Masters of the Air

This show was beautiful and heartbreaking.

The costumes were prefect.

All the actors were so professional and believeable, it was easy to forget I was watching a show.

I got sucked in and didn't come back out until it was over and then I watched it two more times.

The depiction of what the men went through was astounding.

The action scenes were so intense I could feel it in my chest.

They were gut wrenching and horrific.

I could never have imagine how terrifying it must have been for the men who really went through this.

It was a beautiful honor and tribute to the Airforce Men, who fought and died, in World War II.

I was quite excited by this new series with Spielberg and co at the helm. But after a few episodes the script took a turn for the worse, why belittle the RAF making out they are some toff graduates from Oxford or Cambridge, quite embarrassing really. Of course the Americans are the only heros in this, utter BS. Spielberg is a f?@king numpty. There were many brave men from all sides but as always the yanks saved the day single handedly where the RAF were buffoons. We all know the British have the best armed services in the world and between me and you the yanks are somewhat jealous, so they try and make themselves look better. Spielberg yawn off.

Poor writing, awful special effects. The air combat scenes appear to have been produced with an arcade game in mind. Cars 2 had more realistic combat scenes. Why denigrate the RAF? The British had already fought for 3 years by the time the Americans decided to join in. This is an embarrassment compared to Band Of Brothers or The Pacific. I'm not sure why this is called Masters of the Air given everyone involved gets shot down! It's clear to see that when Hanks and Spielberg were given Executive Director roles they didn't have any say for the final cut. This show could have been a real tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the Allies in WW2 but unfortunately has resulted in this mess.

I generally always watch the intro credits for big budget TV series - they are enjoyable - but this was the exception. Think I managed a couple and then had to skip them each time. They kind of sum of the series really, visually impressive but horribly Americanised over-schmaltz to the point the series is almost ruined. It's trying waaay too hard.

What could have been a gritty realistic document turns into more of an advert : perfectly framed good looking film stars posing in a stylised way. It never felt realistic.

It got better as it went on, but was initially repetitive, the pacing is odd as they whip through history, the characters struggle to remain memorable, the depiction of the RAF unforgivable. It's confused, is it trying to be historically accurate or just trot out comic book tropes to keep the US audience happy ?

On the plus side, the story is good (obviously) the visuals are great (CGI grates a little sometimes) and the aerial combat sequences are great.

Worth a watch if you are interested in the subject matter, but the schmaltz and delusion of grandeur are ultimately big flaws to overcome.

He didn't think too much of the Hollywood "Memphis Belle". The B-17 movies he regarded the best are:

Memphis Belle (1944) 12 O'Clock High The War Lover

It's pretty sad that living memories of B-17 crews are gone now.

Some comments I can make based on long conversations with my dad about his combat experience:

1. The strain on the crews was terrible. They knew the odds against living through their tour were heavily against them. The airmen dealt with their fear in different ways, and it broke some of them. My dad just expected to die. The actors in MotA looked like they were having fun.

2. The odds of surviving the first 5 missions were about the same as surviving the rest of the tour, i.e. The crews learned. The series presented it as simply randomness in a shooting gallery. I'd like to have seen some bits about how the crews handled it and learned.

3. The show didn't really show much of any airmanship. Nor any of the variety of techniques the Luftwaffe used to penetrate their defenses. Such as the Luftwaffe pilots would aim for the B-17 cockpit. Nor anything about the aircrews fighting to bring home their damaged airplane and wounded crew.

4. Nothing much was said about how the crew coped with 60 degrees below zero and the lack of oxygen.

Some things are just lost knowledge. My dad would bring along two flak jackets. He didn't wear them, he put them on the floor and squatted on them. This is because the flak was designed to explode below the aircraft and shred it from below. I expect other crews did that, too, they weren't stupid.

He summed it up saying he wouldn't trade that experience for anything, and would not do it again for anything.

But still, the detail of the aircraft and beautiful photography made this a worthwhile series. Well recommended.