Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 20, 2022

Danila Kozlovsky's "Chernobyl" a.k.a. "Chernobyl 1986" (2019) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MPI Home Video/Capelight Pictures International. The only bonus features on the disc are promotional trailers for the film. In Russian or English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region A/B "locked".

Evacuation

I wanted to do a small article about Danila Kozlovsky’s Chernobyl because it is a very good film that has been repeatedly smeared by some astonishingly unfair reviews. I don’t think this is coincidental, but I only wish to say that unlike the HBO TV series, which were very political, Kozlovsky’s film isn’t tainted by preapproved propaganda. Given its extremely difficult subject matter, it is actually as objective as it could have been.

Let’s clarify first what Chernobyl isn’t. It is not a film that was conceived to offer a historically accurate reconstruction of the tragedy from 1986. It is not a film that aims to rekindle an old blaming game. It is not a film that was meant to rewrite bits of history so that old truths are permanently erased. It is not a film that uses the thirty-fifth anniversary of the horrific tragedy to invent new heroes. Simply put, it is not a film with an agenda -- or at least not of the kind that it has been accused of carrying. (Ironically, the highly-praised HBO TV series, which I actually like a lot as well, most definitely had an agenda. A very, very obvious one, too).

Chernobyl pays tribute to the many brave men that risked and sacrificed their lives to prevent a horrific tragedy from evolving into a modern-day Armageddon. They were known as The Liquidators. Some of them were first responders -- firefighters, doctors, nurses, and soldiers. Some of them were workers from the power plant that stayed in the contaminated areas to do what they could to contain the radioactive spills. Some of them were mad heroes that went back to the power plant, after it was evacuated, to prevent the complete collapse of the main reactor. There are many archival documents that detail much of what was done in the hours and days after the explosion at the power plant, but not everything. There are intimate stories and details that are impossible to know and this is the gray area that Chernobyl dares to reimagine while paying tribute to The Liquidators.

How exactly does Chernobyl do it?

It does it by following closely two fictional characters, the firefighter Alexei (Kozlovsky) and the single mother Olga (Oksana Akishina), who reconnect just days before the explosion at the power plant in Pripyat, where the latter has been making ends meet in a local hair salon. When the first official reports begin coming in, Alexei, who has just parted ways with the local Fire Department and is on his way to Kiev, turns around and joins the first responders as they struggle to figure out how to prevent the main reactor from collapsing.

One of the most common ‘flaws’ that is highlighted in the aforementioned reviews is the fact that Chernobyl fails to provide a complete summation of the chain of events that occurred after the explosion. But this is actually a deliberate omission. Why? Because by shifting the point of view -- from the common one that reveals the magnitude of the event, and specifically its ripple effects on politics and related developments in the former U.S.S.R. and abroad, to one that uses only Alexei and Olga’s relationship as a prism -- the film reveals how in a matter of hours ordinary people’s lives were irreversibly altered. Many of these ordinary people were amongst The Liquidators, but some were left in the dark and some could not even begin to imagine the scale of what had taken place. (This is the very reason why Olga’s boy has a crucial role in the film as well. He does not fully understand what is happening around him, but experiences the consequences and is scarred for life).

In the final third, Kozlovsky reconstructs the deadly mission that was needed to relieve the excessive pressure from the hot water that had flooded crucial areas surrounding the damaged reactor. The authorities needed qualified people to enter the plant, dive in the hot water and release it. Alexei is one of the volunteers that puts on a diving suit. Around the same time, more volunteers are brought in, but this time they are soldiers. Sound odd? Yes and no. There were volunteers that went back to the plant, but there were soldiers and other staff that were simply ordered to be there as well. Many from the second group did not know that they were risking their lives, and the few that did could not do anything to avoid the deadly mission. Chernobyl does not hide any of this, but does not emphasize it either. It simply reimagines the panic and the rush to take control of the situation with The Liquidators.

Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Chernobyl arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MPI Home Video/Capelight Pictures International.

The film looked simply superb on my system. I don't exactly how it was shot, but it is very easy to tell that modern equipment was used to produce some absolutely striking visuals. A lot of the footage from the flooded reactor in particular looked excellent, despite the fact that it is quite dark and often smokey as well. The outdoor daylight footage is sharp, wonderfully detailed, and very clear. Colors look solid but not boosted, so expect to see plenty of terrific nuances. Image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no encoding anomalies to report in our review. Very impressive technical presentation. (Note: This is a Region-A/B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A, Region-B, or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Russian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

Obviously, you need to see the film with the original Russian track, not the horrible English dub track. In terms of dynamic intensity, the Russian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers all of the potency and nuances that you would expect from a disaster film. I don't think that it would test the muscles of your system, but you will know that it serves a contemporary production. The dialog is always clear, clean, and stable. The English translation is very good.

Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Promotional Materials -
  
  1. Teaser. With music and English text. (1 min).
  2. Trailer One. In English. (3 min).
  3. Trailer Two. In English. (3 min).

Chernobyl 1986 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Every community within a 30km radius of the Chernobyl plant was evacuated and abandoned, and for decades after the explosion no one was allowed to return and live there. In a matter of hours, lives were irreversibly altered and destroyed. But how did the people of Pripyat and the nearby areas deal with the shocking realization that they would have to leave behind absolutely everything they had known and loved? You can read and hear a lot of fascinating recollections from those that were lucky to survive, but over the years I have discovered that there are too many intimate experiences that will remain overshadowed by the grand story of how and why the disaster was allowed to occur. If you approach Danila Kozlovsky's Chernobyl expecting it to reconstruct this grand story, your experience with it will most likely be underwhelming. This film does exactly the opposite of what the recent HBO TV series did. It focuses on the intimate element in this notorious tragedy, while at the same time it pays tribute to the many brave men that risked and sacrificed their lives to prevent it from evolving into a modern-day Armageddon. I thought that it was outstanding. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.