Hoping to learn more about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986? This doc that takes the bulk of its sourced material from previously classified Soviet documents and film may well be of some interest to you.
First before I go on, if you're a fan of the HBO production you may be a bit disappointed in the content of this documentary. I want to state that though this is a fine film, almost none of the story as it was told in the mini-series or anything of the persons featured is expanded upon here. If that is all you're looking for, just save your time and give both it and the rest of my review a skip, hope this helps.
Personally after having taken a school trip to a nuclear power plant in Jr. High I've always had an interest in nuclear power, both its benefits and risks. Then just 3 or 4 years later while I was in High School the accident at Chernobyl occurred. A fairly obvious reason there as to why that interest (especially the risks and possible terrible effects of using nuclear material for power) continued for me. My fascination for the miraculous and disastrous atom was at its height after seeing the cataclysmic events in the news... well, as much as we were allowed to see at the time.
And that's where the heart of this feature lies is within the tuths, half truths and lies told by the Soviet government. What the Soviets said and did, what the short and long term effects were of that true, false and incomplete information handed out by them. This documentary gives us a good look into the former communist state's action and inaction and it's all coming straight from the sealed files of The USSR. Files that only came to light after the fall of the Iron Curtain and The Ukraine's switch to a free and open democracy.
So if that grabs you I think you'll find it an intriguing look into the Chernobyl accident. If you're lookin for more entertainment than info-tainment just check out the mini-series, I gave that a "10" if you're curious. Maybe afterwards you'll want more of the story. If so this video brings you a deeper look at the circumstances of the Chernobyl accident. A look that nobody except the most elite of the Soviet government was ever meant to see.
