REVIEW #15 Chernobyl (2019)

Chernobyl (2019) is based on one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of the world. On the 26th of April 1986 the 4th reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear Power Plant exploded and this series tells the stories of how this occurred and the first responders who tried to deal with it. From the initial firefighters to the miners who helped stopped the situation from getting much worse, saving millions of lives.

CAST & THE ACTING

Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson and Paul Ritter lead the cast. they all delivered strong performances over the 5 episodes and done well bringing substance to each of their characters. The arrogance and denial of Ritters character Anatoly as he tried to deny the severity of the situation contrasted well with Harris’ and Emily’s characters who worked tirelessly to convince officials just how dangerous this disaster was. The contrast worked well in emphasising the true reaction from the people involved and this could not have been done with poor acting.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

As I have mentioned in previous reviews I appreciate films/TV series that I can learn something from, this is certainly the case here. Although I was aware of what occurred in Chernobyl in 1986 I didn’t know any details of the clean up effort by the brave men and women who gave their lives to try and minimise the effect of the explosion. So it was good to see the focus on the firefighters, the miners, the soldiers involvement which was definitely not there when I have learned about Chernobyl in the past. It also highlighted the attempts by officials to cover up the severity of the situation to other countries, which I liked because it was something I was unaware of.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The special effects or more so the prosthetics used to show the victims of the contamination was really good and almost sickening to believe at times. However it was important to show its gruesome nature to highlight just how bad the effects of this disaster was. The costume and set designs were good at depicting the time period and made it all very realistic.

OVERALL (8/10)

In summery I did enjoy this series, although it did start very slowly which almost made me stop watching before it really got started. However I am aware that you always have to get the first episode of a series out the way to gather a true feel for how good it will be. It was nice to learn the true extent of Chernobyl and was an interesting watch so it does deserve a respectable score and I can understand why it won numerous awards at ceremonies like the golden globes and the BAFTAS. So I would recommend giving it a go if you appreciate something with real historical content.

Hope you enjoyed that one!

Callan