Masters of the Air

[alaskanseminole]

I think reviewers should hold off rating a series until the entire thing plays out. Wholistically, I really like the series, more so than The Pacific.

 

[sober_teacher]

I think reviewers should hold off rating a series until the entire thing plays out. Wholistically, I really like the series, more so than The Pacific.

I'm starting a rewatch of Pacific - have previously only watched it once. My memory is that it was very good, but that it was hard to watch at times because of how well the combat was done at times.

While I understood why - I did think it suffered a bit from following main characters in mutiple locations whereas BoB was focused on the one company.

 

[seminole97]

Before I watch the final episode tonight, it occurred to me that the Italian front really gets the short end of the stick when it comes to movies and mini-series about World War 2.

I assume that's because the Italian front sort of became a stalemate and war of attrition so it doesn't make for a very good story, but at the same time I often wonder how many people even know we had an Italian front?

It’s a real Catch 22.

 

[B1GDeal]

Little off topic, but does anyone think that Callum Turner (Bucky) could the next Bond? He’s a Brit… seems to have a lot of the traits needed. Never heard who they were considering but it’s been a while. Seems like they need to select someone soon and put a film out in the next 2 years.

 

[TennNole17]

It finished ok. I’d still rank it third.

 

[sober_teacher]

Little off topic, but does anyone think that Callum Turner (Bucky) could the next Bond? He’s a Brit… seems to have a lot of the traits needed. Never heard who they were considering but it’s been a while. Seems like they need to select someone soon and put a film out in the next 2 years.

The only trouble is that they have to figure out how to unkill Bond.

Some sort of franchise reset is in order I think.

 

[B1GDeal]

The only trouble is that they have to figure out how to unkill Bond.

Some sort of franchise reset is in order I think.

We know they are planning to continue the series so not worried about that. Just remember a couple of years ago all the talk of who’s next… never heard who it might be and thought he seems to fit the bill.

 

[sober_teacher]

We know they are planning to continue the series so not worried about that. Just remember a couple of years ago all the talk of who’s next… never heard who it might be and thought he seems to fit the bill.

I’m not concerned that they’re planning to continue the series, but they pretty definitively killed Daniel Craig/Bond. So they do need to address that somehow.

 

[Tom Paris]

We know they are planning to continue the series so not worried about that. Just remember a couple of years ago all the talk of who’s next… never heard who it might be and thought he seems to fit the bill.

Idris Elba is the only name I ever heard as a replacement.

Well, I just finished watching Episode 9 tonight, and IMO, this mini series takes no backseat to either BoB or The Pacific. On comparison, BoB may get an A+, but The Pacific and Masters of the Air both get a solid A grade. I think this will be agreeable by most when considered over the test of time. MotA probably suffers from recency bias when competing with 2 great miniseries which occurred over 20 and 15 years ago after their respective release dates and the feeling ingrained in their viewing audiences from that time as compared to now. It is probably the same kind of bias when comparing the professional athletic stars of today compared to their counterparts from 20+ years ago.

MotA followed the book, almost to a tee, chapter-to-chapter, just like the first 2 series. The advantage which those 2 series held was that a lot of the actual characters were still alive at their release dates, unlike MotA, and they had actual supplemental interviews of the actual characters involved to help promote their respective stories. I think to combat that (no pun intended), Apple TV also released tonight an hour long documentary narrated by Tom Hanks about the 100th BG and the 8th Air Force, and it is well worth the viewing. The 8th AF suffered far more casualties than either of those 2 stories and should demand our respect, just like those who sacrificed in the first 2 mini series. In that documentary tonight, a lot of interviews were also released from those who fought with the 100th, and hopefully those interviews will be appreciated as much as those from the characters of the first 2 mini series.

Just one more thing I realized tonight is that the original Main Title Theme from both The Pacific and MotA was composed by the same person, Blake Neely. (I think it was the horn section which drew my attention to this similarity.) Anyway, I love both of them and believe that each will contribute to their respective identities/branding.

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For comparison, Michael Kamen for BoB:

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I just noticed Tim Van Patten directed episodes in both The Pacific and MotA.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

A full circle moment between BoB and MoA is episode 2 of BoB and the Winters team taking out the German 88s which were both flak and anti-tank weapons. Definitely a candidate for top 10 WW2 weapons.

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They were actually 105mm artillery pieces.

Winters led his small force across a field toward the guns, crawling ahead of them along a hedgerow, until he could get a view of the enemy battery. He saw four 105mm artillery pieces firing from a trench, dug in behind a hedgerow. Three guns faced east and one faced north, protecting the battery’s left flank. The position resembled an L-shape with zigzagging trenches connecting each gun pit.

Screaming Eagles At Brécourt Manor

The “Band of Brothers” faced off against German artillerymen in a fight for a crucial battery on D-Day.

warfarehistorynetwork.com

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

I'm starting a rewatch of Pacific - have previously only watched it once. My memory is that it was very good, but that it was hard to watch at times because of how well the combat was done at times.

While I understood why - I did think it suffered a bit from following main characters in mutiple locations whereas BoB was focused on the one company.

Yep...basically had 3 different story lines. Hard to follow at times but I still thought it was great.

 

[B1GDeal]

I’m not concerned that they’re planning to continue the series, but they pretty definitively killed Daniel Craig/Bond. So they do need to address that somehow.

Been watching Shogun series which is very good. The lead in that could also be a Bond type guy.

And Manhunt on Apple has Crosby as the lead in it. Different look for him.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I just watched Pearl Harbor (first time in decades) last night. After watching Masters of the Air...dear lawd! I realize Doolittle was flying B-25s compared to B-17s, but good grief. It was almost comical compared to MotA.

 

[Hawksfinal4]

Loved the series as well as both BoB and The Pacific. There are so many untold stories as someone mentioned , the Italian Front. My dad flew B26 Martin Maurauders from both England and France for the Ninth Air Force. Medium bombers but fast twin engines that mostly bombed out in front of Patton. He did his 50 missions but always said he did more because Patton would often outrun the bomb line. Bad day over Bastogne when 36 planes went out and only 12 came back. His crew was one of the lucky ones

 

[West Dundee Hawkeye]

Agree with most of you.

Band of Brothers was fantastic. The best TV show I have ever seen. A+

Pacific was very good. A-

Masters of the Air is good but not near as good as the other two shows. B+

 

[TheCainer]

Loved the series as well as both BoB and The Pacific. There are so many untold stories as someone mentioned , the Italian Front. My dad flew B26 Martin Maurauders from both England and France for the Ninth Air Force. Medium bombers but fast twin engines that mostly bombed out in front of Patton. He did his 50 missions but always said he did more because Patton would often outrun the bomb line. Bad day over Bastogne when 36 planes went out and only 12 came back. His crew was one of the lucky ones

The crews that flew the B26 never got the credit for what they did. To lose 24 planes out of 36 would be devastating. Do you know how they were lost? Flak? German fighters?

 

[Hawksfinal4]

Sorry dad didn’t talk about that one other than what I stated and I could see asking him even then was a bridge too far but I read a pretty good book called Flak Bait

 

[WadeLookingbill]

The series ended strong, very happy to see that. Amazing how much more material they still had/have to work with as most have mentioned.
Didn’t even touch on Japan (I suppose due to Pacific, though this overlapped with BoB so could have overlapped with Pacific too).

Had a relative die in a B-17 over Japan in 1945.

Bombing of Nagoya - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Anyway, grateful they made the series. All of these guys were just so incredibly ballsy, their stories must never be forgotten.