mentioned on the podcast, and I've never bought anything faster. 

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johnny

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WOW! That first episode was amazing. I feel sick watching these fucks in suits screw everything up. 

 

3.6 roentgens “not good, not horrible”

 

sir our big boy one broke but this other one goes to 200 and was maxed out “you’re fuckin lying” 

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CayceG

CayceG

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So the more I think about it (and with help of the Podcast putting my thoughts into words) the first episode was basically laid out like a horror movie. 

 

At first, you only get glimpses of the terror. 

People burst into the room and say what's really happening, only to be disbelieved. 

The results of the terror are seen as the camera follows around characters as we both discover more of the story. 

The Monster (radiation) is invisible. It will kill you. People gradually begin to realize this, but they know they have to confront it to fix things. 

There are literally "don't open that door" moments where you're yelling at the TV, knowing that they're gonna open the door. 

And the people in power don't believe the terror exists and react arrogantly. Arrogance unleashes the monster and arrogance keeps wasting lives to it. 

Characters confront the Monster and realize that doing so means a horrible, awful, brutal death. They stare into its heart and know that it means their end. 

 

The sound in the episode is incredible too. It's silent a lot of times, but the scenes are punctuated by either geiger counter-like noises, or industrial hums/whines that build and build and heighten the tension. It's absolutely incredible. And it generally not only adds to the tone of the scenes, but also is completely believable to what sound might be occurring in that moment. 

 

 

This shit's heavy, yo.

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JVC920

JVC920

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On 5/6/2019 at 10:43 PM, SFLUFAN said:

He's utterly astounded that anyone would ACTUALLY ORDER ANOTHER HUMAN BEING TO LOOK INTO THE EXPOSED CORE OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR!

 

If anyone is looking to learn more about the accident and the events surrounding it, this very recent book has gotten a great critical reception:

 

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

 

Picking up the audible book of this and will listen to it while on vacation end of the month.

 

Just finished the first episode also.  Crazy to understand the mind set back than and of the government along with those in charge.  Sheer arrogance and willingness to ignore what is right in front of them.  Scary to watch the people and think the invisible killer is right there.

 

The scene where the guy looks into the core is just chilling.  Like looking directly at death.  

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TheGreatGamble

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On 5/7/2019 at 11:15 AM, CayceG said:

So the more I think about it (and with help of the Podcast putting my thoughts into words) the first episode was basically laid out like a horror movie. 

 

At first, you only get glimpses of the terror. 

People burst into the room and say what's really happening, only to be disbelieved. 

The results of the terror are seen as the camera follows around characters as we both discover more of the story. 

The Monster (radiation) is invisible. It will kill you. People gradually begin to realize this, but they know they have to confront it to fix things. 

There are literally "don't open that door" moments where you're yelling at the TV, knowing that they're gonna open the door. 

And the people in power don't believe the terror exists and react arrogantly. Arrogance unleashes the monster and arrogance keeps wasting lives to it. 

Characters confront the Monster and realize that doing so means a horrible, awful, brutal death. They stare into its heart and know that it means their end. 

 

The sound in the episode is incredible too. It's silent a lot of times, but the scenes are punctuated by either geiger counter-like noises, or industrial hums/whines that build and build and heighten the tension. It's absolutely incredible. And it generally not only adds to the tone of the scenes, but also is completely believable to what sound might be occurring in that moment. 

 

 

This shit's heavy, yo.

What podcast? 

 

Really looking forward to watching this tonight.

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