Countdown des Schreckens

The acting was phenomenal, the scenery was great, the survivors, and parents who knew about this was really good to have in a documentary like this.

This documentary series is arguably one of the best that I've ever come across in my countless hours in front of the idiot box. It takes a very unique and fresh approach in that it covers some of the most significant recent and controversial historical events and attempts to retrace exactly what happened in the final hour leading up to it.

The film-makers here use a blend of actors in a dramatised short film and splice this with real-life audio outtakes from emergency phone calls made during and immediately in the wake of such events, in-depth interviews with those who were at the event as well as interesting additional facts which help to explain and understand how and why the event took place, all with quite an objective point of view.

The format of each episode is very easy to follow as it merely gives the viewer a minute by minute recount of what took place. Episodes are never spread over multiple weeks, so the package is always nicely wrapped up with each episode.

Highly recommended.

I accidentally discovered Zero Hour on Amazon Prime several years ago when looking for an easy-to-understand account of what happened to cause the Chernobyl meltdown in the 80's. I had tried watching other documentaries about Chernobyl but found them difficult to follow because of the the science behind the disaster. I couldn't even grasp what a meltdown was at that point. Then, Zero Hour came along....

After being glued to my seat watching the production of Chernobyl, I had to watch Zero Hour's other documentaries. I found each episode to be complete with factual accounts of events leading up to some of the worst disasters in history. There was no bias behind the documentaries: just facts supported by recordings and data. These were presented in a simple, understandable way.

The reenactments in Zero Hour's episodes make you feel as though you are experiencing those events as they are happening yourself. I even found myself thinking "no, don't do that," through many of the episodes knowing what was going to happen and wishing that, somehow, the outcome could be changed. That's how realistic these documentaries are!

In a world filled with disgusting, conspiracy -filled, extremely unprofessional and biased media nowadays, I wish there were more shows like Zero Hour available. Man-made and natural disasters will continue to occur, so shows like these will never lack for content. It's similar in style to both "Seconds from Disaster" and the MAYDAY series. Anyone who enjoys those shows will equally enjoy this show. I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to know what it was like to live through these disasters from the perspectives of people who lived through them.

I had forgotten how many Zero Hour episodes I had watched which were once aired here on the Discovery Channel, but whenever there is the chance an episode is on air, I will try to watch it.

Presenting some of the most important and maybe controversial moments in our current times, it's all about retracing those people who are involved in the event in a way or another through reenactments. It's definitely a no-holds-barred documentary series presenting some of the pivotal moments in history through real human accounts.

We all are aware where we were in regarding some of the most pivotal historical moments which were reporting on the news, but what really happened before it happened before our eyes on the news? This series follow whatever those who witnessed what happened and others indirectly involved.

Definitely very informative to understand the raw accounts of the events leading up to what really happened.