Chernobyl

Hi. I'm from Kiev, Ukraine. I was born in 1983 and I was 2 and a half years when the Chernobyl catastrophe happened. I remember 1980s and I can tell that the authors of this film made a GREAT job to show every detail of what the world look for is in the times of Soviet union. The telephones, the clothes, the haircuts, the cracked paint on the window sills, even the door glass is similar to what I remember. There are couple of things which seemed weird to me: firefighters didn't have the red stars on their helmets, and most of the time people use the short forms of the names when they talk to each other (Vasya, not Vasiliy, Lyuda, not Lyudmila). But the most important thing that this film shows is that the soviet authoritiies lied to people about this catastrophe all the time. For example, in Kiev which is 130 km from Chernobyl, nobody knew about the high levels of radiation till the middle of May, they even held a parade on the first of May, when the level of radiation in Kiev was 100 times higher than normal (iodine131 isotope) and nobody gave us the iodine pills. Everyone who tried to tell the truth was called the provocateur and could even be fired from work. I highly recommend to watch this film. This is a tribute to all the heroes who lost their lives in a radioactive flame and saved all of us from death.

A Belarusian here, born in 1983. Parents were scientists, knew everything on the 27th. Chernobyl is never forgotten in Belarus and all the details of the tragedy (a flawed reactor, Soviet style apparatchiks in control, a failed experiment, a clumsy cover-up) are widely known. Yet the series managed to depict the horrible events in a way never before seen. A definite tour de force, I had to literally pause a couple of times to comprehend what had just been shown. Goose bumps and tears, what a masterpiece. Likvidatory - heroes, who contained Chernobyl - should never be forgotten.

Grim Soviet atmosphere depicted accurately apart from some very very minor details. Surprised that a Swedish director who made music videos for Madonna and his English-speaking cast managed to portray Chernobyl events better, than anybody from the countries most traumatized by the explosion.

The tragedy will live forever because of this haunting masterpiece, what a brilliant creative achievement.

I'm Russian. Amazing work! Newer, you hear this, never ever before western cinematography made such authentic film. I speak about details: cars, kitchens, clothes...

My husband grew up near Kyiv and his father drove one of the buses that evacuated the civilians from Pripyat. I have heard his stories of the disaster; the people's concerns, fears and sacrifices. We watch this together and he is amazed at it's authenticity. The set detail, the way the Soviet regime hierarchy functioned, the denial and secrecy surrounding the disaster. He tried (as he usually does when watching a Western production based in or about that part of the world) to find errors or inconsistencies but has not been able to - yet.

The acting is impeccable by all, the filming is top notch, the sounds used to heighten the tension versus music. The way they are able to capture that exact feeling of anxiety, horror, disgust and sadness all rolled into one is admirable.

I have completed the series and it definitely ranks as one of the best. This story has been waiting to be told and there is hands down no one better than HBO to do it. Russia has said it intends to produce its own Chernobyl program, it will be interesting to compare the two. Theirs will purportedly label the CIA as the perpetrator....

I was born in Pripyat. I was four years old when the accident happened. Watching it is more horrifying than living through it. We didn't know what we were dealing with. It's not like a hurricane or an earthquake that takes you by surprise and causes massive destruction. Here everything looked normal, that day was just like any other day and yet you were told to abandon everything and just leave. The immediate casualties of the accident were not huge, but it had an enormous impact on lives of hundreds of thousands of people. I often think what my life would be like if this didn't happen.

This mini series is a masterpiece, perfect in every way. Some people are complaining here that the actors don't speak Russian. I'm a native speaker of Russian and Ukrainian, I don't want the actors to speak Russian. You get so consumed by this show you stop noticing what language they speak.

It's not a documentary, so not each and every detail is accurate, yet I would still call it authentic. The creators got the important stuff right... Both of my parents worked at Chernobyl plant, I grew up hearing stories and versions of what happened. I think this show is the best depiction of the Chernobyl disaster and the stories of its victims. This show is to remind all of us of the cost of lies.