Neil Baker
Masters of the Air is now streaming on Apple TV +.
The word epic is often overused when describing movies and TV shows, but in Apple, Amblin and Playtone’s Masters of the Air, it’s a perfect descriptor. In 2001, HBO brought us Band of Brothers, followed in 2010 by The Pacific. Both shows benefited from Hollywood royalty behind and in front of the camera, and both had the powerhouse trio of Steven Spielberg, Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks as producers. Now, fourteen years after The Pacific, Hanks, Goaetzman and Spielberg are back with one of the most dazzlingly beautiful, heartwrenching and epic pieces of TV I have seen in over a decade. It has its flaws, some of which I will discuss later. But, despite these, John Shiban and John Orloff’s adaptation of World War II historian Donald L. Miller’s book is a masterful, poignant, mesmerising, powerful and emotional salute to the brave and bold young men who flew missions over Europe, knowing they may never return.
Masters of the Air follows the 100th Bomb Group, known as the “Bloody Hundredth.” The year is 1943, and best friends Maj. Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler) and Maj. John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) have just arrived at their new home, an East Anglian US Army base in England. There they are joined by Lt. Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle), the narrator of our story, the fiery Lt. Curtis Biddick (Barry Keoghan) and a whole host of eager, nervous and bombastic young men keen to bring the war to Hitler’s doorstep. But as the daytime missions ramp up, it soon becomes clear that the “Bloody Hundredth” faces insurmountable losses as their bombers attempt to plough through German anti-aircraft guns and the fast Messerschmitts of Hitler’s Luftwaffe.
The horrific loss of young lives at the heart of Master’s of the Air is almost too much to process as each bombing raid sees the beds of young men suddenly left vacant and fresh recruits arrive unaware of the horror they face. Here, Masters of the Air beautifully explores how laughter, bravado and confidence quickly give way to panic, uncertainty and unspoken pain as each young man dreams of reaching the 25-mission run that sees them sent home. But it’s not just the pilots and aircrew that take centre stage, as the bravery and ingenuity of the maintenance men, engineers, and ground crew also find a dedicated voice. My heart was in my mouth as Rafferty Law’s nineteen-year-old Sgt. Ken Lemmons held onto a plane’s landing gear during take-off, hurridly fixing faults before jumping clear as the B-17 climbed from the tarmac.
The technological achievements of the show in recreating the skies over Europe and the horror the pilots and crew faced only add to the emotional power each sortie brings; it’s overwhelming, painfully real and utterly horrific to watch as each plane and its crew face the horror of planes on fire, parachutes caught up in floating debris and falling bodies bouncing off wings. As the story opens, there is hope, excitement and even swagger as the crews take to the skies, but by episode four, the true horror is revealed, as each man begins to wonder if the RAF were right in calling their daylight bombing raids “suicide missions.”
Every episode is heart-stopping, and every performance is outstanding as directors, including Cary Joji Fukunaga, Anna Boden and Dee Rees, take us on a truly epic and emotional journey of bravery, resistance and resilience. Austin Butler, Anthony Boyle and Calum Turner may take centre stage, but Masters of the Air is an ensemble piece with some truly stunning supporting performances from Barry Keoghan, Nate Mann and Kai Alexander, to name just a few. Equally impressive is the cinematography of Arkapaw, Fitzgerald, Rutkowski and Franco and the outstanding and emotional score of Blake Neely.
However, there are also flaws. Masters of the Air comes with a hefty dose of American exceptionalism. This isn’t uncommon in American war dramas and often ignores the fact that Europe had already been at war for four long years before US troops arrived on British soil. Equally, there are times when the stereotypes on display are lazy, from the stiff upper lip RAF pilots who look down their nose at the US troops to British kids who stand in awe of everything American. Several opportunities to dig deeper into the American war effort are also missed; the introduction of Lt. Alexander Jefferson (Branden Cook) and 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels (Ncuti Gatwa) should have placed the experiences of Black American pilots and crew centre stage in the final two episodes. Yet, their stories remain underdeveloped, with the intersection between racism at home, in service and abroad only finding an occasional voice.
But for all these missed opportunities and flaws, the Amblin, Playtone and Apple drama soars in its ability to reflect the abject horror of war, the ethical and moral conflict of bombing, the lasting scars of conflict and the bravery of every young man who climbed into a thin aluminium and steel tube in the name of freedom. Here, Masters of the Air earns its stripes as one of the greatest TV war dramas of the past twenty years. Meanwhile, Apple confirms that its mission to steal HBO’s once untouchable crown is complete as it cements its place as the new home of big-budget, outstanding and groundbreaking drama. Masters of the Air is old-fashioned big-budget filmmaking; it is bold, brilliant, brave and breathtaking, just like those young men and women who fought for a better world free from oppression – a world we all have a duty to maintain in the face of growing hate and conflict.
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