News culture Spielberg’s Masters of the Air: the ultimate war series? My impressions after the first episode in the cinema
World War II will be in the spotlight at the end of January 2024 with the broadcast of the first episodes of a war series highly anticipated by fans of the genre. Following the footsteps of Band of Brothers – 2001 and The Pacific – 2010, created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Masters of the Air takes up the torch and hits Apple TV+ with all its enthusiasm. Here are my impressions after seeing the first episode in the cinema.
Masters of the Air in a few words
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks only serve as executive producers of the new series, which starts on Apple TV+ at the end of January 2024. Masters of the Air is the creation of John Shiban and John Orloff. These two industry veterans have worked on The X-Files: Borderlands / Smallville / Supernatural and Band of Brothers, respectively. Based on the book “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany” by Donald L. Miller, the series of the same name is said to be the successor to Band of Brothers and The Pacific, which filmed the Second World War Infantryman’s point of view.
This Apple TV+ original production takes a closer look at the North American Army pilots who fought with the Luftwaffe for air supremacy until the fall of the Third Reich on May 8, 1945, after the Third Reich surrendered to Allied forces. To realize their vision of the conflict, The showrunners have offered themselves the services of top-class casting. Masters of the Air includes Austin Butler (Elvis), Callum Turner (Glue, Fantastic Beasts), Anthony Boyle (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Barry Keoghan (The Eternals, The Batman, The Banshees of Inisherin), Ncuti Gatwa ( Doctor Who, Sex Education) or even Sawyer Spielberg (Steven Spielberg’s son) himself. Here is the summary of the Masters of the Air series:
“Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Bomber Group (“Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct dangerous bombing missions into Nazi Germany, dealing with frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and the sheer terror of fighting at 25,000 feet. At the heart of “Masters of the Air” is a portrait of the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men who helped destroy the horrors of Hitler’s Third Reich. Some were shot and captured, others were injured or killed. Still others were lucky enough to return home. Whatever their fate, they have all paid a heavy price. -Apple TV+
The cast of the Masters of the Air series:
- Austin Butler – Major Gale Cleven
- Callum Turner – Major John Egan
- Anthony Boyle – Major Harry Crosby
- Barry Keoghan – Lieutenant Curtis Biddick
- Nikolai Kinski – Colonel Harold Huglin
- Stephen Campbell Moore – Major Marvin “Red” Bowman
- Sawyer Spielberg – Lieutenant Roy Frank Claytor
- Ncuti Gatwa – 2nd Lieutenant Robert Daniels
- Isabel May – Marge
The Masters of the Air series begins airing on Apple TV+ on January 26, 2024, with the first two episodes (nine total).
A masterclass at 25,000 feet
What an undisguised pleasure to discover the new war series by none other than Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks in the cinema preview on the big screen. I have a confession to make before I get to the heart of the matter. I grew up with the “heroes” of the great era, the war films and westerns of the 60s and 70s. The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Longest Day (1962), A Bridge Too Far (1977), etc. were my night movies during my childhood. And I have unforgettable memories of the screenings of Pearl Harbor (2001), We Were Soldiers (2002) and many others, where my grandfather was at my side as a companion.
Of course, Saving Private Ryan (1998) resonates with me as cinematic evidence, and the same goes for Brothers in Arms and Hell in the Pacific, which I certainly appreciated, albeit with a slight bitterness . My television screen was far too small to do justice to the military heroics depicted and the impeccable production of the artists who worked hard on these two HBO-produced television series. We are now in 2023. The water has gone down, but not my love for a genre that always manages to come back with a vengeance. In my opinion, “Masters of the Air” is proof that the film and therefore the war series are immortal.
I was only able to see the first episode, and it was, without much surprise, a revelation, even though all the codes and other archetypes were followed to the letter… the opposite would have been surprising. So that we understand each other. The series needs to be seen in optimal conditions to enjoy its true value (and not on a crowded subway on a smartphone screen). His air combat scenes, filmed in the middle of the action and therefore in a B-17, commonly referred to as a “Flying Fortress”, reminded me with nostalgia of the scenes from “Battle of Britain” (1969). It’s a true classic that served as a reference for certain scenes in Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. And what can we say about its impetuous and confident characters, who inevitably remain in draft form after just one mission, but who, as the series progresses, are just begging to develop and whom we would follow to hell?
On the contrary, “Masters of the Air” is not without its flaws. Certain visual effects sometimes conflict with the many qualities of a meticulously produced Part One. The characterization of the protagonists also sometimes leaves something to be desired, which is due to a choral adventure that dilutes the subject function in favor of a group effect specific to military stories. The fact is that Masters of the Air fulfills its role and the goals entrusted to it brilliantly. It’s time for the series to head to Apple TV+ and for the 100th Bomber Group to continue its celestial epic.
