Masters of the Air (Apple TV+) TV Show

This is going to be a big deal, and it premieres in a few weeks so I figure did make a thread.

1/26. From the creators of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. About the pilots and aircrews of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force (AKA "the Bloody 100th") of the US Army Air Forces during WW2, whose primary mission was conduction daylight bombing raids out of England over Nazi occupied Europe.

 

In terms of this series' topic compared to the 101st Airborne of Band of Brothers or the 1st Marine Division of The Pacific, its important to point out that the just the 8th Air Force of the USAAF had more KIA during the war than the entire USMC did. Bomber crews in the European theatre had by far the highest casualty rate in the entire US military during the war (followed a close 2nd by Submariners in the Pacific theatre). This is going to be brutal.

 

Really high expectations for this.

 

Been anticipating this one for years! I'm a little cautious about including Austin Butler given his ascendant star power (compared to the other two WWII shows, with relatively unknown casts, we've gotten from Hanks/Spielberg), but he's proven himself a good actor so hopefully he can shoulder this show.

Of course, my Apple TV access expires a few days before this premieres, so I may wind up coming back to watch once all episodes release.

 

This has been announced since The Pacific ended. I am hoping we get an announcement of the next one soon. I am hoping we get one on the submarine campaign in the Pacific, specificly about Dick O'Kane and the USS Wahoo and USS Tang.

 

Opening title sequence just dropped

 

Really liking how the score is sounding. I'll be curious if the full album holds up to Michael Kamen's work on Band of Brothers.

 

Did these guys do the horrific fire bombings?

 

From the quick googling I just did. The 8th Air Force was the main US force responsible for the Dresden bombing, but I can't anything that confirms the 100th Bomb Group (who were subordinate to 8th AF, and are the main subjects of this show) participated in that raid. I guess the book the show is based on doesn't go in much detail on it.

 

" I had to remember who I was. All I thought about was Elvis for three years, and then a week later I'm in England and I I have to pour this energy into learning about WW2 now. I had to hire a dialect coach to help me not sound like Elvis "

 

So hyped. Watching episodes of BoB today in anticipation. Will be staying up and watching at midnight.

 

Me pre-gaming the premiere

 

It’s already available if you don’t already know

 

Oh shit thanks

 

Killer opening scene

 

Great first episode. Did not expect it to be that brutal.

 

Did they announce ahead of time that they were dropping the first 3 episodes at once? I don’t think I remember seeing that anywhere.

Probably going to start it tomorrow. Can’t believe the 14 year wait is finally over. Wish I had done my annual BoB and TP rewatch leading up to it, but oh well.

 

I had no clue. I am on episode 2 now. I didn't know it was 3 episodes until I saw your post

 

Lol I’m going to go with probably not then. I had no idea until I saw a tweet like a half hour ago saying the first three episodes were available now and I was like “oh well that’s a nice surprise”.

 

I liked the nod to Glenn Miller ( famed Jazz conductor who joined the US Army Air Force during WW2 and is credited with introducing Jazz into US military music ) in episode 2.

 

Its not 3 episodes. Just 2. Episode 3 is next week.

 

Ahh gotcha. I just looked and I see how they got confused

 

This tempo of the air war of combat being shorts bursts of horror following by periods of leisure and partying is certainly a change from BoB and The Pacific.

 

Only got about 40 min into the first episode before calling it a night. It’s been a minute since I watched Band of Brothers and The Pacific, but, not chance those had as much CGI as MotA, right? It’s too much, reminds me of all these “live action remakes” of Disney films and has taken me out of the show way too many times in just the first episode.