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Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes

  • 2022
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes (2022)
Newly-discovered archive footage and witness accounts to lay bare the tragedy and heroic efforts made to prevent another explosion.
Play trailer1:59
1 Video
11 Photos
History DocumentaryDocumentaryHistory

Newly-discovered archive footage and witness accounts to lay bare the tragedy and heroic efforts made to prevent another explosion.Newly-discovered archive footage and witness accounts to lay bare the tragedy and heroic efforts made to prevent another explosion.Newly-discovered archive footage and witness accounts to lay bare the tragedy and heroic efforts made to prevent another explosion.

  • Director
    • James Jones
  • Stars
    • Lyudmila Ignatenko
    • Oleksiy Breus
    • Leonenko Vitaliy
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    2.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • James Jones
    • Stars
      • Lyudmila Ignatenko
      • Oleksiy Breus
      • Leonenko Vitaliy
    • 9User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 7 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:59
    Official Trailer

    Photos11

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    + 7
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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Lyudmila Ignatenko
    • Self - Chernobyl Resident
    • (as Lyudmila Ihnatenko)
    Oleksiy Breus
    • Self - Engineer of Chernobyl Power Plant
    • (voice)
    Leonenko Vitaliy
    • Self - Hospital Director
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Dr Vitaly Leonenko)
    Aleksandr Syrota
    • Self - Chernobyl Resident
    • (voice)
    • (as Oleksandr Sirota)
    Nikolai Tarakanov
    • Self - Soviet Army General
    • (archive footage)
    • (as General Nikolai Tarakanov)
    Ihor Pismenskiy
    • Self - Helicopter Pilot
    • (archive footage)
    Ihor Hodosov
    • Self - Chernobyl Miner
    Ihor Yatskiv
    • Self - Liquidator of the Chernobyl disaster
    • (voice)
    Yuriy Samoylenko
    • Self - Deputy Chief Engineer of Chernobyl Power Plant
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Yuri Samoilenko)
    Nikolay Kaplin
    • Self - Liquidator of the Chernobyl disaster
    • (voice)
    • (as Nikolai Kaplin)
    Anatoly Dyatlov
    • Self - Deputy Chief of Chernobyl Power Plant
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Anatoly Diyatlov)
    Evgenij Chazov
    • Self - Health Minister of the Soviet Union
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Yevgeniy Chazov)
    Robert Peter Gale
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Mikhail Gorbachev
    Mikhail Gorbachev
    • Self - General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
    • (archive footage)
    Leonid Ilyin
    • Self - Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences
    • (archive footage)
    • Director
      • James Jones
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews9

    7.92.3K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    5AJx91

    Not This One, But That One

    I was hoping that this would be as good, as HBO's 2019 tv mini series.

    But it wasn't. In fact, I think lost tapes would have been best used as extras on the live-action Chernobyl.

    I felt way more engaged, and constantly wanting to see the next episode, unlike Lost Tapes. It (the 2019 series) even made me go down a rabbit hole of finding out more things about the incident.

    Lastly, I agree with williamruckman-73903. Narration wasn't good in The Lost Tapes.
    8BIASED4215

    Too close to reality

    I became very puzzled by this documentary. Having just watched the 2019 series, it's ridiculous the similarities in structure and storytelling. Obviously it's the same event being covered but specific choices make either the drama or the documentary to look like a lesser effort given which one you watch first. They are too similar.

    The impressive real colored footage covered in Lost Tapes would shape the series visuals anyway. But the case of the firefighter and the pregnant wife is too much of a coincidence for a dramatic element to be present on both. My wild guess is that this documentary was ready long before 2022 and the fillmakers just built upon it and it kinda spoils the brilliance of both productions.

    This documentary should have been reedited to take a different approach from the series.
    8wfredericks

    Even if you have watched the miniseries I recommend this

    It's informative and gives you new datapoints that you need. Reading the translation is a pain I would have preferred an English narrative speaker. But hearing directly from people who were involved is powerful. I'm sure there is more out there that we haven't seen yet!
    10ejimie

    Very well done (narration can be turned off)

    If you hit the "back" button on your remote (I have a Roku) and then press "play" the robotic narration is turned off. This is an important film and very well done.
    10frankblack-79961

    If this doc doesn't still some kind of emotion in you, then you are dead inside.

    This is some amazing collection of video out of Soviet Russia. The propaganda, the cover up and the horror of nuclear fission run wild and out of control. If you see this and still feel like we were justified in dropping these bombs on Japan, than you probably are a soulless person. This indeed should be required viewing for students. Yes, it will be very upsetting and uncomfortable in parts. It should be. These are lessons to be taught so that we as humans might be more aware of the consequences of hubris and overreaching government. I will never forget what was shown on this documentary.

    More like this

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    6.8
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    To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb
    7.4
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    7.1
    Chernobyl: Zone of Exclusion

    Storyline

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    • Connections
      Referenced in Film Junk Podcast: Episode 846: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 7, 2023 (Netherlands)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • Ukrainian
      • English
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Chernobyl 86
    • Production companies
      • Top Hat Productions
      • SKY Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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