Roush Review: Fly the Unfriendly Skies of WWII with Apple’s ‘Masters of the Air’
Review
Masters of the Air
In the landmark series Band of Brothers (2001) and The Pacific (2010), viewers experienced World War II combat and grueling heroism from the muddy, bloody trenches. The harrowing, exhilarating and often devastating nine-part Masters of the Air, from the same production team (including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg), soars above Europe with equally powerful impact.
We watch in awe and terror as the brave bomber pilots and crews of the 8th Air Force, 100th Bomb Group—known as the “Bloody Hundredth” because of their high casualty rate—fly into danger, their mechanically challenged aircraft shredding like burning confetti as they take explosive flak from below. We’re also there with the officers and support staff on the ground, nervously counting the planes, and the losses, as survivors stagger home.
With the common purpose “to bring the war to Hitler’s doorstep,” these flyboys let loose between perilous missions, but even the rebellious Maj. John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner with a Clark Gable swagger) is so numbed by war’s horrors he orders a lieutenant to punch him so he can feel something. His best friend, the more stoic Maj. Gale “Buck” Cleven (Elvis’ Austin Butler, projecting a Gary Cooper–like leading-man gravity), is simply determined to “lead our boys through it.” When he goes missing after a bombing run, it’s an existential blow to the entire squadron.
Acting as the series’ narrator and conscience, Anthony Boyle (who’ll be seen later this year as assassin John Wilkes Booth in Apple’s historical drama Manhunt) brings a welcome warmth and self-deprecating humor as airsick navigator Harry Crosby, whose survivor’s guilt after being promoted to group navigator is almost unbearable. “All this killing we do, day in and day out, does something to a guy. Makes him different, not in a good way,” he confides in one of the show’s too-didactic moments.
An attempt at inclusion by introducing Black members of the Tuskegee Airmen in the next-to-last episode somehow feels too little, too late. And yet, the intensity rarely flags when the action shifts from the sky to the ground, where fallen airmen try to survive behind enemy lines or plot escape from a German POW camp. Masters of the Air completes a triumphant WWII trilogy that, like Ken Burns’ eloquent documentaries, will stand the test of time.
Masters of the Air, Series Premiere (two episodes), Friday, January 26, Apple TV+
