Chernobyl (TV Mini Series) Vichnaya Pamyat (2019) User Reviews

For God's sakes Boris you were the one that mattered the most

[etcrushabh57-432-364331 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

This has to be the best episode I've ever seen across all the series. The acting throughout has been top notch. But what stood out in this episode is the gripping courtroom drama, the final explanation of the disaster & ultimately the dialogue.

This is 1 series that I know I'm going to revisit multiple times over the course !!

Wow. Kudos to the writers, director, actors & ultimately hbo !!

The pinnacle of television

[austinebel · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

Going to keep this short and simple:

One of, if not the best, episodes of television currently out there. Going into this episode, I knew HBO was going to knock it out of the park, but even this more than exceeded my expectations. This was the perfect finale in every aspect that can be imagined - the writing, the cinematography, the acting, etc. Hats off to HBO, Craig Mazin, Jonah Renck, and everyone who was a part of making this masterpiece.

The Worst Part Of It? It's A Real Story

[nadia-37821 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

This was... I lack words. I'm from Bulgaria, a soviet satellite for more than 40 years. I remember being in high school when this disaster occurred and I remember that there was nothing in the news, no information at all. More over, they took us - every single school in my town Varna - out in the open, picnic in the woods. That happened in the first days of May, when the radioactive cloud had already reached us. We had a great time... Skipping one boring day at school and enjoying the nature. What kind of people would do that?.. Again, I lack words. I never knew things went south so quickly and so badly. I cried on every episode, and now there are tears in my eyes as I'm writing this review. More than 750 000 people suffered this human stupidity, sacrificing their lives and health for us all. We never knew their names, we never knew their heroism, we never got to know the gigantic amount of work these people did, knowing that they risk their own lives. Thank you, HBO, for bringing it to the public. This miniseries totally washed out the shame of GoT. I'm a suspicious person who never believes what they're told. I always need a confirmation. So, I went searching for a confirmation. I read Legasov's audio tapes (you also could do that if you speak Russian), I listened to Dyatlov's confession, I watched the real footage from Chernobyl. All of these could be found on YouTube. In every detail the series were accurate. And this ruined me. I was hoping to find propaganda details, something to suppress my fear... No. This was the ugly, brutal truth. Reality could be more scary than the scariest nightmare a human imagination could produce. I was sorry I couldn't rate GoT's last season 0/10. Now I'm sorry I can't rate Chernobyl 20/10

Sadly our lies incur more debt to the truth than ever

[suleymanacikkan · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

"Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth.Sooner or later that debt is paid"

I believe this will be the most striking quote from Chernobyl. Despite having the least action and indirectly addressing casualties, this episode was the most disheartening. Sequence of Pryp'yat' images and narrative in the end with Vichnaya Pamyat (Soundtrack) evoke macabre memories.

However, what is more depressing is ; as humans our recent lies seem to be incurring more debts to the truth than ever. This trend is not likely to decline. Will we take overdue steps for salvation or will we keep telling lies? I naively hope for the former.

I commend everyone who took part in any stage of the production with utmost respect. I genuinely believe that anyone who watched the series gained an elevated level of awareness and it is priceless!

Let him speak

[Sibi_5181 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

Astonishingly wonderful horrific real story. The trial scene with such an understandable explanation made this episode one of the best finale of a series. The cinematography and screenplay of this episode were top notch. The lies and politics behind the chernobyl disaster came out eventually. The truth was told atlast. Everyone who sacrificed their life for resolving chernobyl incident were the true heroes, respect and a salute to them.

Special thanks to the directors, writers and all technical crews who made this miniseries possible. I hope HBO continues to give us good series like chernobyl, peace.

Heartbreaking and Inspirational

[chandanr777 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

This episode was nothing like the first four episodes. We neither saw any of those horrifying radiation affected bodies nor did we see the living beings suffering from the radioactive clean up procedures. What we did witness though, was the horrors of the truth of what caused the disaster, and it was as overwhelming as watching the first four episodes.

The shots of representative Pripyat at the beginning was absolutely necessary as it is a reminder of how beautiful the city was, before the disaster. There were plenty of unforgettable scenes, but I was particularly impressed with the explosion scene - for its technicality and the caterpillar scene - for it's metaphorical meaning.

We need political figures like Boris Shcherbina who had the required sanity in the midst of Soviet propaganda. We need the work ethic of the scientists represented by Ulana Khomyuk. We need the ultimate selflessness of Valery Legasov who gave his life for something immortal. We need the bravery of firefighters, miners, liquidators, hospital staff etc.

Before watching this mini series, I had only heard about a nuclear disaster that happened in Chernobyl years ago. Watching it on screen though, has been one of the profound experiences of my life. Watching the real footages at the end made me deeply emotional as it was heartbreaking to know that plenty suffered for the mistake that was not theirs. At the same time, it was inspirational for the reminder it gave us of the qualities that a good world requires.

The bench scene

[vallennox · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

...is my favorite scene of the year, probably years. Two dying men showing audiences how beautiful life is.

Absolutely amazing

[eener97 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

This series has done an amazing job of humanizing the Chernobyl disaster beyond stating the obvious tragedy that it was. One does not need to be a nuclear engineer to understand the emotional impact of Chernobyl and this miniseries has done a fantastic job at providing this to the viewer. Jared Harris gave an incredible performance as Legasov during the trial and showed how difficult his decision to tell the truth was. Beautiful acting and beautiful filming- the only bad thing is that this was the last episode of the series.

Perfect ending to a horrific story

[micah-82076 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

There would be no possible way to imagine a better series finale.

Very Personal and well done

[Arnie93 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

I was really impressed by the script. Probably the best I have seen. "Why worry about something that will never happen?". You should put that in our money.

I loved the end and real text.

Should be mandatory to learn about this at school

[Chandelier-49579 · 10/10 · 12 June 2019]

Valery Legasov is a true hero and yet i havent heard of the good man until this show. Thanks HBO! I think this should be studied in schools, the danger of burocracy and nepotism, the fall of the soviet union and especially the heroism of Valery Legasov and his supporters. This kind of hero we often see in fiction, making the right choice and suffer the consequenses nontheless. This struck me much harder because its real and happened not that long ago.

Ultra Rated Super Series +10

[elweoncriticolacago · 4 June 2019]

In only 5 episodes this show changed the way to do series, Grateful surprise

0105.

[bombersflyup · 7/10 · 2 June 2022]

Solid trial conclusion, going over the events and cause. Hard to believe that girl would go on to have another child. A decent mini-series, engaging and educational. Though the super high ratings would indicate people watch a lot of garbage.

An honest review

[english-arrow · 5/10 · 4 June 2019]

I do remember a few weeks back when people said that giving 10/10 to an episode is not accurate. According to the standards set by other users, acting, cinematography, and everything else are not taken into consideration when rating an episode. The story line is the only thing that matters. Isn't that why people rated the Game of Thrones finale 1/10? People made it really hard to rate this without taking Game of thrones into consideration. However, I will try to be as accurate in my review as possible without referring to GOT again and without following the other users' new standards.

The opening scene was brilliant: life before the nuclear disaster. And right after that, we see the trial to find out the fate of the three men who represent the political corruption in the union as well as the fate of the two men who sacrificed themselves to stop a global disaster from happening. The whole trial is a repetition of the things shown in episodes 1-4 and nothing else. In other words, boring! However, the acting was great. Jared Harris did a great job, as well as Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson.

The pace of the episode was slow even though it goes back and forth in time. A lot of the screen time was wasted on vacant scenery that were supposed to paint a terrifying scene, but didn't. I felt nothing but bored when watching the episode. There was no element of surprise or development in the episode since the writers chose to show us the end in the first episode in order to save the people from searching for the ending online and lose interest in the show. The episode lacked the suspense that was present in the first 3 episodes. So, I guess 5/10 is more than fair for this episode, and it is based on the skill of the actors and the writers of some good lines like "We are so focused on our search for the truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there whether we see it or not".

Fitting end to the most important tv show ever produced

[tridord · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

Everything was tied up nicely and the creators achieved one of the most difficult things in cinematography: a satisfying end without sacrificing authenticity and maintaining the logic they started with. The ingenuity of the creators never ceases to amaze me in the way they manage to make people understand the more technical aspects.

I beg everyone to ignore the review bombing that is happening right now, it's disrespectful to the heroes that went through this tragedy and portrays the shallowness of the times.

A Beautifully Horrifying End to an Amazing Miniseries

[micgabanderson-29573 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

The final episode brings to conclusion what human arrogance can do to this world if let unchecked. As with the rest of the show, episode 5 had Emmy worthy acting and cinematography from everybody involved. The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack finished the series showing the fates of real people this show was based on.

Few words about this show from a 27-year-old from Ukraine

[zobako · 10/10 · 5 June 2019]

I live in Cherkasy - a small city about 300 km far the Chernobyl.

And it is a very strange situation when yourself hear a small part of the information and seeing a lot of documentaries movie about this catastrophe every year from childish age, but truly realized the size of this only after the HBO show.

You know - today we live near this, where people around are dying with cancer... And for us - it is part of our life - not just an interest fact about some far country.

Thank, HBO that you tell about Chernobyl to the whole world almost absolutely documentary but with true feelings and people.

I waited

[trudjoh · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

This episode was a brilliant end to a bravo series. And compare to GOT? Why? They were so different there is no point.

I'm speechless

[momi-37629 · 10/10 · 9 June 2019]

This episode is the best I've ever seen in the television, and when Shcherbina said (39:22)I'm an inconsequential man, that's all I've ever been, I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't. And after that when he said (49:43)to the judge let him finish. This is the best moment.

Vichnaya Pamyat

[auuwws · 10/10 · 13 February 2021]

A great ending to one of the best series I have ever watched, the trial scene is one of the best scenes in all respects. HBO created this series and it was a good choice. It was a short series.

An incredible finale.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 28 November 2019]

The truth has to come out, but there are consequences for those that want a clear picture of events.

This final part along with every other episode is incredible. Production values, direction, acting, everything about this is phenomenal, there aren't enough superlatives I can point out. What makes this even more amazing is the ending, the real life footage that makes the whole show even closer to reality, not that any was needed of course. Following this I watched several dramas, interviews and news segments, such was the impact of this drama. Incredible to finally learn of the real life heroes behind the scenes.

It has been a chilling, captivating and informative watch. One of the very best. 10/10

I have to say the most incredible moment in all of this, the day it happened it appeared on the news channel right at the end, a tiny segment, a quite incredible thing.

It's CHEAPER

[adnenguedria · 10/10 · 6 June 2019]

The tips are made of graphite, which accelerates reactivity.

Why?

For the same reason our reactors do not have containment buildings around them, like those in the West.

For the same reason we don't use properly enriched fuel in our cores.

For the same reason we are the only nation that builds water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors with a positive void coefficient

It's CHEAPER !

For the love God

[Br4ve-trave1or · 3 June 2019]

This show is brillaint---incredivle! But please wait the two hours before this episode airs to rate it. It's what taints so many shows on here and misleads many (like me).

Contaminated Reviews

[injury-65447 · 7/10 · 2 July 2020]

The radiation has escaped and is leading to an acute case of overhype. This unfortunate sickness is currently affecting many of the reviewers. Unfortunately they are settling for a comfortable lie. The truth is that this was a disappointing finale.

Masterpiece

[fatless99 · 10/10 · 4 June 2019]

From a filmmaking perspective this show is absolutely wonderful, it is so brilliantly shot and then the attention to detail is spectacular. The show itself is a harrowing tale that deserves to be told, in the memories of all the people the disaster has and still affects to this day