Masters of the Air
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Powerful, moving and a true testament to the bravery of America's greatest generation, MASTERS OF THE AIR continues the great tradition of "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" with compelling, action-packed story telling.
A superb cast carves out portrayals of distinct, real men who led the B-17 bombing campaigns across Germany.
As the nine-episode miniseries opens, we meet the 100th bomber group as they arrive in England. The group is led by the smooth Major Gale "Buck" Cleven (Austin Butler) and his more vocal best friend Major John "Bucky" Egan (Callum Turner). Butler and Turner are both excellent, creating leaders you care about as they and their men are plunged into incredible, death defying bombing runs across Germany.
The special effects team is superb in every moment of the series, spending every dime of a massive $250 million Apple TV budget on jaw dropping moments in the air and on the ground. There are huge dogfights throughout that defy gravity and reality in their intensity, plunging you into the seats of these brave heroes battling impossible odds.
Anthony Boyle (The Lost City of Z) is terrific as Lt. Harry Crosby, a navigator prone to airsickness and underestimating his own capabilities.
Ben Radcliffe (Fackham Hall) is solid as Lt. John Brady and Nate Mann (Licorice Pizza) leaves a hell of a mark as Lt. Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, whose ability to bring his crew home threatens to break the 25 mission mark.
The cast is huge, incredibly well cast and provides a very deep bench as we meet hundreds of soldiers in the air and in the battles on the ground.
As in "Band of Brothers' you grow to admire these men, appreciate their strengths and weaknesses and then cheer for them like hell as they carve out a uniquely heroic path to save our future freedoms.
The season sprawls across many key elements of WW2, including bombing runs that began to turn the tide against the Nazis and imprisoned airmen in the German Stalag camps that reminded me of the war classic "The Great Escape" in all the right ways. The D-Day landings at Normandy play a key role, as do the brave Tuskegee Airmens missions in France.
Series creator John Orloff, the writer of "Band of Brothers" constructs a nine-episode arc that pulls you deeper into history with each chapter, upping the ante and the action throughout.
Butler (Elvis, The Bikeriders) studied film of the real Buck Cleven to learn his cadence and humor and shines in the role, as does Turner (The Boys in the Boat, Eternity) who evolves from loud mouth showboat to a pivotal leader of men.
Flight scenes were filmed in exact replica B-17s suspended 50 ft in the air on a gimbal inside a 360-degree stage of seamless LED high def screens. We've come a long way from back screening! The digital effects are so perfectly rendered that the actors react real-time to their surroundings. It's jaw dropping.
The music score by Blake Neely serves up full tilt thrills that barrel through the air right alongside our heroes, but also provides tender accompaniment to the tragic loss these men and their group, "The Bloody 100th" endure on every mission.
Executive Producer Steven Spielberg has said that this was the biggest project he's ever worked on, and with 300+ speaking roles and 3000 + production crew members over the nine episodes, it's hard to argue. Ten years in the making, this is the kind of epic historical miniseries that I've been missing since "The Pacific".
Perhaps because my Father was one of the brave airmen that flew B-17 missions in the Philippines in WW2, this series really hit me emotionally. Seeing these men sporting the same United States Air Force patch that he wore on his shoulder during his missions brought the power of these men's commitments to country home to me in a very special way.
This is superb film-making chronicling one of the most important times in human history. It should be seen by everyone, alongside "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers" and 'Patton" as incredible tributes to American bravery in the World War II era.
By any measure, MASTERS OF THE AIR is a brilliant tale of incredible men staring down death for American freedoms. A wartime masterpiece, it gets an A+
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