FILMMAKER REACTS to Chernobyl Episode 1:

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
  • Hope you enjoy my first reaction to Chernobyl. :D
    Early Access (2 episodes ahead!) & Full length Reactions: / jamesvscinema
    Original Show on HBO: Chernobyl (2019)
    Ending Song: / charleycoin
    Follow Me:
    Instagram: / jamesadamsiii
    Twitter: / jamesadamsiii
    *Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.

ความคิดเห็น • 246

  • @JamesVSCinema
    @JamesVSCinema  2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Hawkeye is now FINISHED on Patreon!
    Wanna catch up to Peacemaker? Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
    Have a great day everyone!

    • @DonnaCPunk
      @DonnaCPunk 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Is all of Chernobyl up on your Patreon, James? I want to see your full reacts but I need to binge watch it. 😊

    • @filmcrew3531
      @filmcrew3531 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      This is how Ukraine is going to survive... Ask any Ukrianian about Holodomor. Follow Craig Mazin, amazing mind into filmmaking and story telling.

    • @JamesVSCinema
      @JamesVSCinema  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@DonnaCPunk Yup :)

  • @stephendavis6267
    @stephendavis6267 2 ปีที่แล้ว +222

    Major shout-out to Paul Ritter, whose performance as Dyatlov really embodied the frustration, incompetence and finger-pointing of bureaucratic middle-management. He passed away last year, but we can all say that his work here was "great, not terrible."

    • @EugeneLychany
      @EugeneLychany 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Too bad they depicted Dyatlov as some sort of villain whereas he wasn't like that, according to real interviews and testimonies. Don't get me wrong, I like the cinematography here but the majority of the facts are horribly twisted to make it sell better.

    • @DonnaCPunk
      @DonnaCPunk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@EugeneLychany Yeah I've seen people who were actually a part of all this - for good or ill - criticize the authenticity of the series. Especially the wife of the firefighter. I want to say she either took or contemplated legal action for defamation.

    • @DonnaCPunk
      @DonnaCPunk 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@EugeneLychany Yeah I've seen people who were actually a part of all this - for good or ill - criticize the authenticity of the series. Especially the wife of the firefighter. We want to say she either took or contemplated legal action for defamation.

    • @theblobconsumes4859
      @theblobconsumes4859 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@DonnaCPunk It's a shame the series has a lot of these problems.

    • @Reblwitoutacause
      @Reblwitoutacause 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Huh. It's almost like it's a _dramatization_ of the story.

  • @unansweredquestion768
    @unansweredquestion768 2 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    "There was a heavy thud," he says. "A couple of seconds later, I felt a wave come through the room. The thick concrete walls were bent like rubber. I thought war had broken out. We started to look for Khodemchuk (his colleague) but he had been by the pumps and had been vaporised. Steam wrapped around everything; it was dark and there was a horrible hissing noise. There was no ceiling, only sky; a sky full of stars." A stream of ionising radiation was shooting starwards, like a laser beam. "I remember thinking how beautiful it was." - Sasha Yuvchenko

  • @lefdee
    @lefdee 2 ปีที่แล้ว +211

    As much as this show rightfully shames the soviet government, it also demonstrates the resolve of the average person just trying to live their life. So many unknown people knowingly threw themselves at this mess for the greater good and knew they would get little to nothing out of it except a likely early grave.

    • @onylra6265
      @onylra6265 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      I often like to think of a passage by one of my favourite writers whenever the world seems too fucky to be bearable:
      “I have seen that it is not man who is impotent in the struggle against evil, but the power of evil that is impotent in the struggle against man. The powerlessness of kindness, of senseless kindness, is the secret of its immortality. It can never by conquered. The more stupid, the more senseless, the more helpless it may seem, the vaster it is. Evil is impotent before it. The prophets, religious teachers, reformers, social and political leaders are impotent before it. This dumb, blind love is man’s meaning. Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil, struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. But if what is human in human beings has not been destroyed even now, then evil will never conquer.”
      ― Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate.
      I've been thinking about these words a lot recently.

    • @lefdee
      @lefdee 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@onylra6265
      Grossman did have a way of being poetically blunt. Wonderful and poignant quote.

    • @Glass-Bowl
      @Glass-Bowl 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@onylra6265 A quote I haven't heard but marvelous. Reads like it's spoken from wisdom, and I'd guess the writer has consumed a lot of injustice, if I had to guess. Hopefully I'm the type of person who will follow through on a good idea and read that book some day. I've been thinking about this concept a lot recently.

  • @TaintedPrinceps
    @TaintedPrinceps 2 ปีที่แล้ว +99

    This series is near perfect. The pacing, the writing, direction, cinemtography, performances, all brilliant.

    • @zszs7466
      @zszs7466 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      This series manipulates your emotions with zombies and cute cats.

  • @becksimilian2955
    @becksimilian2955 2 ปีที่แล้ว +39

    Love the prolonged shot of Dyatlov looking out the window down on the roof... which pans down to show the graphite. Shows us early on that he knows exactly what's going on and is in extreme denial

  • @MrsTuppence
    @MrsTuppence 2 ปีที่แล้ว +88

    The soundtrack is chilling, Hildur Guðnadóttir did an amazing job, by the way, she did the soundtrack for Joker as well, Oscar winner for best original score.

    • @QuayNemSorr
      @QuayNemSorr 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      And she incorporated sounds from a nuclear reactor into the soundtrack

    • @swokatsamsiyu3590
      @swokatsamsiyu3590 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @Gerald H
      It is most of the soundtrack. She and her audio crew walked around for hours in the Ignalina NPP that was a sister plant of the Chernobyl NPP.

  • @Arrynek01
    @Arrynek01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    James, if you want to understand it, without going into the science of it:
    The reactor was a very old, very unsafe, and very cut-cornery.
    Basically, the reaction is controlled by rods. They lower them into the reactor to absorb released neutrons, thus slowing down the chain reaction. (Less neutrons flying around, less of a chance of them hitting another atom).
    In modern reactors, these control rods are made from boron, cadmium, indium... They absorb neutrons without decaying.
    Chernobyl had these control rods made of pure carbon. Carbon absorbs neutrons. It has two large downsides. One being decay. They can't take as much as the newer ones before losing efficacy and they change composition. Two, they ignite.
    By the time they lowered the rods into the reactor, it was too late. Temperatures were too high, and because of a very weird effect, inserting carbon rods into the reactor could cause a spike in power. The Chernobyl crew, due to bad training, negligence and fear, dropped all the rods in at the same time. The reactor spiked beyond any design limitations, the rods cracked. The entire water loop leading to the turbines evaporated. It tore apart the core and the pipes, mixed the fuel with the coolant, and ejected radiated particles into the atmosphere. It's like a building-sized pressure-cooker, basically.
    And just to clarify, because a lot of people get it mixed up: This is not like a nuke. A completely different process.

  • @bencarlson4300
    @bencarlson4300 2 ปีที่แล้ว +61

    Jared Harris is one of my favorite actors and he finally gets a leading role here. Such a great show, it could’ve just been exploitative trash but it became one of the greatest seasons of TV ever made.

    • @bernhardtsen74
      @bernhardtsen74 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      he was also great in Fringe tv series!best sci fi series since The X-Files!

    • @bencarlson4300
      @bencarlson4300 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@moon-moth1 The acting was far and away the best part of that show, the story went a little off the rails for me towards the end, but still a good show

  • @shahs1221
    @shahs1221 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I remember thinking to myself while watching Chernobyl, "I have never felt so much dread watching people talk about just numbers and information." Every time you're thrown something new, it's not just another conflict that the characters have to face but also something they have to live with for the rest of their lives and its absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking. There's nothing scarier than truth and this show really showcased that. Kudos to Craig Mazin for this masterpiece in writing!

  • @ligmaballs8385
    @ligmaballs8385 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    this first episode was a straight-up horror show, with radiation as the monster

  • @SweetLou0523
    @SweetLou0523 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Couple of things: 1. "only ten years" in a soviet labor camp was often a death sentence. It wasn't like prison in America which is basically a pleasure Cruise compared to a labor camp. 2. This show has a number of scientific inaccuracies especially with how radiation works. This was deliberate. The creator/director said he didn't want another documentary, he wanted to tell things from the viewpoint of the survivors. He used w number of books and interviews as his basis for this. He wanted to accurately portray how the average soviet citizen would have understood nuclear power back then. We have the gift of decades of open education and study, they didn't. Many had no idea the true danger or how the danger presented itself. 3. The radio transmissions that serve as the 9/11esque call are the actual real recorded calls not just people reading a transcript of them.
    If you really enjoy the show, I cannot strongly enough recommend listening to the accompanying podcast with Craig Manzin the creator/ director. He discusses a lot of the technical aspects of the show, as well as the reasoning behind things and even goes into detail on events they had to abbreviate for filming purposes. They are fascinating to listen to.

    • @missymartinez9923
      @missymartinez9923 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      although I understand the severity of labor camps even POW camps in Russia, the american prison system is not a walk in a park either

    • @SweetLou0523
      @SweetLou0523 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@missymartinez9923 that's my point. As bad as our prisons are, the Soviet labor camps were so horrific that they made our prisons look recreational in comparison. American prisons actually care about keeping the inmates alive. In soviet camps, they weren't concerned with such things. A dead prisoner is one less mouth to feed.

    • @st2rseeker
      @st2rseeker 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for the podcast recommendation!

  • @SupraJulie
    @SupraJulie 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Personally, I love that this series is shot like cosmic horror, and not a docudrama or something else conventional.

  • @Grnademaster
    @Grnademaster 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    "I'm over here trippin' as if that isn't happening over here in America." hahaha! Truly lmao. That was the best line I think I've heard yet, my friend. And so true it is.

  • @kiernanknox2314
    @kiernanknox2314 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    This show had some of the best moments of horror I've ever seen, and i think the reason for that is this all happened. a lot of horror films or shows you can hide behind the fact that it's fake.... this happened.

    • @zszs7466
      @zszs7466 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      well, as it depicts the zombies, it is, in fact, fake.

  • @AnAngelForsaken
    @AnAngelForsaken 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Ah, Chernobyl. The greatest horror series ever made. A slasher fix flic where the slasher is invisible, everywhere, and slowly tears you apart from the inside out. Where the only real monster is human hubris egged on by the apathy of power. Nothing scarier than having to face the truth that we are but small frail things in a universe far out of our control, and there is nothing we can blame for that.

    • @desisdosis473
      @desisdosis473 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Cosmic Horror basically.

  • @davidmichaelson1092
    @davidmichaelson1092 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I remember when this happened. It did not really impact my life here in the US. But I later knew a doctor from Minsk who died very young (leaving a widow and child) from a very rare form of thyroid cancer that was common among people exposed to the fallout from Chernobyl. He was one of thousands of unrecognized deaths from this disaster.

  • @nickrose83
    @nickrose83 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Holy S james you're on Chernobyl??! This is how I first fround Brandon and through him you. So glad you are on this now. It's a masterclass in compelling TV. Can't wait to see you get through this show. Looking forward to watching this.

  • @glamazon6172
    @glamazon6172 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Things are about to get real warm and toasty in here.

  • @juandesalgado
    @juandesalgado 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Hildur Guðnadóttir did a fantastic, yet discrete job with the music in this series. Proof that music doesn't have to be Hans-Zimmer-over-the-top-bombastic to be good.

    • @paulhewes7333
      @paulhewes7333 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      She went to power plants to get sounds for this score. It is very good. And she went to win the Oscar for her "Joker" score.

  • @raviamodernepic
    @raviamodernepic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    The visuals in this entire series were so immersive, but the audio elevates this series to a masterpiece. It does such a good job of inducing horror and panic. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the rest of the series.

  • @allisonfisher9304
    @allisonfisher9304 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Indeed, it happened here, in good ‘ol America, several years before Chernobyl. The Three Mile Island disaster occurred, not quite to this scale, but they were 30 minutes from this type of completed meltdown. The people who lived in the vicinity are still dealing with the fallout.

  • @ashlabelle
    @ashlabelle 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This series is absolutely the best piece of TV I've ever seen.

  • @itsmaddiebee
    @itsmaddiebee 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Regardless of the level of historical/scientific accuracy, the visuals and story-telling of this show are phenomenal.

  • @misti-step
    @misti-step 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    jared harris is amazibg, i also reccomend another show he was in, the terror! its a masterclass in horror/drama

    • @tornoutlaw
      @tornoutlaw 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I kinda don't want to see shows with him any more, his characters have been dying in everything and it breaks me everytime^^

    • @misti-step
      @misti-step 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tornoutlaw no spoilers, but what happens with jareds character will suprise you!!

    • @mollyirene8979
      @mollyirene8979 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      the terror is so amazing, i wish it was talked about more. absolutely top tier.

  • @actaeon299
    @actaeon299 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Those were real dispatch calls

  • @phantomkitten73
    @phantomkitten73 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    “This place is not a place of honor… no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours. The danger is to the body, and it can kill. This place is a message… and part of a system of messages… pay attention to it! Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.”

  • @werdle92
    @werdle92 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I love how lighthearted and quirky this show is. reminds me of Wes Anderson a bit. So whimsical and heartwarming. 🤫

  • @DraylianKaiju
    @DraylianKaiju 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I watched this entire miniseries last year...in one day, and among so many things I loved about it...one thing did seem eerily familiar. The original "Godzilla" (1954) and the most recent live-action (Japanese) Godzilla film "Shin Godzilla" (2016) touch on so many of the same levels as Chernobyl. And while Godzilla IS fictional and Chernobyl was a real historic event, both touch on the dark, horrific consequences over the misuse of nuclear power and the arrogance of politicians in thinking they know how deal with and contain that kind of disaster and crisis. Both of those films are absolutely must see films.

  • @baka9466
    @baka9466 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This show does such an amazing job of building tension and only showing us as much as the characters know in the moment so the dawning horror of what has happened builds over time

  • @kennethwolf1763
    @kennethwolf1763 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I think this show did a good job not only showing the gravity of the situation, it also showed the corruption of the Soviet Union during those times. They wanted to save face because it was for "the regime" and it didn't want to get embarrassed on the world stage.

    • @hrotha
      @hrotha 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The same mentality led to the Kursk disaster of 2000, when the Russian government was more concerned with avoiding embarrassment than with saving the crew of the Kursk submarine. And by the time they admitted they needed international help, it was too late

    • @chaost4544
      @chaost4544 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That tends to be the history of that political structure and we're seeing that type of mentality in 2022. The political and military purges the USSR was so easy to hand out is a huge reason.

  • @cuyhater
    @cuyhater ปีที่แล้ว

    "Only ten years": but that's in a prison system where, depending on where the prisoner landed, life expectancy could average as little as three months (for those who ended up working in Soviet salt or lead mines), and those who "luckily" ended up in Siberian logging camps were told "Go ahead. Escape. There's nothing for a thousand miles in any direction."

  • @corvuslight
    @corvuslight 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Truly a masterclass on EVERY level. The audio though, my god...
    Nothing has ever highlighted, for me, the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome in a system of governance better than this series.

    • @Ahov
      @Ahov 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Equality of opportunity doesn't exist in America and equality of outcome wasn't even remotely the policy of the fascist Soviet Union. Look at the differences between state party officials and ordinary citizens.

    • @corvuslight
      @corvuslight 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Ahov ...in my opinion, equality of opportunity exists in America more than anywhere else on Earth and possibly more than anywhere else in history. That doesn't mean it is as prevalent as it should be, especially lately.
      Equality of outcome was most definitely the ideal of the Soviet Union that they espoused, though I doubt it was what those in power, even at it's inception, ever intended to fulfill.

    • @Ahov
      @Ahov 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@corvuslight You must be a right-winger to genuinely think that.

    • @corvuslight
      @corvuslight 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Ahov ...seeing as how it's considered right wing to be in favor of free speech now, that would be a meaningless category.
      The right/left binary is a trap anyway, and I'm not looking to be a tool of any ideology, especially since the fascist oligarchs are on the warpath against you and me.

  • @anthonycolunga4134
    @anthonycolunga4134 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    This mini series is some of the most heartbreakingly irritating television I’ve ever seen! 😩

  • @jasonstehlick452
    @jasonstehlick452 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    So excited for you to take this brief journey. This series is not only hard to watch, but also necessary. Beautifully well done portrayal of one of the ugliest incidents in human history.

  • @PaladinZeke
    @PaladinZeke 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    "Mr President - the Special Operation in Chernobyl is proceeding as planned". This is what I think now while rewatching it.

  • @gregthebaritone
    @gregthebaritone 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    They explain how it happened pretty well in the final episode. Basically, it was an unstable design built without basic safety features, like a containment building for the core.

  • @CrackerJacker79
    @CrackerJacker79 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Man, a show about how the people were thrown into a mostly invisible fire to protect the power and status quo. You hate to see it. I don't want to sound like I don't like the show - it's clearly incredible and rightly lauded. Just...damn. Keep staying safe out there everyone. tyty James for the reacts.

  • @BloggerMusicMan
    @BloggerMusicMan 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    They didn't intend for Chernobyl to blow up (regarding your question at 21:50) but the operators of the plant knowingly took shortcuts because they were so eager to get a test done, which would have resulted in personal promotions for themselves. But the government at much higher levels also were negligent by building the plant with a combustible roof, not building a containment dome to stop radiation from leaving the plant in case of a meltdown, and tipping the boron control rods with graphite, which can react with uranium.
    They did this as a cheap way to get nuclear energy. They had to have understood the risks, but when you have a big goal, sometimes the risks seem more abstract. It's not until something happens that you start to really grapple with the consequences of taking shortcuts.

  • @brycenolen3594
    @brycenolen3594 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This show has me really hyped for the Last of Us show. Craig Mazin seems like the perfect person to try and tell that story.

  • @ANNIHILISTIC
    @ANNIHILISTIC 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    9:06
    It almost happened in Detroit in 1966 with the Fermi 1 reactor. The great Gill Scott Heron made a song about it called 'We Almost Lost Detroit'.
    But that was a 4/7 on the INES scale, Chernobyl was a 7/7.

    • @chrism7395
      @chrism7395 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      also at Three Mile Island which was rated 5/7

    • @insaned4666
      @insaned4666 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Didn’t the one out by Cleveland have serious issues that almost made things very bad for a lot of people?

    • @ANNIHILISTIC
      @ANNIHILISTIC 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@chrism7395 Yep, also, but there were no cool songs made about it :P

  • @AM-dd6dx
    @AM-dd6dx 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I am so, so excited for you to rewatch this. This miniseries is such a masterclass in writing, directing, and adapting such huge events to the small screen. All the acting performances are phenomenal and the storytelling is unreal!!!

  • @justing5905
    @justing5905 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Band of Brothers, The Sopranos and Chernobyl are the best I've seen from HBO.

  • @detritus10001
    @detritus10001 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Picked up that graphite moderator, and sealed his fate. Innocuous looking black object, that might only catch you off guard because it's light af. The roof was about 15,000 roentgens, which was fatal if you were in it's presence for between 20-45 seconds. Those were truly awful deaths. Liquefied people to the point that an iv wasn't possible to relieve pain because of the wet paper thickness and strength of the skin. Breaks my heart to think of the sacrifice these fellow human beings had to be subjected to. God have mercy on the human race for the atrocities we've committed against humanity.

  • @philshorten3221
    @philshorten3221 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That line... What is the cost of lies?
    As true in US Politics today as it was back in 1980s USSR

  • @PaladinZeke
    @PaladinZeke 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    "It was years since I saw this" ;) This came less than 3 years ago, just before Covid pretty much :)

  • @Weazel1
    @Weazel1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The score to this series is the most hauntingly terrifying thing that I’ve ever heard. There’s no musical tune to hum along to, just a droning sound that compliments the horror that unfolds on screen. The scene on the bridge gives me chills every time I think about it. The people casually watching while small children play around in the falling “snow” is nightmarish. This is one of the all time great series that will hard to top for awhile.

    • @rastiga9196
      @rastiga9196 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Part of that droning is the actual sounds a nuclear reactor makes. Scary to the core.

  • @TheShadowboy8
    @TheShadowboy8 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had to think for a second when he mentioned he hasn't watched this series in years even though it came out in 2019... Before realization hitting me that its been 3 years since 2019...

  • @Marthyboy88
    @Marthyboy88 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Omfg, I love that you're watching this. One of my fav series out there, and really does a great job capturing the events, while also keeping the drama real.
    I have a big fascination with the Chernobyl exclusion zone, and this series was straight up amazing

  • @ZeBackWoodz
    @ZeBackWoodz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Man this show is a trip honestly hard to fathom that shit like this can go so fuckin wrong so quick...man thank you for the video brother, always a pleasure and much respect to the grind. Hope you and everyone else has a great Sunday

  • @richardadesmond
    @richardadesmond 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    14:16 The actor is Paul Ritter, who sadly died of a brain tumor irl, so sad.

  • @TheAtomicAgeCM
    @TheAtomicAgeCM 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice vid, James. The show is fantastically hard to watch but also equally hard to pull yourself away from. It's horrifically beautiful in its filmmaking. I haven't seen the show in a few months so watching your video and hearing that music again just brings all that horror and dread back instantly, just like a proper horror movie. The series shows what happens when my industry, the nuclear industry, is not given the respect and independence it deserves. And by independence, I mean non-technical officials overruling matters of safety they have no business interfering in. Some of the physical properties of the Chernobyl reactor make it literally an illegal design here in the States because of how unsafe it is (likely in many other countries as well but I can't speak with certainty to that). I'm here for the ride, man. I'm not gonna like it, like you said (lol), but it's important.

    • @swokatsamsiyu3590
      @swokatsamsiyu3590 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I study nuclear reactors as a not-at-all nerdy hobby with the RBMK in particular. And while I may not have your level of expertise, I can safely say that this reactor would not have been able to be licenced anywhere else outside the USSR for obvious reasons. If you read in the INSAG-7 report just how flawed it was, the absolute lack of any Safety Culture combined with utter operator stupidity, it is a small miracle that this kind of accident didn't happen sooner. And still it nearly did, in 1975 at the Leningrad NPP the positive SCRAM effect already reared its ugly head. Only due to the fact that the operators hadn't backed their reactor into a corner like they did with Chernobyl Unit 4, and that they kept their heads on straight, didn't things spiral wildly out of control. Still there was damage to several fuel channels and it was a rather messy repair before they could put the unit back online. One of the Ignalina units had a similar event in the early 80's as well. After that mishap design changes to the control rods were strongly suggested, but never followed up upon.

    • @TheAtomicAgeCM
      @TheAtomicAgeCM 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@swokatsamsiyu3590 you got it! the (seeming) lack of a strong regulator played a large part

    • @swokatsamsiyu3590
      @swokatsamsiyu3590 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheAtomicAgeCM
      Not was this regulator lacking, it was absent in most cases. The Soviets had a thing called "Procedures for Re-switching Keys and Straps of the Engineered Protection and Blocking Systems" in place at the Chernobyl plant which made it more or less legal(!) to defeat/ disable or cancel safety features in order to be able to run certain tests. And defeat/ disable and/ or cancel they did on the night of that ill-fated test. In order to force the reactor to keep going despite the repeated warning signals, they physically disabled/ cancelled/ ignored every safety system they could get their hands on. They include, but were not limited to:
      - The Emergency Core Cooling System. They ran the reactor for almost 11 hours with the system physically disconnected(!) from the core.
      - Automatic Control Rod System disabled.
      - Manual extraction of almost ALL control rods, even the special group that was supposed to be in the core at all times.
      - Steam/ water separator alarms were repeatedly cancelled.
      - Feed Water Flow Rate alarms repeatedly cancelled.
      - Excess Steam alarms repeatedly cancelled.
      - Neutron Power alarm repeatedly cancelled.
      - Emergency Thermal-Hydraulics parameters repeatedly cancelled.
      - Two feed water circulation pumps switched off.
      - Turbine emergency regulating valves disabled.
      When I read that for the first time I nearly fell out of my chair. It was well known that at low power levels the RBMK is notoriously capricious and unstable, and then they start prodding it with the biggest stick they can find??? How they could ever think that this was somehow going to end well is completely beyond me.
      Btw, I watched your "Chernobyl" videos a while back and learned a lot from them. It was also quite funny that when Harris during the court session at some point says something along the line of "Reactor No 4 is now a nuclear bomb." we went "Uhm, no" at the same time.

    • @TheAtomicAgeCM
      @TheAtomicAgeCM 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@swokatsamsiyu3590 haha that's funny about our reactions to the bomb bit. I'm glad you got something out of my videos, that's awesome to hear. Yes, that night was a failing of sensible procedures. they (operators) would routinely not follow procedures in order to get things done with the poorly designed reactor and associated systems so the things they did on the night of test were, frighteningly enough, typical things they did.

    • @swokatsamsiyu3590
      @swokatsamsiyu3590 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheAtomicAgeCM
      Yep, your videos definitely helped me gain more knowledge^^, so thanks for sharing. It is much appreciated.

  • @ryanboutr7756
    @ryanboutr7756 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This series is a straight heater 🔥🔥
    Super sad but great story.

  • @victorsos100
    @victorsos100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The very few shows that's INTENSE from beginning to the THE END!!!

  • @Zughaman
    @Zughaman 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Cool Fact: the filmmakers decided that if the actors used fake Russian accents it wouldn’t be taken seriously. So all the actors in the series used their own natural voices and native accents

  • @ryanbuckley5529
    @ryanbuckley5529 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Been waiting for this! You’re such a humble person with a beautiful personality. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend🤙 Much love and Respect brother🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

  • @safespacebear
    @safespacebear 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    James! I'm so happy to see you covering this series. It's as close to perfect as TV gets. I have watched it twice and will again with you. I don't go out of my way to watch it bc it's so emotionally draining to see all these heroes suffer to save the world but it's a story that needs to be told.
    I heard the Kremlin was pissed about the portrayals but I think they failed to grasp at how inspiring the people in the west found all the workers, soldiers and scientists who sacrificed their lives or their health to fix an impossible situation.

  • @mocmonster
    @mocmonster 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great reaction as always, I hope you end up doing the whole mini series, it's hard to watch knowing it actually happened but it's brilliantly done. Regards from the UK 👍🏻

  • @RushavMohanty
    @RushavMohanty 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hoooo boy, be prepared to cry all over again. I do everytime I've rewatched this series.

  • @kareningram6093
    @kareningram6093 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Episode one was such a punch in the gut. And every episode after that just hit harder and harder. This miniseries is brutal. And everybody should absolutely watch it.

  • @Marsisredandhot
    @Marsisredandhot 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    oh man, so excited to see you react to this! one of my favorite series of all time for sure

  • @diekje8728
    @diekje8728 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    The book they used for the series won a Nobel Price. Highly advise it, it’s the people telling themselves how they lived through these events without knowing the words to describe it

  • @stanley2681
    @stanley2681 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    it's been years? lol bro it dropped in 2019 but iam glad you are featuring it on the ch.

  • @colonyofrats4193
    @colonyofrats4193 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’m a 16 year old girl and this is one of the best shows I’ve ever watched. I first watched it last year and wow.

  • @luciolamonica
    @luciolamonica 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    RIP Paul Ritter (1966 - 2021)

  • @thomasperry1462
    @thomasperry1462 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Man what a TV show, must have gone through it 4 times. Will be awesome to see your reaction to it.

  • @TCrimson05t
    @TCrimson05t 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Yoooooo. My guy.
    I had no idea you hadn't watched this yet on here.
    I remember in 2019 The avengers series wrapped up & Game of thrones wrapped up.
    But this was the best thing I saw all year.
    Especially somebody that likes to I dissect Cinema like you do. You are in for a treat. Especially given covid, the war happening.....this series being developed couldn't have been more timely.
    Enjoy.

  • @matthaft2048
    @matthaft2048 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    If you ever watch the movie Coraline and wonder why Mr. Bobinsky’s skin got colored blue it’s supposed to be a nod to the Chernobyl liquidator medal he keeps pinned on his shirt

  • @LS-tk7hp
    @LS-tk7hp 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    another incredible show i can recommend is lost, tbh its a must watch since its kind of been forgotten

  • @adrianneagoe3652
    @adrianneagoe3652 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    19 and obsessed with this series

  • @fumb_ducker5435
    @fumb_ducker5435 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The way this show portrays the inevitability of impending doom is masterful. Glad to see your going through it. Love the channel. Cheers.

  • @mattg6574
    @mattg6574 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is probably the best miniseries of all time

  • @Rob_Fordd
    @Rob_Fordd 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    The US had a near meltdown event at 3 Mile Island a few years before Chernobyl. It was a much, much smaller event but a lot of the same mistakes were made as far as the faulty orders from a mismanaged chain of command. A lot of US observers of the Chernobyl cleanup later on were also genuinely impressed, most did not believe the US would be capable of reacting as fast at such a scale. Like imagine the reaction from corporations if the president unilaterally announced "we are going to be using all the liquid nitrogen in the country" lol.

  • @eraserstraw9252
    @eraserstraw9252 ปีที่แล้ว

    Funfact: the firemen calls you hear in the episode is the real audio.

  • @GreatWolvini
    @GreatWolvini 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is such a powerful series! So glad to see your reaction and insight!

  • @lonelyplanet1080
    @lonelyplanet1080 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice choice 👍...I've watched some videos about this, very interesting....thanks my dude 🤘

  • @matthewjaco847
    @matthewjaco847 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I watch a ton of horror, but this series was easily the most terrifying show I’ve ever witnessed on TV. Not just for what almost happened to the world but for what STILL COULD come to pass if we’re not careful.

  • @dAdpool-lt2zh
    @dAdpool-lt2zh 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yessssss ! I been waiting on this James !

  • @IggyStardust1967
    @IggyStardust1967 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    9:14 - Uhhh.... James.... you said, "Imagine this happening in New York, for all my American viewers." My man, you might want to Google "Three Mile Island Pennsylvania". In 1979 (I was 12 years old), there was very nearly a catastrophe of this magnitude there. It's hard to imagine people not being aware of the Chernobyl disaster, especially given what's going on in Ukraine right now. But I can fully understand Three Mile Island flying under people's radar, as the incident was contained pretty quickly, and without it going full on disaster. We got lucky back in 1979, if I'm being honest. One of the reactors was damaged, and some radioactive steam was released, but it certainly didn't get to Chernobyl or Fukushima levels.

  • @MICHST1978
    @MICHST1978 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Looking forward to your review of the rest of the series. One of the best miniseries you'lll see.

  • @Edninety
    @Edninety 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My broke ass had to wait for this.. So happy it's here now! :D Let's freaking go

    • @serial92989
      @serial92989 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Same but so worth the wait

  • @diaphanouswaffle
    @diaphanouswaffle 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I get what you're sayin'. I'd describe this series as being "brutiful", bc it's brutal & it's beautiful.

  • @bbishopp
    @bbishopp 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    ayy my lecturer worked on this. such a good show!!

  • @maksphoto78
    @maksphoto78 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes my man, the disaster wasn't due to any mistake. It was because the RBMK reactor was flawed from the beginning.

  • @jeromedutil-martin6823
    @jeromedutil-martin6823 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My show of the year in 2019!

  • @justinpeck6015
    @justinpeck6015 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Feel so bad for them workers and the first responders. And respect them for doing whatever they can to try and save life's.

  • @adrianstefan5418
    @adrianstefan5418 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Loved it! Btw hope The Mist is on your list.

  • @evisceratednation
    @evisceratednation 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    R.I.P. Simon Paul Adams

  • @justinpeck6015
    @justinpeck6015 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The end of this episode is terrifying. Showing us how far the radiation is spreading.

  • @Slayereyez
    @Slayereyez 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    this show is hard to watch. I still like the 1st season of true detective better but I think this is one of the greatest shows ever shot.

  • @justwatching6186
    @justwatching6186 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Old enough viewer to remember when it happened. Great videos

  • @GrouchyOldBear7
    @GrouchyOldBear7 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.

  • @Skrubb_Lord
    @Skrubb_Lord 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    If those heroes didn't give their lives to contain it then we'd still be feeling the fallout today in all corners of the globe.

  • @acon2211
    @acon2211 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Same music artist/composer than Joker! If you watch this film again someday you'll hear Chenobyl's "core" at some points lol.

  • @noelienoelie8425
    @noelienoelie8425 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This show gave me consistent chills, right up to the last episode.

  • @garethstanden3732
    @garethstanden3732 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Reminiscent of 1984, Brazil and others, the ‘mind control of the masses’ was handled really well in this. Incredible series.

  • @tevianb1327
    @tevianb1327 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    As you watch think about this. The last reactor in Chernobyl continued operation until 2000!

  • @HoopleHeadUSA
    @HoopleHeadUSA 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Ohhh sheeeeeit! This is gonna be a RIDE!

  • @taylo2079
    @taylo2079 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Oh man, I cannot wait to see your reaction to this. One of the best series of TV ever!

  • @budgreen4x4
    @budgreen4x4 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    welcome back to a masterpiece