[HBO] Chernobyl

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue May 28, 2019 5:15 pm

That man is a badass.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Wed May 29, 2019 2:13 am

Holman wrote:Episode 4 aired tonight.

I was prepared to deal with human suffering. I was not prepared for the animals.

Another powerful and almost unwatchable episode. This is some of the strongest television I've ever seen.

On the podcast for the show, v they talk about what they cut out of the episode. Filmed it but couldn't bring themselves to show it. They aren't showing anything that wasn't happening at the time. :/

Drazzil · Post by **Drazzil** » Wed May 29, 2019 2:57 pm

tjg_marantz wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 2:13 am
Holman wrote:Episode 4 aired tonight.

I was prepared to deal with human suffering. I was not prepared for the animals.

Another powerful and almost unwatchable episode. This is some of the strongest television I've ever seen.
On the podcast for the show, v they talk about what they cut out of the episode. Filmed it but couldn't bring themselves to show it. They aren't showing anything that wasn't happening at the time. :/

I love animals and that hurt to watch.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Wed May 29, 2019 3:09 pm

Trent Steel wrote: ↑Tue May 21, 2019 9:55 am The victims in the hospital... HOLY CRAP!

This show is so horrifying, but you can’t look away. I don’t even know how to describe it so far other than .

A long time ago I was on a sub for eight weeks, whenever I would go aft it freaked me out a bit. I can just imagine that this show could potentially be the scariest thing ever. I remember this scene in the first version of Planet of the Apes freaking me out a bit too.

gameoverman · Post by **gameoverman** » Fri May 31, 2019 6:07 pm

This show is one of the best things I've seen on tv in a very long time. It's horrifying on so many levels, almost constantly tension filled, creepy, it puts most horror movies to shame. I mean, when we meet that kid and see what his new job is, I thought to myself "Damn that's soul crushing...the only thing that could make it worse was if he had to do that to puppies". This show pulls no punches. It just gets worse even when it seems there's no way it can. I think it's because this is the first time I've seen something about Chernobyl that spends time trying to show the effect that accident had on the people. There is some good grim humor. The miner saying "We're still wearing the fucking hats" was a great moment, as was the 'minister of coal' scene.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri May 31, 2019 7:16 pm

Yeah, that's because they're striving to keep it historically accurate rather than cut any corners for dramatic purposes. Not only is this a great historical retelling, it's great documentation that even the Russians themselves are impressed with, so in the end no matter what, this will end up being a very historically important miniseries.

Trent Steel · Post by **Trent Steel** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:54 am

Wow.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfectly crafted show. Brilliant and powerful from beginning to end.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:57 am

I did watch the first episode the other night. I have to give credit to the costume and set design people. Finding (and/or making) appropriate soviet-era firefighting gear had to be difficult. But yeah, intense.

Drazzil · Post by **Drazzil** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:11 pm

For those who liked Chernobyl, and want to watch more about Soviet nuclear f--kups, K-19 The Widowmaker is also worth your time. It is not as well written or as gripping, but worthwhile nonetheless.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:56 pm

Trent Steel wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:54 am Wow.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfectly crafted show. Brilliant and powerful from beginning to end.

This.

Every episode was excellent.

Toe · Post by **Toe** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:19 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2019 7:16 pm Yeah, that's because they're striving to keep it historically accurate rather than cut any corners for dramatic purposes. Not only is this a great historical retelling, it's great documentation that even the Russians themselves are impressed with, so in the end no matter what, this will end up being a very historically important miniseries.

There is apparently more made-up stuff in the series that I had previously thought. For example, the main guy, Legasov, was an inorganic chemist and had really no experience or knowledge concerning nuclear reactors (but he did study radiochemisty and molecular physics). Also, he was not at the final trial at all, unlike it was portrayed (he did speak at the Vienna meeting as mentioned in the show however).

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:54 pm

Sorry, I had so much going on Monday that I completely forgot about it, but watched it tonight.

Toe wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:19 pm There is apparently more made-up stuff in the series that I had previously thought. For example, the main guy, Legasov, was an inorganic chemist and had really no experience or knowledge concerning nuclear reactors (but he did study radiochemisty and molecular physics). Also, he was not at the final trial at all, unlike it was portrayed (he did speak at the Vienna meeting as mentioned in the show however).

Well, in the grander scheme of things, it's actually minor, and I'm willing to give that a pass as everything else about it so damn good. There are a few other inaccuracies I noticed, such as how the cleanup on the rooftop actually happened with the robots. The Joker for example, actually ended up getting stuck, by a piece of graphite no less and they had to get men up there to get it unstuck using a hand wrench. The main thing is that they got to the same point in the end, that the vehicle sustained too much radiation and failed.

One other thing I was impressed in this last episode, and again, it's the attention to details that show they've done a lot of research to get it right, is the vehicle graveyard. We only see it for a few seconds, but it's where all the radioactive vehicles used during the recovery efforts were dumped.

Again, another gripping episode. Forget GoT, this is the real event TV! I have a feeling this will end up winning emmy awards.

One thing I noticed, and I won't exactly call it a disappointment, is that curiously, the famous ferris wheel was nowhere in sight. It probably means the Pripyat parts were filmed in another city, but even then, I'm surprised they didn't digitally add it in. Again, not disappointed, just an observation.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:27 pm

It shouldn’t have been too much of surprise how good Chernobyl is. After all, the writer/producer of the series had already established himself as a powerhouse with such stellar writing credits as Scary Movie 4 and the second and third Hangover movies...

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:44 pm

Well, maybe he's found his true calling

Well, here's an interesting article about what it got right and what it got wrong. But to be honest, the parts that it got wrong don't bother me so much because in the end the message was there just the same.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-colu ... ibly-wrong

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:29 am

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:27 pm It shouldn’t have been too much of surprise how good Chernobyl is. After all, the writer/producer of the series had already established himself as a powerhouse with such stellar writing credits as Scary Movie 4 and the second and third Hangover movies...

He's also the creator of excellent tweets about his college roommate Ted Cruz.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 1:10 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:44 pm Well, maybe he's found his true calling

Well, here's an interesting article about what it got right and what it got wrong. But to be honest, the parts that it got wrong don't bother me so much because in the end the message was there just the same.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-colu ... ibly-wrong

I've started listening to the Chernobyl podcast that's just him and Peter Sagal talking about the show and what's accurate vs. not accurate. I've only listened to 1.5 episodes of the podcast, but so far he's been pretty transparent about why he made some of his changes. He also talks about scenes they wanted to shoot but either ran out of time or thought they would be too graphic. Definitely worth a listen.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 1:58 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 1:10 pm
Rumpy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:44 pm Well, maybe he's found his true calling

Well, here's an interesting article about what it got right and what it got wrong. But to be honest, the parts that it got wrong don't bother me so much because in the end the message was there just the same.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-colu ... ibly-wrong
I've started listening to the Chernobyl podcast that's just him and Peter Sagal talking about the show and what's accurate vs. not accurate. I've only listened to 1.5 episodes of the podcast, but so far he's been pretty transparent about why he made some of his changes. He also talks about scenes they wanted to shoot but either ran out of time or thought they would be too graphic. Definitely worth a listen.

I'll have to listen to them. Yeah, I realized that I think it all comes down to storytelling constraints of the medium. I mean, they could be super accurate and include everyone involved instead of creating a fictional character to represent them, but that would take more time and would be a bit cumbersome to achieve. To that end, I think listing those things as things it got wrong are nitpicky, as they got to the correct details in the end. Same with the final episode's trial. Even if Visaly wasn't there himself in real life, they still needed him there in the miniseries in order to convey to the audience how it all went down, and regardless if that was how the trial went down or not, it was a powerful bit of testimony. I particularly liked the bit where he was explaining WTF went down at the reactor. Again, even if that wasn't accurate to the trial itself, I think it was an effective use of dramatic license in explaining to the layman just what the hell happened.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:18 pm

Because it was cheaper...

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:46 pm

Interesting take on Chernobyl from Tom Nichols here.

The HBO series Chernobyl is not only majestic television, but also a reminder that the world is a better place than it used to be. This seems counterintuitive to people who have become accustomed to declaring that we are living in bad times, the worst times, or even the End Times. But as the series draws to a close, Chernobyl should serve as a reminder not only that the world is fortunate that the Soviet Union is gone, but of how much we now take the political and technological improvements of the 21st century for granted.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:47 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:18 pm Because it was cheaper...

lol yes!

gameoverman · Post by **gameoverman** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:37 pm

I think Stephen King is the first writer I remember mentioning something about how it's impossible, IMPOSSIBLE, to be completely accurate when depicting a real event. The idea is that even if they had film crews following all those people around when it happened, all that footage has to be edited to fit the time given to the movie or show. As soon as you choose what to show, and what doesn't make the cut, you've already altered the accuracy of your depiction. Where the cameras are positioned, who is well lit and who is hard to see, all sorts of small things will cause that finished documentary to be skewed in one way or another. And that's for a documentary.

If you're doing a drama, based on the true events, you can't get everything exactly the way it was, unless the event in question was very small in scale. That's why I don't sweat the details as long as they don't change the point or results. I don't really care if a character is a composite of multiple people if what that composite character does in the story reflects what all those real people were doing.

I take a scene like the miners vs the mining minister as having the point of showing how those in charge, who don't have to get their hands dirty, don't care about the workers, the people who are literally dirty from doing the work. Do I care if it played out like that in real life? No. I would care if in real life the miners were actually treated with kid gloves and told everything from the start and they volunteered unasked. Then the tv show would have completely misrepresented what happened.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 12:36 am

Yep, exactly. In a case like this, I think the important thing to remember is that they got the broad strokes correct, and got more correct in general than not, and for something of this magnitude, that's more than I was hoping, by confronting the main issues head-on. They absolutely hit it out of the park.

Oh and apparently Russia hates that it was successful and want to make their own series, but with a twist:
https://news.avclub.com/russia-hates-hb ... 1835298424

Another great miniseries I actually bought that's similar in accuracy is The Heavy Water War about the WWII operation to bomb Norsk Hydro Plant in Norway.

Trent Steel · Post by **Trent Steel** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 7:27 am

Rumpy wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2019 12:36 am Oh and apparently Russia hates that it was successful and want to make their own series, but with a twist:
https://news.avclub.com/russia-hates-hb ... 1835298424

“Comment from article” wrote:Russia should just make a series called Flint.

Boom.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:46 am

"In Russia, the choice is always between bad and worse".

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 7:34 pm

gameoverman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:37 pm I think Stephen King is the first writer I remember mentioning something about how it's impossible, IMPOSSIBLE, to be completely accurate when depicting a real event.

Herodotus got there first.

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 9:49 pm

AWS260 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:29 am
Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:27 pm It shouldn’t have been too much of surprise how good Chernobyl is. After all, the writer/producer of the series had already established himself as a powerhouse with such stellar writing credits as Scary Movie 4 and the second and third Hangover movies...
He's also the creator of excellent tweets about his college roommate Ted Cruz.

HOLY SHIT THAT'S THE GUY.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:02 am

My wife and I just finished the first two episodes. I haven't read through the thread yet, so all I'll say right now is

We live a couple of miles away from a nuclear power plant. We are far enough away that if something goes bad we won't die instantly, but we're close enough that we will definitely die horribly. So after finishing the first episode my wife and I turned to each other and said "we have to move" in unison.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:39 am

I grew up less than three miles from Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant— even when my image is expanded, it's hard to see the scale at the lower-right, but it's 1000 feet, and the two circled items are Big Rock Point and Mt. McSauba Ski Hill (my father's home is across the street). I spent two summers working in the Probabilistic Risk Assessment group at Big Rock (the first year I did data entry of maintenance and operator logs along with some easy engineering analysis and gopher work looking at plant circuit schematics and the second summer I completely rewrote their database to make the data entry a lot easier). It was extremely dull (as one would want from working at the nuke plant down the street). My fondest memories are lunch breaks, eating with the long timers. Most of the crew that worked outside the containment bubble were former nuclear navy guys, so there was a strong military feel. My euchre skills were honed to a knife's edge from those lunches. And everyone wanted to talk about what really went on at Chernobyl (I believe my summers would've been '92 and '93). From the point of view of the PRA and Training guys it was a huge cock-up from the guys running the controls, but I wasn't educated enough to gleam any more from them than that.

The show was excellent in a retelling of history sense, but also very well written in the captivating-tv sense. The first episode plays like a horror film and I believe the third ep did a great job of pulling at your heartstrings for those left to clean up the immediate mess. The last episode is a fun court-room expose regarding who really was to blame. I didn't listen to the podcast, but folks I work with (and folks upthread here) point out just how well that was done as well.

Very enjoyable and very educating. MHS didn't watch this with me the first time through (she was out of town), but it'll be no skin off my nose to rewatch it with her.

Drazzil · Post by **Drazzil** » Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:16 pm

msteelers wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:02 am My wife and I just finished the first two episodes. I haven't read through the thread yet, so all I'll say right now is

We live a couple of miles away from a nuclear power plant. We are far enough away that if something goes bad we won't die instantly, but we're close enough that we will definitely die horribly. So after finishing the first episode my wife and I turned to each other and said "we have to move" in unison.

What happened there has a 99.999999 percent chance of never happening here. You'd have a vastly better chance of getting hit by a bus or killed in a nuclear war or something.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:35 pm

Chernobyl survivors assess fact and fiction in TV series

Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

A member of staff at the plant from 1982, he became a witness to the immediate aftermath on the morning of 26 April 1986.

The story of the reactor's catastrophic explosion, as told in an HBO/Sky miniseries, has received the highest ever score for a TV show on the film website IMDB. Russians and Ukrainians have watched it via the internet, and it has had a favourable rating on Russian film site Kinopoisk.

Mr Breus worked with many of the individuals portrayed and has given his verdict of the series.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:05 pm

Just watched this recently, and wow, yet another amazing HBO mini-series. Their track record at this point is amazing (with me, and the ones I have watched).

While I thought the acting was VERY good, it wasn't mind-blowing compared to all the other stuff they got right with this. The writing, the atmosphere, etc. And for some reason the accents of the actors kept pulling me out of the show. Not sure what that was about, but they didn't feel or sound what my mind's eye perceives as "80's Soviets", but "modern British actors pretending to be 80's Soviets.

Definitely one of my top "TV" shows, though if you can call it that. Just amazing.

I would probably put Rome and Band of Brothers and a few others from HBO above it, but it's definitely up there.

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:42 pm

The resurgence of this thread had me wondering if they greenlit a sequel.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:44 pm

Chernobyl 2: The Chernobying

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:20 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:And for some reason the accents of the actors kept pulling me out of the show. Not sure what that was about, but they didn't feel or sound what my mind's eye perceives as "80's Soviets", but "modern British actors pretending to be 80's Soviets.

Very early in production they realized that if they tried to use Russian accents, it would be far too distracting, so they just went with their normal British accents.

Personally, I thought that it worked, and I never gave it another thought.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:02 pm

If the accents are all over the place, I would prefer they just drop them altogether.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:58 pm

hepcat wrote:If the accents are all over the place, I would prefer they just drop them altogether.

That’s exactly what they did.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:09 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:20 pm
Carpet_pissr wrote:And for some reason the accents of the actors kept pulling me out of the show. Not sure what that was about, but they didn't feel or sound what my mind's eye perceives as "80's Soviets", but "modern British actors pretending to be 80's Soviets.
Very early in production they realized that if they tried to use Russian accents, it would be far too distracting, so they just went with their normal British accents.

Personally, I thought that it worked, and I never gave it another thought.

Amen. I always felt that approach worked terrifically in The Hunt for Red October movie, and it certainly didn't lessen my appreciation of the Chernobyl miniseries.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:56 pm

I’m glad that I had no idea until like a week ago that the main guy is the son of Richard Harris. I have no idea how I didn’t know, but now that I know, it’s immediately obvious to me.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:41 am

I’ve watched plenty of things where they do this with the accents, and it rarely bothers me, but for some reason it just didn’t work as well for me in this (meaning, I kept noticing it throughout the show as I watched it).

Let me restate that i think the series is fantastic, top-tier television/entertainment. The accent thing is just a nit.

Watching this also prompted me to install and try The first STALKER game, only to find out that Chernobylite is probably closer to what I’m looking for.