Masters of Air Full Season Review: FLAWED & Fizzles Out! (Spoilers)

I promise next video will be an actual history video!

[@Bans94]

As a Brit myself, just wanted to pop a comment in saying how thankful I am you brought up the Anglophobia that is rampant in this show. Its pretty common in American media portraying the second world war. Nearly every British person in this show is portrayed with every negative stereotype in Hollywood's cookbook. As you said it is a show following an American bomber group... BUT... you can make a show lifting up Americans without putting down their closet ally. Especially given that British Bomber crews suffered similar (if not higher) casualty rates. Christ even the SOVIETS got better treatment than us by the show runners. Really left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway cheers from the UK :)

[@contexthistorychannel]

🍻

[@contexthistorychannel]

Thanks for watching!

[@darthbigred22]

Trust me as a British descent american (or as we used to be called Americans) I noticed it too. It seems to be a more recent (past 20 years or so) thing as media made for the vets of WW2 during the war or after were far more friendly. But Spielberg is a jew and leftist so I'm not surprised they'd stop and crap on the Brits and then make the commies out to be saviors. This might have been the worst I've seen literally going so far as to comment on the class system and have non step swipes from the Brits like it's 1812 or something. I assume this is as some sort of way to show you guys that losing your entire empire and world status alongside being slowly replaced by hindus and muslims is all well earned and the entire group of white britons deserved it then and now. It's disgusting really. While I will defend us making movies and media about our side and not always including dear old dad in things because you guys have your own ways to make movies about your past (then shove ahistorical amounts of women and minorities into them because BBC) I don't think especially if there is no sign of conflict to shove arbitrary amounts of conflict in there. Memphis Belle movie didn't do that and seemed to be sympathetic to the British.

[@gamingthunder6305]

a german perspective with a fighter pilot would also have be interesting. the show in general felt very patriotic to the point of propaganda. the arrival of the black pilots would definitely caused some racial tension that was completely missing from the show and the germans were completely stereotyped as everybody is a nazi including the grave digger guys. i was very disappointed by the show, besides being bored most of the time.

[@flare242]

​@@gamingthunder6305 Jeez fckin' christ. I have NOTHING against black people. But this. This is the kind of shit that ruins Hollywood. This corrupt, openly racist, demented woke agenda crammed into anything and everything. I have nothing against showing heroism of people of other races than white, but for fucksake, the portrayal must be realistic. Their behaviour must be realistic. Their surroundings must be realistic. I have absolutely no clue how can this still be happening. How they still push this demented fairytale. This horrendous exclusively black or white narrative of white baaad and corrupt, minorities heroic and selfless, been crammed down our throats for almost 20yrs now. And we're fcking tired of this. People were massively racist back then. And not just against black people or native Americans. Jews got bullied mercilessly in some units. They were blamed for the war, attacked, beaten, bullied not only by their superiors but also by the other grunts. It was disgusting. And some of them excelled and became the best in their units despite of all that. I am so sick of this white & jews baaad. I would expect more from Spielberg. Who is still financing this propaganda shit? Multiculturalism is failing horribly in Europe. The "woke" idiots who are incapable of separating political agenda from reality are now so far gone, that they openly defend jihadi outfits, some of which were banned even in islamic countries! It's absolutely insane. Multiculturalism was supposed to be people of different BACKGROUNDS living & working together in peace. But for that to happen, the people arriving in Europe must be willing to assimilate at least to some extent. Nobody wants them to completely abandon their culture, but if they're not willing to abide by the rules of the country they just arrived in, why move in the first place. I am absolutely for free movement of people, but if the people arrive with the vision that the host country is going to bent backwards, Dammit, i did another rant. Well, wokeism pisses me off to no end. I'm so fed-up with it anything even vaguely resembling woke agenda sets me off. Every year i hope that i'm gonna finally see some sort of balance returning, instead of the extreme polarization, yet it becomes worse and worse. The West is changing into a fucking third world dystopia. If the ultraprogs won't stop pushing these absolutely vile bullshit concepts (like collective guilt, speech policing etc.), the pendulum is one day going to swing so far in the opposite direction, that we're going to see the revival of ACTUAL racism, ACTUAL nazis, ACTUAL bigotry coming back. These fuckers are going to come back as a direct result of woke insanity. The real nazis, the real racists are gonna come back, instead of the people you CALL nazis/racists/bigots just because they disagree with political correctness.

[@brandonwestbrook6003]

Honestly, I feel it would hard for ANYONE to produce a WWII show that can compete anywhere near Band of Brothers. To me, it’s the greatest miniseries of all time. Pacific was great too, but BOB will hold that trophy probably for the rest of my life. I don’t think I’m alone in this, neither. I’m on episode 4 of Masters of Air and so far… it’s not bad

[@contexthistorychannel]

I liked it for the first half of the series, the second half was where the issues started to increase and infuriate me

[@Bob.martens]

It's not bad. Not really good either.

[@brandonwestbrook6003]

@@Bob.martens I just finished it yesterday. Solid 6/10, for me. Second half was nowhere near as interesting as first, but overall, I liked it enough

[@StoriesBytheBrick]

Thanks for pointing out the telling rather than showing! In literally the first scene of the first episode I noticed it: Buck and bucky were just telling the girls how they ended up with similar nicknames. Like, why not just film a scene of them in training earning similar nicknames so we can see it happen? Instead the scene is told to us in dialogue at a restaurant lol. (For comparison, we actually see the scene of Sledge getting the name Sledgehammer in the pacific, rather than it being narrated to us at a bar. A much more powerful moment)

[@contexthistorychannel]

Exactly!!! Good example with Pacific! That’s how writing is supposed to be

[@williamrobin2638]

I felt like the problem with the series was that it never felt like the writers or the actors has any connection with what the actual experience of the airmen really was like. It was if the understanding of the events was drawn from looking at previous movies or TV shows. Resulting in cliche filled dialogue and actions. Some of the CGI looked like the designers only experience was with video games rather than knowing anything about airplanes or WWII air combat. In one frame in the footage included in this review I counted at least 33 fighter planes crisscrossing one another. Another has 5 bombers in flames all at once. The exhausting reality for bomber crews was how many missions meant holding position while flying through belts of flak and occasions fighter attacks for an hour or more in one direction and experiencing the same for the hour or longer return. With fate sometimes causing a bomber to go down every few minutes for hours on end. On other missions most bombers would be spared. Result being the realization that every mission could randomly pick you to be struck down--and there was nothing you could do to prevent that from happening to you if fate picked you. The crews of British and American bombers had great respect for each other as experience meant that they all started understanding that survival had as much to do with luck rather than heroism or projections of any kind of nationalistic jingoistic pride.

[@sgt13echo]

I want to know what happened to thr B-17G's and why chinless B-17'Fs were shown at the end

[@deiwi]

Budget constraints

[@g-unit7625]

Yes that was a big oversight. I don’t think it would have cost much to rig one of their B-17s with a cosmetic chin turret with 2 .50 caliber MG gun barrels.

[@StritarD]

What disappointed me is the modern aerial image of Berlin that they used in the CGI. Its hard to ignore paved runways on the Tempelhof airport that they only build after the airlift. Also you see a big modern railway station hub at Sudkreuz…theres tons of aerial images available from 40s that they could use to recreate the historically accurate Berlin form the air.

[@andrewdeen1]

also the belly landings.... b17 wheels are still exposed even when they are stowed.

[@flare242]

@@StritarD Wow, those are pretty big "oversights".

[@keno31186]

I definitely think they ran outta money making this. It started off very strong and after episode 5 you can see little things like the CG not being as good as it could be, inaccuracy in the with no B17 G models shown etc. Also the half baked story arcs of the two downed airmens escape and the British spy who just disappeared. Its a real shame. There is so much more that needed to be told. The rushed manner with huge time jumps could have been solved with a season 2 or 14 episodes. 6.5/10 for me.

[@contexthistorychannel]

It felt weirdly like every episode had a different writer who had no idea what the person before them setup haha running out of money is a suspicion I had

[@mgytitanic1912]

You can tell it's not an HBO series. It didn't have the same weight to it as Band of Brothers, or even the Pacific. It seems to have lost some gravitas being on Apple.

[@OldFellaDave]

I'm going to agree. That's what BoB got right, even The Pacific got that part right - a full episode introducing us to the characters so we care. The 100th had a horrendous toll taken on them, but we'd hardly know or care. We only saw Curtis (who even remembers him) and Babyface (even less remember him) 'die'. 'Bubbles' dies off screen and I challenge anyone to put a name to anyone else who dies or drops off the screen outside the main characters. I am confused why they bothered to devote any airtime at all to the Westgate character outside of jumping into the sack with Crosby - especially if you aren't going to complete her character arc or tell us what happens to her after the war. Ditto for the Ground Mechanic who gets 10 minutes of airtime and then nothing, no real story, no conclusion other than he gets to fly once ... same with Quinn. We see him bail out and nice sub-story develops with evading and the Resistance ... then nothing ... and he turns up in England then never seen again, no post war wrap up either. But for some reason, instead of any of the thousands of P47 and P51 pilots who lived and died in the sky with the B17 pilots of the 8th Airforce, we instead divert to the Tuskegee airmen, who have zero to do with the 8th Airforce and its campaigns for ... reasons? Then they get ignored again and moved to background shots - but we get all 3 CV's for after the war for them. Even Sobel got a post WW2 bio, even if a tad harsh, whereas none of the commanders of the 100th rate a mention ... nor are they even shown after about Ep8. They had the components for a great series. Excellent actors and acting. Exceptional Costume and Props ... CGI was a bit dodgy, but we could live with that. But in the end, we got even more of what the Pacific suffered from - too many story arcs and characters to care about, and too much 'downtime' between events, but at least eh Pacific followed through on its storyarcs and didn't just abandon them ... I wanted to like this series so much. I still got a bit misty reading the post WW2 Bio's of the men, knowing they are all gone now, but I was also left so frustrated with getting bits and pieces of an awesome story that we all SHOULD know more about. Not this half arsed effort with so many stories trying to be mashed together with very little done to explain or show what's going on overall. I'm wondering who was at fault here ... Hanks and Spielberg have done so much consistently great stuff that it's hard to believe that they would drop the ball this badly, to be honest.

[@Swifty-Kommando]

Finally, someone who sees this show for what it is: hot garbage.

[@g-unit7625]

Since Tom Hanks was a producer, they could have followed Quentin Aanensen, the fighter P-47 pilot in Ken Burns’ The War or Chuck Yeager. Plus, the gaps in accuracy and lack of research got grating.

[@terrified057t4]

And instead, we get an even worse showing of the Red Tails. It felt all too rushed, they just checkmarked the Red Tails like yup okay we showed them flying and lamenting the racism of the USAAF then straight to them joining Buck and Bucky in the Lame Escape.

[@ReflectedSimulations]

They could also have at least acknowledged the existence of fighter groups that fought in the same theater and actually escorted the 100th BG. The 4th, 56th, 352nd, etc…I like the idea of following a bomber and a fighter pilot in parallel. That could have shown the evolution of escort planes and tactics.

[@exploring_the_dram]

Brilliantly summed up 👏🏻 A very average series in the end after so much hope. Difficult to follow in parts, also very difficult to bond with any of the characters. The series really lacked flow. Band of Brothers was harrowing from start to finish, I didn’t feel that once during this series despite the airmen of WW2 facing horrific times throughout the bombing campaign. Completely skipping D Day really annoyed me, but the picture the series paints of the RAF infuriated me. Some intelligent insight on the fact Britain had been in the war since 1939 really would have been sensible in the early episodes instead of the condescending tone it shows at the start. Also introducing a main character in episode 5 and having him basically skip to mission 25 was idiotic.

[@PappyGunn]

This feels like they started out wanting to make at least 2 seasons, therefore had many characters that ended up going nowhere. Somewhere I assume a decision was made to cut the number of episodes so we end up with loose ends and glossing over the mid-war. Including the Red Tails from a different air force (15th?) from a different theater felt like it was forced for diversity reasons, but it is interesting that they ended up in the same Stalag. The Mustang just appearing one day was dissapointing, it was such a decisive turn in the air war they should have made one episode about it. 8th Fighter Command was ignored, along with everybody else but you had to narrow the scope. This was about 1 bomb Group. But you know, overall it was a very good series. Good cinematography, a lot of thruth (personal stories, loss rates, carnage) and a real effort to be historically accurate within limitations. Don't nit pick it, or we'll be here for a long time. It sure as hell was better that that "Red Tail" movie. This show was not really made for ww2 nerds like me. It was made for people who think Hitler attacked Pearl Harbour and may have heard in school that allied bombers killed innocent women and children safely from 25000 feet from their revisionist history school teachers. I wanted more out of this series, it was not perfect but it was 100% better than anything that came before about the Air War. The only one that comes close is the Battle of Britain movie.

[@erwin643]

This production was also a rush job for another reason: Propaganda in the midst of Gaza. All the human suffering (and worse) that was depicted in this mini-series is taking place there as I write this.

[@terrified057t4]

@@erwin643 This reeks of ❄lmao.

[@LittleTed1000]

@@erwin643 What a load of bullshit. Have you found dishonestly shoe-horning in your politics to conversations where it's not appropriate has worked for you in the past?

[@erwin643]

@@LittleTed1000 It obviously got your attention.

[@speggeri90]

Would have to agree a lot what was said here. Just finished watching the ninth episode and was like "oh its over?". Had no idea there was only 9 episodes. I think the whole show suffered from unfocused story beats. I actually grew to like Bucky and Buck, they were actually quite cool characters, but the focus was really all over the place, introducing characters and giving each some weight and precious seconds, to eventually forget them almost immediately after. Some cool visuals and couple nice characters, but I really didn't understand the purpose of making Cruz the main character, or the entire eight episode.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Same Buck and Bucky were bright sides they were only characters I really enjoyed. It kinda felt like each episode had a completely different writer that’s how all over the place it was haha

[@Alway213]

I have to say I was very disappointed with the series. Lots of inaccuracies with regards to why the USAAF did day bombing and the B17 bomb site. Band of Brothers was brilliant.

[@jerbs5346]

10:33 There actually is a true story that lines up with your idea, It's a story of Franz Stigler who was a BF 109 pilot and August Stigler who was a Ju 88 pilot, but you would probably get canceled because you'd be showing the German perspective.

[@PappyGunn]

Reading the comments below: The bombers were not used as "bait". Doolittle changed fighter tactics by declaring the 8th fighter command's mission was now to destroy the Luftwaffe. This changed the rules of engagement for the escorts and allowed more agressive tactics. The Luftwaffe became a priority target because the invasion was coming. And the means were becoming available. They were going to destroy it on the ground and in the air. The bombers were going to attack targets related to aircraft production and transportation (and later oil), targets the Germans could not afford to lose, therefore could not ignore. That is not bait. That is a coordinated air campaign. The targets were important, lives were not thrown away callously just to draw a response. It worked too.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Exactly! The bait line makes it seem like the bombers were just thrown out there

[@JayColor]

Thank you! I feel like I'm losing mind seeing people praise this show. You hit on my biggest gripes with the series; they skimped on the raid scenes as the show went on, and there's often no sense of stakes or scale. I felt no tension during the entire prisoner of war arc, because it felt like they were telling us they were in a bad situation without showing us. Also, it is so poorly written, filled with 2D characterization and cliches.

[@mweb586]

They missed the mark so hard on this show. There were several pilots that made it all the way through their tours. John Luckadoo was one of them who was literally in the 100th bomb group and he wasn't even mentioned a single time (He has a literal book they could have read and to my knowledge he's still alive). I kept looking for his name tape in dress greens, nothing. Instead they try and convince us that Rosie was there for the liberation of concentration camps and Crosby's voiceovers were more important than showing the stories of these Aviators. If I watch the show again I will just leave it on mute and enjoy the visuals.

[@jackychan9236]

I was excited after seeing the D-Day scene in the trailer, turns out those few seconds was literally all the D-Day scene of the entire show lmfao.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Yep I couldn’t believe how quickly the glossed over it haha

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@contexthistorychannel - They cut the storyline in reshoots. Originally, they were going to have that episode be from Rosie’s perspective and explain how the radar worked.

[@Pseudonym-aka-alias]

I won’t bother watching it again, it seemed disjointed, and the cgi of the incoming fighters looked more like a game.

[@trev6664]

After episode 4, I quickly noticed that each scene in the show carried no purpose. They often did not contribute to the plot and only served as filler to take up time. Its like the writers were trying to run out the clock on each episode. When the plot needed to be explained to the audience, they did so using voice overs, rather than using the plot and the dialogue to show the history. The show peaked at episode 3 with the schweiffert raid. This show had many issues but bad writing was by far the biggest

[@kakwa]

I completely agree with all the issues you mention. And personally I would had another: the Show glosses over the moral implication of the Strategic Bombing campaign almost completely. It's barely mentioned/shown 2 or 3 times despite the roughly 500 000 dead civilians in Germany alone. I think it's a lost opportunity, this could have been narratively interesting, and films like Fury demonstrate there is no need to sugar coat WWII anymore. Even 2001 BoB did the moral question better (ex: Speirs maybe shooting German PoWs).

[@mackenzieblair8135]

Killing irreplaceable pilots also significantly contributed to crippling the Luftwaffe.

[@contexthistorychannel]

It did but it wasn’t the primary plan of the bombing operations, that was a side effect

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

100% agree. I was disappointed by halfway through the first episode, and shortly after that began to resent it. By declaring so early that they were going into production and attaching it to the banner of Band of Brothers, they effectively declared a monopoly, that nobody else would challenge - and are highly unlikely to now. There were clearly going to be difficulties with the series, because unlike BoB, there was going to be no observable progression, no moving battle lines or crossing borders. They went out and bombed and were home to dance in the evening - this was actually a major psychological problem for many, and there were studies that showed that the repeated "introduction" to danger was more difficult to deal with than for soldiers on the ground, who did not live constantly with the reality of danger. They did not have to steel themselves for every mission and leave behind the comforts of barracks miles from the fighting. - this is something that could have been looked at to fill some of the voids. The characters all felt pretty cookie cutter - including the Germans and the Resistance fighters. There was quite a range of attitudes amongst the Germans in WWll, and one thing you will find in accounts time and time again, is that the Luftwaffe had a pretty different attitude. The "knights of the air'' and various ideas of chivalry were part of their idealistic view of themselves - handed down from Goering - and pints and crew of any aircraft over Germany went to Luftwaffe prison camps and received much better treatment than most - especially those that held any rank. - and despite the mention in the show - and the dreadful movie, no Americans were in Stalag Luft lll at the time of the Great Escape. The scene where released airmen experienced a liberated Concentration camp seemed a little unlikely, and felt like it had been thrown in gratuitously to make their wartime efforts more noble. - In reality, the concentration camps were known about by the allied forces, who despite constant requests by various groups, refused to take any aerial action on them at all. The allies were begged to bomb rail lines leading to the camps and blankly refused, claiming it would take away from resources. The British refused to, although did take the time to fly some crazy missions to free (or sometimes kill) resistance fighters who were being held. On the topic of the British - and non American - pilots who flew under the banner of the RAF, not only were their contributions ignored, they was slight disdain that they would generally fly only at night? - without wishing to lessen the US contribution, I will. Lancaster's carried a bomb load of 22,000lbs. With a far smaller capacity to begin with, the altitudes the B-17s generally flew at, meant they averaged a load of 8000lbs. Because of the design, the B-17 could not carry larger weapons like the "bunker busting" bombs that the Lancaster could - these were required for mission such as submarine docks, rocket installations etc, which were too well fortified to be harmed by the sorts of bombs the B-17s could carry. This also meant that the RAF was flying some very complex and dangerous machines, as well as the more vanilla ones, which is what the USAAF were doing. Another problem with the B-17 is another design with the bomb bay. As well as not fitting larger bombs, in order to load its 8000lbs, it had to stack them inside the bay. The Lancaster had a long open bomb bay, which meant all bomb could be released at the same time. The B-17 was forced to drop them a tier at a time, meaning that for all the claims of precision bombing, a Lancaster might drop 22000lbs over the target simultaneously, a B-17 would drop its 8000lbs in three consecutive rounds. I believe that drop could take up to 7 seconds? And in 7 seconds, a plane has flown a considerable distance past its target. My last word - connected to the effectiveness of the bombing, was that the Norton bomb site didn't work. That is well known now. And while it was hailed as major advantage during the war, one thing they were very good at during the war was reconnaissance, the RAF flew reconnaissance missions almost constantly. There is no possibility that US Airforce could have failed to notice that their bomb sites did not work. if you are claiming a high degree of accuracy, then when the results clearly don't reflect that, there is obviously a problem. I can understand that during a war, the propaganda - both to "reassure your people and to discourage their people" is important and entirely understandable. But all these years later, it is incumbent on those telling the tale to tell it correctly. This instance is particularly pernicious, because it boasts of an achievement that was not real, it implies a morality that was not there, and it suggests that American bombing was morally superior to RAF bombing. - the myth of the "smart bomb" is something America continues to sell to imply morality, even when taking out an "individual" generally means killing 200 people at a wedding. Sadly, the trio of BoB, the Pacific and Masters are likely to be the last shows of their type made. The participants have moved on, as have most of those who were alive. What started so brilliantly with BoB withered to pretty much garbage with Masters. And under the banner of a trilogy, they will be regarded as the final and "definitive" accounts of the war.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Love the robust comment! I learned a ton!! Appreciate it!

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

It was a bit of a rant, but I feel quite passionately about things like this. I live next door to the States and so am very aware of how movies and tv can become the accepted “historic” account of something. I’m sure that if Masters wasn’t declared part of the “trilogy” it wouldn’t carried so much weight. Band of Brothers was excellent, in large part because it set its limitations on the experience of one unit. Masters even admits that it made up characters and changed events. - which is something frequently done by US movies and shows. It doesn’t stop them becoming the “historical” version though. There are many US movies about the world wars that have Americans as the heroes of events in which they took no part whatsoever

[@contexthistorychannel]

Haha my review turned into a bit of a rant too! Passion is good! Yeah I feel like expectations were sky high being connected to BOB and the pacific. I think they relied too heavily on that and tried to ride the coat tails of those better series. I live in US and unfortunately I feel like a lot of movie/tv show producers fall into lazy tropes of US did everything

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

I don't know what capabilities or systems the US actually had. The RAF had had the experience of a few years of war and the Battle of Britain, so had the control rooms and systems developed for fighter command. - it is claimed that if Germany had had the same, they would have won the Battle of Britain. In Masters, once the crews left, they seemed to be on their own until they returned. They bombed from skies that looked the same onto cities that looked the same. If you compare that to a film like the Dambusters, where locations were equally as unexplained, the movie makers relied heavily on the squadrons control room. Tactics like flying in different legs to fool the Germans as to intended targets are shown, calculations regarding where crews should be, infrequent radio messages and mapping give the raids a very real location and objective. I wonder if Masters couldn't have done something similar to give some depth to the missions? Instead they just waved them off and then spent the afternoon getting ready for a party. A control room would have allowed the writers to put in any amount of exposition into the script, giving each raid more structure and significance and wasting less time and money on pretty awful CGI

[@contexthistorychannel]

That’s a great idea!

[@Stuboy]

No bootcamp so you got to know their stories from Inception, this left me struggling to bond to any of the characters

[@contexthistorychannel]

Same

[@ChienaAvtzon]

There is no boot camp, because the two Bucks are not the series’ hero.

[@dberaupilot]

B-17s and B-24s were most definitely used as "bait" from late 1943 onward towards the Normandy invasion of 1944. This is backed up by historical documentation as well as Gen. Spaatz' own words.... He literally called these raids from late 1943 into 1944 as "bait and kill" missions. The entire purpose of "Big Week" in February of 1944 was to lure the Luftwaffe into a battle of attrition. Granted, the bomb groups most likely didn't know that during the war, but it's pretty evident that was the case.

[@clivewedderburn7601]

It is THAT bad. I delve into history a fair bit, so I watch series like this for something called 'insight'. What can you tell me that I didn't already know? But this movie had me doubting every historical reference they tried to portray. I didn't trust the uniforms. The costume department seemed to get those pilots outfits from an old MGM studio lot. It didn't matter the conditions, particularly the POWs forced march, and there was Bucky in sub-zero tempretures, warning others to make sure they wore something warm, and he didn't even THINK to fashion a hat out of something!!! So, now I don't believe he's cold in any of the snow scenes. In fact, I stopped believing any of the camp scenes. Just too 'camp' for my liking. Ditto for the german guards in the machine gun posts, in the middle of winter, JUST wearing tunics! As if you'd do a guard duty in a lousey tunic for several hours. Meanwhile, all the americans on base look like a Hollywood fake soldiers. They always look polished, super smart, all of them, like they've just walked out of the costume department. Now, let's talk about. where they were based: Norfolk. I am not convinced that any producer spent time in Norfolk. Sat down in a pub. Went to the shops, a local Primark, LISTENED to people's accents, got a grasp of their identity. - hell nope! All locals were either Disneyed or they were not featured at all. Here's an insight I'd like to know more about. What was it actually like in the towns and villages they occupied?? Ah, nevermind, Brits aren't of any value whatsoever in this series (unless they are a spy-shag??). But the biggest let down is the actual flying. Ah, sure, there were some nice 'bits', and I mean bits, but I'd of loved if the film delved into what it might actually be like to FLY one of these machines. But you never see that, the camera isn't interested in the leather seats, the dials, the steering wheel. It doesn't give you a real sense of, you know, the flying. I didn't get any insight into what these planes FEEL like. Rosenthal does a really neat trick to escape being shot at, but the action is all brute strenght, grimacing while heaving at the joystick, but it's also a technical piece of kit, and I never got a sense that any of the pilots were actually, well, pilots, instead of being grunting, panicky, macho actors. Finally, can we talk about the age, please? Average age of a bomber pilot is 22 during WW2. STOP casting thirty five year old actors! The thing that would shock us all were we to actually go back in time, would be the age. These are very young men. If you want to make an authentic show, cast the correct age. Or slightly lower - show how youthful these guys actually were. Compared to the real thing, they all look ten years too old. Thanks for the review. Glad to have gotten this off my chest.

[@mattscruggs4945]

My grandfather flew B29s in the Pacific and I was a crew chief in the Iraq war. I was hyped for this series and was thoroughly disappointed. I do wish my grandfather was still with us so I could get his take.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Epic family 👏 it’s really sad the greatest generation is fewer and fewer

[@65FASTBACKMAN-dx9ge]

I agree completely. I was super excited to watch the showed based off of reading the book as well as seeing the trailers for it, but I think that the trailers showed all of the best parts. You'd think with a show being called "Masters of the Air" that it would actually spend some time oh I don't know, up in the air? It focuses way too much on after they get shot down and are in the POW camps, as well as their personal lives, love interests, affairs, when they're on R&R, etc. Very little of it actually takes place up in the air and as mentioned in the video, most of that is glossed over or takes place off screen. Crosby is one of the main characters, of which he is on the ground pretty much the entire time and it just completely glosses over the invasion of Normandy. It gives you a little 10-15 second clip of Rosenthal flying over and seeing all of the ships and planes. It would've been much better imo, had they focused on Rosenthal and his crew doing their 25 missions and focusing on one crew, as opposed to 7-8 different main characters and stories that are all over the place. Imo, it would've been more like Band of Brothers in that they would be focusing on one crew or squad. I feel like The Pacific did something very similar to MOTA in that they were focusing on too many different characters and bouncing around from one location to the next and anywhere in between. Of which they'd also gloss over events and jump weeks, months or even more in the span of one episode. MOTA did the exact same thing in that episode 8 ends in August of 1944 and they go almost an entire year in episode 9. To me, that's unforgivable and they should've cut out a bunch of the filler and whatnot in the middle episodes of the season. I wasn't even that big of a fan of the acting and thought that Austin Butler's character was still doing an Elvis impersonation the entire time. The chemistry between Buck and Bucky seemed very rushed since it's told to you as opposed to it being shown. And I think, as mentioned in the video, that is the worst thing about this show is the "tell vs show" aspect of it. You're told so many different things that happen, or they happen off screen and you don't see them. There can be a time and a place for doing that, but for a show about WWII and some of the most gruesome fighting during the war, you want to see it as opposed to being told about it. Really disappointing as it could've been a much better show if it had focused on one squad that was actually up in the air the majority of the time and that wasn't as dramatic. Band of Brothers still remains my favorite WWII series or show, and considering that came out over 20 years ago is kind of even more embarrassing to MOTA since imo... it didn't match or beat BOB. Quite frustrating considering that the show had been in production for years and years, switched to different networks and all of the other hoops it had to jump through just to happen. Sadly, I think it definitely missed its mark and could've been much, much better had they focused on other characters instead.

[@stephencastello6553]

Actually yes, Doolittle used the bombers as bait to get the luftwaffe into the air. That's actually historically correct. The show moved on once it had proven the B 17 and the Norden sight as nothing more than shit kit. The show skipped over the part where due to using British Tech the bombers began to actually hit and destroy targets. Whether intentional or not, the narration is done by Crosby, who had been sidelined as navigator in HQ. From the perspective of someone who was no longer in the physical fight. The show died with all of the air crews to the point that there was no longer anyone left to tell the story. Outside of Rosenthal's perspective, which was vague at best.

[@jerbs5346]

John Clark is still alive.

[@grahamhighmore7702]

For Blitz week (Feb/Mar 1944) the B-17s were used as bait but the tactic was changed in April 1944 when it was found to be not as effective as hoped and they needed the Normandy railway crippled so they switched to the ‘Transport plan’. I’m sure it’s more complex (eg: the V1 threat) but for operation argument (blitz week) the plan was to bomb Berlin and use the bombers as bait to lure the Luftwaffe into a fight. Like I said it didn’t work that well and they changed up in April to hit Normandy/French railways + airbases.

[@contexthistorychannel]

From my understanding that was more about unleashing the fighters than using B-17’s as bait. With the P-51 mustang they wanted it to engage with the Luftwaffe as much as possible since it outclassed anything the Germans could put in the air. Either way it was always going to be a short term plan since the invasion of Normandy was going to divert air resources for that. The show makes it seem like Doolittle’s ace in the hole was B-17s as bait. I’m not saying the bomber crews didn’t feel like bait but those bombing missions were going to happen either way so Allied leaders wanted to attack Luftwaffe as a side goal. Then ultimately the show doesn’t even use that bait line to go anywhere

[@tdsmotorsportshomegaragedy241]

Without actually being there I can not say what was said but the book "Master of the Air" and "Big Week" mention heavily that Doolittle and the Upper brass were infact using them as bait. Doolittle almost got sacked because he pulled back some. They kept saying that D Day can't happen till the fighters are gone. Also the fuel part you mention was true but was a byproduct. Some wanted to bomb the oil and gas but many at the top did not believe it was the paper tiger that it turned out to be. They would only allow oil and gas to be bombed as a secondary target for many riads. Again, I wasn't there just getting that from those books.

[@g-unit7625]

Yes. Passing over Big Week was supremely annoying.

[@tdsmotorsportshomegaragedy241]

@@g-unit7625 They needed the 10th eposode for the story

[@contexthistorychannel]

I get that’s what book said and I understand why B-17 pilots felt like bait but to me bait implies they were sent on mission purely to attract German fighters and if the Germans didn’t take the bait the missions would have been failures which I don’t find to be true. I see it as more technological opportunity, because of P51 mustang escorts they could bomb targets and shoot down German fighters broadening their effect on the Luftwaffe

[@user-vi7sj8ze1m]

the whole pint of the show is to show the bomber crews perspective. the bombing crew really did do the same thing over and over and that was thier whole job. same with the point of people getting introduced and dying the next episode, that's how it was. people would be gone in a snap and all it took was one mission. also bucks death, people didn't see how thier friends die, they just disappear and you never say them again.

[@jamesturner9651]

On the one hand I underestand why it was only 9 episodes, on the other hand, I think the show suffered because of it because some events or character development gets glossed over.

[@andresramirez4469]

I don’t know why they didn’t have 10 episode like the others

[@jamesturner9651]

@@andresramirez4469 it was all so compressed. We didn’t even have time to really “get to know” so many people and events they wanted to show.

[@justin36004]

@@andresramirez4469budget constraints.

[@Zain-fi]

I wish they focused on one bomber crew. They had the set up they have a crew man for every man then only do the Navigator and that’s it

[@user-sw5nu6ni5z]

I wanted to watch this show, but it's only available on some hyper-obscure platform. It's like they made a show, but didn't want anybody to see it.

[@angelcervantes6934]

This is a great review and hits a lot of the points on why this show completely missed the mark. The 2019 Catch 22 miniseries showed the plight of bomber crews better while being an adaptation of a satirical dark comedy book. Highly recommend if you havn't seen it, super underrated in my opinion. Big shame we didn't get a better representation of the real thing with MotA.

[@Carp5586]

I respectfully disagree. Missions for dropping bombs over and over while responding to nazi fighter planes is indeed repetitive. Bomber missions are a completely different ‘animals’ from troops on the ground. Character development is stifled because the majority of the characters die. It’s one of the most dangerous of roles during WWII.

[@Captainkebbles1392]

12 o clock high still is the ultimate air combat movie. It's not about the missions...the battles..the technology But the people. Seeing people you love, truly love. Go die or die randomly, nothing you can do. Just seeing the planes slowly descend to the earth or burst apart More men died in bombers over the skies of Europe than Marines died in the Pacific (deaths, not wounded) Telling the story of one bomber, a 10 part series. seeing men and fellow crews be slaughtered. Just to barley survive but guess what guys Another mission is being preppered. Surivial is impossible Then when in ep 10. When it's all over. You hear stories of how the bombing campaign may not have mattered in hindsight So what was the point? Did we make a difference? Much like those crews.. You're not sure you'll ever know The series seems to not respect the audiences intelligence. Where as BAND OF BROTHERS expects you to be able to grasp concepts you may fully understand. The Pacific too seemed to dumb things a bit and it results the weakest parts of that show writers don't respect the audience anymore I really l like the writer too. Had a really cool exchange with him, seems to know his stuff, but either writing, the covid delays, or studio or direction KILLED this show Band of brothers is pretty inaccurate. But the get the ideas because it's AUTHENTIC. MOTA is...a wasted chance. It's a shame. Really showed how lightning in a bottle BOB was

[@michaelengelhardt5336]

Great review. Overall i agree with most of your points. If i was showrunner, i would have made an entire episode or at least half of one in flight school. Include the end of that crews story of getting out of France, they had a great story developing with the french resistence. Definitely show a lot more of d-day. Was disappointed not to see any bombing support around the invasion. I also would have scrapped the Red Tails storyline. They have a great story that deserves its own miniseries not to be shoehorned into this one. I also would have liked more time at the end of the war. It really was kind of like, peace is here, everyone go home. What i liked: first few episodes were good, the mission deep inside Germany then on to Algeria in particular, visuals were decent for the most part, focus on the bombsight and the different roles of the crew was great (particularly the ball gunner), i also really enjoyed the POW stuff especially as the war was ending and no one knew what would happen.

[@alexsp7086]

This was a great show. But it felt empty. Unlike Band of Brothers. I think the writers were not on line with this one. The animations of the aircraft were quite bad sometimes. Which is strange because the older red tails movie had much better effects.

[@dave-2099]

I’m British and I served in the Royal Air Force, so naturally, I have been angry with how our wartime heroes were largely ignored in Masters of the Air. 55,000 aircrew of RAF Bomber Command paid the ultimate price - British, Canadians, Australians, South Africans, Poles and other nationalities, all playing their part. The writers of this series have ignored their sacrifice and over-exaggerated the merits of precision v area bombing policy. The main message is that America did all the work, defeating the Nazis alone. I know this is an American show but it would not have hurt to reflect upon the RAF’s huge contribution to the Combined Bomber Offensive - just a respectful inclusion in the narrative would’ve helped. Our British crews were fighting for the very existence of our homeland, having stood alone in Europe against the Nazis long before the US entered the war. Our stoic population scraping through the bombing, the suffering, the rationing, the loss of loved ones etc. However, I did mostly enjoy this series and found the final episode deeply moving. Like their RAF Bomber Command comrades the crews of the US 8th Army Air Force were true heroes - We will remember them.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Preach 🫡

[@StoriesBytheBrick]

Yeah! I'm American and even I noticed there was a lot of almost british-bashing in the series and I was like... was it rly necessary? I was even looking forward to seeing lancasters and spitfires🥲

[@benjaminj.romney8220]

Umm… this series is based on a book about a specific bombing group. It had the narrative discipline to follow them. They represented some tension with the British here and there but that was representing the attitude of the airmen. Seriously, demanding that a series that follows the bloody 100th also represent the RAF is kind of silly. The RAF is there in the background, like they were for the stories of these men- in the background. They only have 9 episodes, and it’s weird to have your feelings hurt just because you guys aren’t represented in it. Feel free to make your own series about the Battle of Britain- I would love to watch it.

[@waynec3563]

@@benjaminj.romney8220 Actually the book "Masters of the Air" was about the Eighth Air Force, not the 100th Bomb Group. There were significant parts about them, but there was a lot about other things. Considering the book was about the Eighth Air Force, and the series was, nominally, about the 100th Bomb Group, why were the Tuskegee Airmen in the series at all? The book talks more about Clark Gable (yes, he served in the Eighth Air Force), Zemke's fighters, and the Royal Air Force, including how they were often more effective than the USAAF at destroying targets.

[@grahamhighmore7702]

For Bomber Command one of the best pieces of media was the ‘Bomber’ radio series. ONE of the best pieces of radio drama ever made and it showcases exactly the risks and suffering of both Allied aircrew and German civilians/pilots.

[@americanmilitiaman88]

It was Ok not great. Felt it was rushed or didnt have the budget to go in depth.

[@ghandysoria37]

I did not like the Crosby episode with the British spy who somehow just disappeared. That episode felt boring for me. I felt like they could have used that whole episode for D-Day which is a big freaking event in World War 2 not just show 3 seconds of it. I felt the show was a little scattered especially wasting an episode on hyping up a story line with those pilots who were trying to make it out of Paris to just show them making it out of Paris. Idk why they didn’t integrate John “Lucky” Luckadoo as a character, as he’s been a key figure as well from the 100th. Overall 6/10 for me, a big reason were the fight scenes were pretty good. Still Band of Brothers a complete masterpiece for me!

[@calahoon22]

Completely agree with everything you said, great review!

[@JoeyLocke414]

Got about a quarter into episode 7 and gave up. This show has absolutely no idea what it’s supposed to be. The script and performances are all over the place. The only time it seemed to understand itself was in the air, every other scene pales in comparison.

[@cl0udbr3ak]

Just finished watching it and I agree with a lot you say. I initially thought haveing been an Infantryman, I felt closer to BOB, The pacific and even Generation Kill. But also having listened the James Holland, the inacurracies grate. Mutch is made of Luftwaffe pilots killing crewmen in the parachutes, and while it did happen, albeit rarely, both sides were guilty. The same goes for the the escape from Stalag 3, yes 50 men were shot, but this was an order given by Hitler. Not the SS.

[@sasakovacicek]

All on point.

[@enghse888]

the main problem for me: while watching ep1 n ep2, too many things i s not familiar w cos im not the fan of military. Afterward, i feel ok, tbh

[@davidgabrielsen2139]

A video that strives to remain true to history is a documentary. A video that strives to entertain is a movie. In the end this show was 25% action and 75% soap opera. The P-51 with wing tanks changed the war.

[@jesuswasasalesman]

This was such a disappointment. This show sucked. Apart from a few action scenes it basically was boring ass dialogue or soldiers partying at the same bar.

[@flare242]

Also, today's flight simulators actually look a lot better than most Masters of Air CGI... The graphics looks soooo baaaad. SOOO Baaaad.

[@marckyle5895]

So off putting and terrible. Some stuff I'll let slide because you know 90 years ago was when this happened, but get the damned details right that you can and hire a real CGI production company.

[@galicije83]

This series is to short. They stuck with this concept of 10 episodes for infantry story, but for airmen and 8th AF when crews are lost in almost any mission, it's to short to tell their story. At least they need 15 episodes to made fill all loophole they have it in this series, maybe even 20 episodes. Then we will have good or even great character development... It was good tv series, but far far behind Band of Brothers even Pacific...

[@IMeanMachine101]

yes I totally agree it's all over the place it literally skips months at multiple points

[@0casey963]

Thought not knowing what happened to buck was one of the best bits of writing in a poor show, the not knowing would be exactly how the crews on the ground would feel.

[@TurfShifter]

It was awful. The pilot that the Russians rescued and he has to fly to Moscow and then somehow get back to England and in the show it is instant; ridiculous. I got zero sense of what was going on. There were also massive inaccuracies in tactics; allied fighters were never close to the bombers and the P51 never did the full journey to Berlin as they had to do it convoys as the planes didn't have the range. They gave up half way through on this.

[@RedSaint83]

Feels like that was just to show some holocaust stuff, and fair enough, that needs to not be forgotten. But then a scenes later and his shoulder/arm that was in a sling is all better and he's hanging with his mates.. Just felt off.

[@dallas1179]

I fully agree with your assessment. Also, they made the Luftwaffe out to be just a bunch of Nazis. Not realistic at all. No me262’s at all. The cgi sucked, looked 20 years old. The fighters were portrayed in most cases being WAY to fast.

[@YT1300MF]

I purposefully did not watch this until all episodes were out (that and I’m not interested in Apple TV), sounds like it was a good decision. I loved Memphis Belle too, so I wanted this to be good. I actually had your same idea of creating a fictional bomber pilot and fighter pilot stand in and building the show around them. Memphis Belle did this in a way. Pretty much nothing in that movie actually happened on their 25th mission, but historical inaccuracy aside it works because it gives you a feel for what the crews broadly were dealing with.

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

Memphis Belle had a few weak spots, but was far better all round than Masters. It seems to really capture the essence of a mission better than Masters ever did. I've been extremely frustrated for decades now, that he remake of the "Dambusters" has never happened. Stephen Fry wrote the script for it, it is supposed to be very good and highly accurate. As Fry stated the original movie left out details for reasons of secrecy as well as to save any upset for the families of those involved. We were promised a much truer and grittier telling of the story. Peter Jackson was set to direct, and at one point they even started building planes and sets to begin filming. But it has never come. My big fear now, is that Masters will be seen as the definitive telling of the war, as brothers and pacific are, and that no more movies about the subject will be made. The Dambusters is a great movie, but it would be lovely to have a more accurate and nuanced take on it. - apart from the Stars Wars homage, to it, where the bombing of the Death Star is completely lifted from the Dambusters - a fact that Star Wars makers have absolutely stated was the case.

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/on_Hk2Npfdxkbq8si=duFk6XVJNBknSEBl

[@marckyle5895]

@@adrianmcgrath1984 Watch The Cold Blue'. That made me feel much more connected to what it must have been like than MotA.

[@Cozza69]

The show ended for episode 4 for me. The lack of focus or structure to the second half just annoyed me.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Same

[@GrimmFilmEnt]

Masters of the Air never quite landed for me. In retrospect, it may have been a mistake to watch the Bloody Hundredth documentary before watching the show. Because of that mistake, I had no concerns about the lead characters having known their real live counterparts had survived the war. The show as an "entertainment" factor jumps too much and somehow manages to get close but remain distant from a lot of the characters. We never really get to know these people other than the fact that they're there and the experiences change them. Who they were before, anybody's guess. That disconnect made it difficult to get involved on the same level Band of Brothers and the Pacific managed to do. Band of Brothers and The Pacific will always be in a league of their own. Both shows did exceptionally well in what Masters fails to do. Each chapter of the remarkable journey of the individuals the show covered was told from a specific perspective, handful of characters. That gave the audience an insight into the person and the situation as a whole. So when the next episode came around and another character was the centerpiece and you saw the character from the previous episode in the background, you still had a reason to care about the individual because you got to know them. Masters never really manages that, despite trying to follow the formula. It's a decent show that covers the area of operation of World War II we've seldom seen in a show. Now all we need is a Naval centered show, Atlantic or Pacific but preferably both.

[@MS-wz9jm]

I think the last episode was one of the best, but it was also rushed. There were a few episodes through the season that imo were skips. We didnt need to see Bucky in London roleplaying as Hitler hammering Poland. Crosby and his affair, Rosie and the little holiday time the crew had - they spent way too much time on these things. The boys who landed in Belgium and were helped out, they could have spent more time on that or just remove it - They got me interested in their escape back to Britain but then showed none of it.

[@marckyle5895]

A Venn diagram of flying as depicted by the horrid CGI inflicted on us by MotA and the flight model of real B-17s in all flying conditions from take off to crashing only occasionally intersect. Heavily loaded B-17s overloaded with fuel and bombs mean a takeoff where the crew sweats out every foot, not taking off like a fighter. When I saw a CGI crash (not belly landing) of a B-17 where the bird hits the ground, bounces nose up (still intact, mind you) and _then_ explodes into pieces - that was when I checked out of this travesty and I wasn't gonna subject myself to any more. Haven't these people ever seen video of the site of an aircrash? And I'm not even griping about the dialogue and abundant inaccuracies in the script yet. It's a shame, really. For YEARS we've been hearing about this series and who was directing and it generated unfulfilled high expectations.

[@historymyths4662]

For a 9 episode, how i'm a bit disappointed that there were two episodes of wasted time for romance and the 100th being on holiday we could have gotten more raids and more story on how one of them escaped France.

[@belluh-1huey102]

Mid show, but is a masterpiece in the pile of TV shows and movies regarding ear that we gonna get this decade. All Quiet on the Western Front ranks number 1, Masters of the Air 2, and the rest of the shows, they all kinda suck.

[@williamhuynh3574]

Love how you said their telling more than showing . Freakin producers of masters of the air fucking should “show don’t tell”

[@contexthistorychannel]

Exactly!!!!

[@panykaga7844]

I agree with most of your points about the series, it doesn´t really deliver. I think it is undoable to tell such a story in just 9 one hour episodes. But for me, it´s biggest problem is the fact that there is an excellent documentary about the American bombing campaign including interviews with survivors. Seeing that one was the real eye-opener for me. One point I want to mention though; the bombers did serve as fuc**** bait for the Luftwaffe, that is simply a fact. Although never so propagated, it was definitively one of the goals of the campaign. You´ll find several sources that will confirm this.

[@contexthistorychannel]

I know the book and other sources have used the “bait” line but to me they are using that word wrong. And I find it to be a mischaracterization of those missions. The bombers were bait in the sense that they hoped their air strikes would attract Luftwaffe planes to them but that was only because of the P51s ability to escort B-17s and outclass any German plane. So shooting down German planes became an additive goal. The bombing runs still had primary goals of hitting German industry and weren’t being sent on missions that if the Luftwaffe didn’t engage them the mission would be a failure. Technology changed so goals were broadened For me bait implies a massively increased risk to fighter attacks but if anything risk decreased because of Mustang support.

[@matthewcage]

Band of Brothers and The Pacific had a grittiness that Masters of the Air never had. I watched the first two episodes and have yet to watch the rest because there is nothing drawing me back to the show. The writing was flat and campy. I had a hard time caring for the characters. While I applaud the overall production, the casting, the sets and wardrobe were amazing and the picture was beautiful, but many scenes felt overly digitized. I feel like this series has so much potential but the overall development fell short of expectations and the 2 previous series.

[@christopherboyd7177]

Munster was the high water mark

[@theouroborossociety9717]

The Tuskegee Airmen felt like it was added in post-production because some woke producers wanted diversity…either give them their own series, write better (like how the Pacific had multiple stories), etc.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

And the worst part is to add the Tuskegee Air, the series had to cut back on Rosie Rosenthal who is Jewish and a minority himself. It is as if someone at Apple did not understand the historical context and significance of a Jewish pilot leading a bomber group, on raids in Germany, during WWII. Rosie was the only character with the “why we fight” moment.

[@blkbass]

Like you I was very disappointed by this series. It's a FAR cry from the story telling quality of Band of Brothers. I liked the air combat sequences, but too much is skipped over compared to history.

[@yes_head]

It just seems like Hanks and Spielberg are getting more jingoistic as they get older. They were also weirdly fixated on the technical details at the expense of story and character. I agree that the way the British were represented was terrible, and a huge missed opportunity to tell the bigger story. I like your idea about the two-track approach with both the bomber and fighter forces represented. Lastly, I'm a leftie, but I'm getting tired of the Red Tails BLM pander in Hollywood. They were a TINY part of the air war and yet they always have to be shoehorned in, as if Hollywood is terrified of the backlash if the product is seen as non-representative. There's a way to work in American minorities into these stories better than was done here.

[@whos-the-stiff]

Exactly, they could have included the African Americans who helped build the airbases or loaded the munitions etc.

[@justin36004]

They were included in the story because they were prisoners at Stalag Luft III with Buck and Bucky.

[@redaug4212]

@@justin36004 Seems like a tenuous thread at best, honestly.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@justin36004 - Except, Jefferson and Macon never met Cleven or Egan at the Stalags. There were tens of thousands of POWs. The series already had a minority lead with Rosie Rosenthal, it did not need the Tuskegee Airmen. Especially, since to shoehorn the Tuskegee, Ep.8 had the cut Rosie’s original storyline and reshoot everything from Crosby’s perspective. Hate to break it to everyone, Rosie being Jewish has more of an impact as to why he volunteered to be a bomber pilot, given what was actually happening in Europe. Especially, since his own men assumed he was a great combat pilot, because he had family in the camps.

[@justin36004]

@@ChienaAvtzon I also hate to brake it to you, but the series also took creative liberty with him seeing a concentration camp when he was downed. The series isn’t 100 percent accurate.

[@bbrown611]

"Drop bombs and then go home"? Are you kidding me? Did you watch the series? Percentage wise, a lot didn't go home after the mission.

[@nrsrymj]

Acknowledged like a minute later 1:58. The remark you quoted is comparing the air raids to those missions on the ground in BoB, and the challenges the former faces in storytelling.

[@tonyszambor3755]

agree 1000%

[@whah-nah-nahjack-bandit5867]

You wouldn't be able to expand the tuskegee airmen plot because history nerds were already upset that they were in the show in the first place.

[@marckyle5895]

Weren't they in Italy?? They wouldn't be escorting the 8th anyway. They were in the MTO, not ETO.

[@christopherjohnferrer3771]

I disagree one thing in your review. The CGI sucked on this TV show, it look like a cartoon, it's like they forgot to RTX on! I hate the physics too.

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

I find that with a lot of movies, especially those involving Wll flying - I have turned off several movies within minutes of seeing how bad it was - and it doesn't seem to have improved over the years, which makes me wonder whether they are trying to appeal to an audience raised on film or an audience raised on video games. There are movies out there that are absolutely shameful

[@marckyle5895]

@@adrianmcgrath1984 the new Midway was (mostly) okay except for the stupid stunting scenes at the beginning and end by Best. I saw it once, don't need to see it again.

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

@@marckyle5895 I saw trailers for midway, the CGI looked unbearable

[@marckyle5895]

@@adrianmcgrath1984 Perhaps, but compared with the not yet in combat in 1942 Hellcats, Corsairs & Helldivers (oh and a F9F Panther hitting the ramp killing Heston's character) that are in the 1976 version over and over, I can live with it. Toshiro Mifune was the best part of the film for me. The last movie that had enough flying warbirds to look kinda like the real thing was 'A Bridge Too Far' with all the C-47s. Before that it was 'Catch-22' and 'Battle of Britain'. Even 'Memphis Belle' had a noticeable lack of B-17s from the other 3 squadrons in the 91st Bomb Group besides the 324th. Four squadrons would usually mean 50 or so B-17s in close association. And a mission was usually assigned to a Group, not a Squadron.

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

@@marckyle5895 there aren’t many planes left, I’ve been waiting for many years for the remake of the Dambusters. The script is written by Stephen Fry, Peter Jackson is set to direct - I think over a decade ago, they’d started building Lancasters to use in filming. It just keeps getting pushed back. In interviews they’ve said that it will be a much truer account. When the original was made, some details were still classified, and they also didn’t want to traumatize still living relatives

[@terrified057t4]

I feel like Masters of the Air could've used a rename. Like, wow great, they were masters of the air only at the end of the war with total allied air supremacy due to the inabilities of the Luftwaffe. Up until that specific point, it was brutal watching these guys just hoping they don't get hit, trying their damndest to defend against the 109s (also like, only 109s? I even remember hearing characters call out 110s and 190s but then it would just show 109s). Also the fucking Luftwaffe's basically guided air-to-air missiles. Those things seem to fucking heat-seek the Forts... I also wish we didn't have the Lame Escape, focus on our characters that are still flying, keep it a mystery if Buck and Bucky survived, like the actual joes on strength.

[@Brian_is_unconnected]

They did use the B17's as bait! As well as bombing targets.

[@steveday6671]

yes they did. in the same manner which the RAF tried the same tactics over France in 41-42. tho with admittedly better results. due to the germans fighting for their homeland.

[@contexthistorychannel]

The reason I don’t like the bait line is because the bombers weren’t sent on new runs simply to attract fighters, the missions themselves didn’t change but the tech available to the US (primarily the P-51 Mustang) made it so that they could have an additional goal of shooting down Luftwaffe aircraft.

[@Kyoto_Ed]

It just got boring really quickly. First time I saw Bucky he was playing Elvis, and he seemed to be playing Elvis in WWII, it was just off putting, schmoozing at the camera trying to look cool . As a Brit the negative portrayals of Brits I kind of expected and didn't mind, but I think that's the only portrayal of an WWII RAF chap who's a total twat I've ever seen and it made the whole show seem a bit mean spirited, they could have at least made that part funny.

[@contexthistorychannel]

I’m American and I expected the show to have a US slant but that being the only RAF portrayal is such a shame. Feels like lazy writing

[@TheElectronNinja]

Red Tails did the flying better in the aspect of seeing crews take off, group up, lead the bombers, fight the Germans, re group, and RTB. In MOTA, you really only see take off, group up, dropping the bombs, then like 90 seconds of action before it cuts back to base. In the episode showcasing "Black Thursday" when that 1 B17 is left standing, I was incredibly disappointed that we didn't get to see the entire thing. It was just pure fear mixed with testosterone induced rage to survive for about 40 seconds before a quick cut back to base. Just more Hollywood idiot screenwriters trying to build unnecessary suspense. Band of Brothers and even The Pacific showed entire battles from start to end. They also barely touch on who does what and the things they should do during a mission. Why not at least show the bombardier lining up a shot before draining it like Larry Bird. How about the radio operators getting at least 5 minutes to show their job of coordinating crews and information. Why not put in the famous poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell and explain how clinically insane and how f******* brave you had to be to be a ball turret gunner. Nope, they got to show that charming ground crew with those 2 British brats whom one has a hook for a hand for sympathy points and explain their job again while also making my ears bleed from children's high pitched voices. (The first time they explained the ground crews role I greatly admired it since they almost never get love but after the 4th time, I just wanted some more action.) The other biggest thing for me is that they showcased 2 332nd fighter pilots in the intro, trailer, and in the epilogue. They only got that 1 fighter scene where they got shot down. They entered into the series in episode 8/9. Why even include them then??? Captain Wendell Pruitt and his wingman Lt. Lee A. Archer were certified badasses and you just wasted it (from my point of view) just so you can hit a DEI check mark for little to no reason. Oh but wait, when they got to the prisoners camp, all the flight crews were in complete fan boy mode because they needed to tell us how good and respected pilots of the 332nd are without showing us aside from them getting their wings blown off and wrangled into a POW camp for the rest of the war. In my opinion, I give this series a 5/10 for a huge amount of missed potential as well as the show feeling more akin to a day time drama rather than a war docu-drama. I can write something better so that's what I'll try to do.

[@bernardsalvatore1929]

Well I guess you CAN'T please everybody but it sounds like if we wanted to tell the whole story that THIS narrator wants to tell, we would need a budget of billions and five seasons to do it!!! You do understand that there were budget restrictions AND limits, EXTRA costs because of COVID and corners had to be cut in order to get the series even put on the air!! They were working on this thing for years and years!! But that's what's great is that everybody gets an opinion!!!😢 I KNOW, why don't YOU produce YOUR OWN multi episodic series about the air campaign in occupied Europe in World War II and we will ALL be ANXIOUSLY waiting for you to secure a PRODUCER and a streaming service to supply the FUNDS for it and everything else that it takes to make the complete show to satisfy everything that you want to tell about the story!!😮😮

[@contexthistorychannel]

If Apple needs my help on the next one I’m happy to help 😉

[@bernardsalvatore1929]

@@contexthistorychannel keep us posted on that will you? I for one am extremely anxious!!😮 Seriously though, you got to understand the limitations of the modern Hollywood budgets and the fact that it's an enormous amount of content the train cover in 10 hours!!

[@contexthistorychannel]

I’ll start a blog! Make sure my many fans can keep up to date! Haha I’m aware of that my issues mainly center around story direction. I was frustrated how they would bring up very interesting elements just to gloss over them. I LOVED the first half of the mini series, the second half felt like a slow descent into disappointment. Maybe I had over inflated expectations I have been hyped about this show for a decade. Any way appreciate you watching the review and keeping me honest I do value hearing perspectives of people who have differing views than my own 😃 have a good weekend!

[@bernardsalvatore1929]

@@contexthistorychannel I will say that I wouldn't mind a 10-part series dealing with JUST the Tuskegee Airmen!!

[@contexthistorychannel]

SAME!! Definitely would be a fascinating story! I wish they utilized them more in MOA!

[@jaychristianson]

It was amazing

[@TheEyeofSauron]

Masters of the air peaked at the Munster raid.

[@andrewcollier3495]

I stopped watching this show after series 2s offensive representation of the RAF. What a load of 💩

[@rpadilla99ish]

I feel like I'm the only one ever saying this - take the music out of the combat scenes. Band of Brothers was so good, partially, because there was absolurely no music during combat, just straight sound. MOTA ruined the combat scenes by trying to add intensity with music.

[@contexthistorychannel]

I feel like saving private Ryan does this well too, let the combat scenes feel real with no music

[@mgytitanic1912]

I stopped halfway through episode 2. The acting was poor, the dialogue was worse and the CGI far to over the top. They'd have been better cutting in actual footage as they did with Memphis Belle and 12 O Clock High. The anti RAF slant just annoyed. I can't vouch for the USAF, but RAF officers do not brawl in the street, and while there was a difference of opinion it was never antagonistic. I doubt I'll go back to it.

[@andrewdeen1]

I mean... you say a lot of stuff is wrong that is RIGHT out of the book. The B17s being used as bait is RIGHT out of the book Masters of the Air. This is also confirmed by historians all over the place after a quick check.

[@contexthistorychannel]

I know it’s in the book but I still don’t agree with characterization of B-17s being used as bait. The P-52 mustang changed their operational ability so the objective of shooting down Luftwaffe planes was added. The bombers themselves were still going on missions like they were before. It wasn’t like they were just flying around hoping fighters would engage and if they didn’t the mission was a failure

[@contexthistorychannel]

They were bait in the sense that US leaders hoped that their missions would draw out Luftwaffe fighters but they only wanted that because they had P51s that could escort and outclass any German plane. But that wasn’t the primary goal of the bombing runs. It was still to hit targets pivotal to German war effort. I’m pretty sure that’s why the series didn’t even show the “bait” missions because that’s not how they played out

[@zakwaters7090]

This video aged like milk

[@HowardWebb_ceo_of_fraud_VAR115]

Historical Hollywood cringe i liked two episodes the rest was like a concoction of every corny hollywood war film ever made ,,,,,,why do they insist on makeing them corny should be like dark and gritty ,,,,,,good point about the mustang because they almost converted to night bombing like the british because of there massive losses they were taking

[@David-xy2ly]

Got to be the worse series I’ve watched, storylines just don’t lead to anything, lots of all conquering hero scenes without actually doing anything I mean absolutely nothing.

[@TailspinMedia]

i liked it a lot, better than pacific.

[@contexthistorychannel]

To each their own! I enjoyed the first half of the series the second half is where I got bothered

[@whos-the-stiff]

Can you believe they had a voice actor from Peppa Pig write episode 8 ?

[@erwin643]

Wouldn't surprise me. I noticed that Dale Dye (Vietnam Vet, military consultant and actor who played the Company CO in Platoon, staff officer at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, etc.) was the lead military consultant. Uh... Did he serve in WWII, or something? Just one more reason why this mini-series sucked.

[@terrified057t4]

@@erwin643 Dye's a crucial part of the Spielberg-Hanks WW2 stuff. I'm fairly certain he was in every single one as the lead military consultant. I'd not be surprised if he was also it for Greyhound despite the extreme distance between him and being anywhere near a WW2 Destroyer escort XD

[@erwin643]

@@terrified057t4 OK, so does that logically make him the best military consultant for a WWII film, especially with regards to the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII? I don't think so.

[@tracyupshaw7862]

This was a great show. Yes they skipped a lot. Too much. But I loved it. Even the slow shows were good. They weren’t perfect in the historical aspect, but they did pretty well. One thing you said that wasn’t factual, that actually was a fact. The bombers were in fact used as bait later in the war. They had to get the Germans up in the air to shoot them down. This was accurate. Sounds crazy but that whole war was nothing less than nuts..

[@contexthistorychannel]

To me the plan wasn’t that they were deliberately sending B-17s on missions to bait fighter battles but instead they were running those missions anyway and with P-51 mustang now they could bleed the Luftwaffe. That’s my problem the bomber runs had been happening for several years nothing really changed except the P-51 mustang

[@contexthistorychannel]

The book definitely brings up the bait strategy I admit and I understand why bomber crews felt like they were used as bait but I feel like that wasn’t primary plan and more side effect of P-51 existence

[@daz7467]

I loved Band of Brothers. I love aircraft like you wouldnt believe but Masters of the Air bored me out of my head. Very disappointed.

[@RedSaint83]

Catch-22 is 10 times better than Masters of the Air.

[@marckyle5895]

That group takeoff of real B-25s...oh, you mean the series, not the movie with Arkin. That takeoff tho O.O kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6WbaXmZmcypZsk

[@justwhenyouthought6119]

"Greatest air armada ever", sorry but did the writer of this series forget 30-31 May 1942 when 1047 RAF aircraft were dispatched to Cologne, or the two other '1000' bomber raids in June of 1942 over a year earlier ? Rampant Anglophobia, sorry but stopped at the second episode, puerile at its best.

[@sobasically4116]

I kinda of wished they could have done something with the b24 liberators with some of the bombing raids they were apart of like Operation tidel wave

[@contexthistorychannel]

That also would have been a good dynamic to add!

[@creekwalker8178]

Save yourself some time and go watch Memphis Belle. Great movie.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Fantastic movie! I haven’t seen it in awhile

[@creekwalker8178]

@@contexthistorychannel I think they would have done better with this series if they had rotated each episode to a new crew/squadron in a different part of the Air Corps. Bomber, Fighter, Strike, Logistics, Recon/Intel, Ferry (maybe some lady pilots). That would have broken the monotony and been more interesting. You could have had bombers over Bremen and P-47s at Normandy and Bastogne. Recon over the Pacific. Ferry and logistics flights over the Atlantic getting into some trouble or spotting some subs. Could have been really good.

[@contexthistorychannel]

Definitely agree, they needed to break the monotony. Adding fighter pilots perspectives would have been a good way to spice things up

[@erwin643]

OMG, where do I begin with this series? For starters, it reminded me of the suck war movies made back in the 70's (Society at the time was anti-military, due to the illegal, failed war in Vietnam; everyone had to have long hair - especially actors, or be considered a nerd, etc.) for one particular reason: It seems like they refused to make the main characters (all no-name actors, IMO) get haircuts that even remotely resembled U.S. military standards. None of the actors tried to even remotely resemble the real-life people that they were portraying. I had no real use for this over-the-top, glory-filled mini-series, other than to fast forward to the combat scenes (Blasted with my Dolby pro-logic, amplified sub-woofer system), the episodes following the shot-down crew members, and the sex scenes with that extremely cute British gal. I also suspect that its production was rushed, in order to serve as propaganda during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The actor who played Rosenthal even stated in one of the later episodes the false narrative that the war was being fought to liberate people being persecuted (the Jews in Europe). However, like other American Jews, in reality he may have been aware of the ongoing Holocaust. But then again, in that last episode, the character discovers a concentration camp, as if he was just learning about the Holocaust for the first time. Was that even real, or just a scene made to add drama (I never read Masters of the Air)? And Dale Dye as the lead military consultant? If this were a Vietnam War movie, I'd get it, but when did he ever serve in WWII? Or formally study the air war over Europe as an academic? No wonder the technical inaccuracies.

[@eddavis1832]

Comparing “Masters” (or any show, for that matter) with “Band of Brothers” will always lead to disappointment. I also get the distinct feeling that you didn’t even bother to read the book. Yeah, there’s an actual book. Does it have its flaws and shortcomings? Yes. But in comparison to 99% of the woke garbage coming out of Hollywood today, this series is pure gold. In short, they tried to cover too much with a limited time frame. Still, I really enjoyed it! BTW, fill in the blanks by reading the freakin’ book!

[@VTiDelSol]

F... off! with that "I actually read the book" attitude! Nobody who watches a series or movie needs to read any accompanying book or comic. It is the showrunnners job to tell a gripping and coherent story.

[@jeffandjoannbauer9567]

This show was a colossal disappointment, and bore only superficial similarities to the excellent Dan Miller book of the same name on which it was supposedly based.