Masters of the Air (2024) (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

cartoonish battle scenes with that subpar cgi

Huh? What? You must be watching a different show.

 

[Sam Favate]

I’m catching up with this series, and watched the first two episodes this week. I’m enjoying it very much.

I have a bit of a personal connection to the material, as my father was Army Air Force in WWII. These are the kinds of planes he was in; he was the radio operator. His crew visited every theater of war during WWII, starting in Europe, going to North Africa and on to the Pacific. They even had an emergency landing one night in Brazil.

Once, when the Smithsonian had an Air Force exhibit, we took him and he got to walk through cross sections of the planes he used to fly. He loved it. “That’s my jacket,” he said, pointing to one of the mannequins. “And that’s my seat!” he said when we passed the radio section. He would have been in his 80s then.

He’s not around to see this show, obviously (he’d be about 107 now), but he’d love seeing it — and pointing out all the things they got wrong.

I’m showing it to one of my kids, letting him see the things his grandfather did.

 

[benbess]

Good historical perspective on this show. Not surprisingly, most of the stuff in the show is mostly true.

 

[Joe Wong]

After several episodes directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective S1, No Time To Die), it was nice to see Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel) taking over directing duties for Ep 5.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Viewed episode five on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was interesting to see some new characters introduced to the squadron. The pacing of this episode along with the amount of action depicted made episode five go by very quickly. ( As the screen went to black, that's it? ) We certainly have a number of unresolved story threads that I anticipate will be handled in episode six. ( Guessing, because I always try to avoid previews of upcoming episodes.)

So far a strong series that I am going to miss when it wraps up.

- Walter.

 

[Nelson Au]

I watched part 4 and it’s continuing to be an interesting series. II like the multiple storylines to cover the airmen who bailed out and are getting help from the underground to escape from occupied France. It looks like Buck might not have made it, but if they didn’t show it, then it’s possible his B-17 was not destroyed or the crew didn’t die.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I watched part 4 and it’s continuing to be an interesting series. II like the multiple storylines to cover the airmen who bailed out and are getting help from the underground to escape from occupied France. It looks like Buck might not have made it, but if they didn’t show it, then it’s possible his B-17 was not destroyed or the crew didn’t die.

Cleven is featured so prominently in the series that there is no way that we won't, at a minimum, learn of his fate one way or the other. It won't be left unresolved. I want to believe that he is still alive.

Spoiler for episode five:

Spoiler

Since Egan did not return to base I suspect that Buck and Bucky will be reunited behind enemy lines in episode six.

- Walter.

 

[Nelson Au]

Walter, I agree that Austin Butler’s Cleven is basically the Star of the show. And they made a big deal of Crosby. So I’m pretty sure he and Crosby and others are alive. I don’t usually look for spoilers, as I want to be surprised, but was curious enough to just do a quick search without reading any details.

 

[Sean Bryan]

And they made a big deal of Crosby. So I’m pretty sure he and Crosby and others are alive.

Not sure if you haven’t seen last week’s episode yet, so I’ll put this in spoilers (from episode 5). But…

Spoiler

Crosby was back at the base and promoted to Lead Navigator for the 100th. Not sure I caught why he isn’t in the same situation as Buck

I suspect that in episode 6 Bucky will be captured and sent to a POW camp where he’ll be happy to find Buck alive and well. They’ll likely stay there through the end of the series.

 

[Nelson Au]

Not sure if you haven’t seen last week’s episode yet, so I’ll put this in spoilers (from episode 5). But…

Spoiler

Crosby was back at the base and promoted to Lead Navigator for the 100th. Not sure I caught why he isn’t in the same situation as Buck

I suspect that in episode 6 Bucky will be captured and sent to a POW camp where he’ll be happy to find Buck alive and well. They’ll likely stay there through the end of the series.

Thanks for the spoiler tag. Yes, I’m a week behind, so I haven‘t seen the 5th episode yet.

 

[Nelson Au]

I saw the 5th episode last night. The bombing mission was pretty intense. I see in Apple TV that the 6th episode is available and they show a thumbnail for the 7th epsode which is unfortunate as it seems to show a spoiler.

 

[David_B_K]

Episodes 5 & 6 were extremely intense. I need to quit watching this show close to bedtime.

 

[benbess]

Another really good episode, and again based on a lot of real history.

 

[Joe Wong]

And

Spoiler

The Great Escape

gets a mention!

 

[MartinP.]

All the pictures in Harry Crosby's "A Wing and a Prayer" book of Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal do not show him with a mustache, nor does a photo search online. But it sure works for the "character" in this series!

At the end of episode 7 we see...

Spoiler

Rosie re-enlist after being entitled to go home.
If you want to know what happened to him after that:

Spoiler

Rosie not only served a second tour of 25 missions he was beginning a third tour when the war ended! Amazing.

 

[MartinP.]

Rosie's Riveters

When I read quite a few books in the '90s about the 8th Air Force and such I got fascinated with the artwork and the names that were painted on the sides of the B-17's. It's referred to as "nose art" and then I discovered there are many many books about just that very thing! Memphis Belle is probably the most famous. I'd say 70% of the names and/or artwork were of the risqué variety. Many scantily clad females and some just plain nudes graced the sides of these aircraft. Here's just a sampling of the 100's or thousands of them!

Quitchabitchin'
Nocturnal 'mission
Male Call
Bomber Dear
Cabin in the Sky
A Wing an' 10 Prayers
Beat Me Daddy
Big Dick
D Day Doll
Wham! Bam! "Thank You M'am"
Dippy Dave & His 8 Dippy Diddlers
Screamin' Red Ass
FDR's Potato Peeler Kids
Lakanuki
Fire Belle
Gremlin Trainer
Heinie Headhunters
Hell Zapoppin
Flak Bait
The Zoot Suiters
Ice Cold Katy
I'll Be Seeing You
Kansas City Kitty
Little Pink Panties
Myasis Dragon
Sack Time
Wabbit Twansit
Ruff Knights
Miss Slip Stream
Peace Offering
Stag Party
Now Go!

 

[Nelson Au]

I watched episode 6 last night. Yes, it was intense and interesting to contrast the brutality of a US airman being captured to Rosie and Crosby’s situations.

I’d never seen that reel history channel before. That was an interesting segment about episode 6. I did not know this series is based on real people.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Rosie's Riveters

When I read quite a few books in the '90s about the 8th Air Force and such I got fascinated with the artwork and the names that were painted on the sides of the B-17's. It's referred to as "nose art" and then I discovered there are many many books about just that very thing! Memphis Belle is probably the most famous. I'd say 70% of the names and/or artwork were of the risqué variety. Many scantily clad females and some just plain nudes graced the sides of these aircraft. Here's just a sampling of the 100's or thousands of them!

Quitchabitchin'
Nocturnal 'mission
Male Call
Bomber Dear
Cabin in the Sky
A Wing an' 10 Prayers
Beat Me Daddy
Big Dick
D Day Doll
Wham! Bam! "Thank You M'am"
Dippy Dave & His 8 Dippy Diddlers
Screamin' Red Ass
FDR's Potato Peeler Kids
Lakanuki
Fire Belle
Gremlin Trainer
Heinie Headhunters
Hell Zapoppin
Flak Bait
The Zoot Suiters
Ice Cold Katy
I'll Be Seeing You
Kansas City Kitty
Little Pink Panties
Myasis Dragon
Sack Time
Wabbit Twansit
Ruff Knights
Miss Slip Stream
Peace Offering
Stag Party
Now Go!

Dippy Dave & His 8 Dippy Diddlers for the win!

 

[Flashgear]

"When I read quite a few books in the '90s about the 8th Air Force and such I got fascinated with the artwork and the names that were painted on the sides of the B-17's. It's referred to as "nose art" and then I discovered there are many many books about just that very thing! Memphis Belle is probably the most famous. I'd say 70% of the names and/or artwork were of the risqué variety. Many scantily clad females and some just plain nudes graced the sides of these aircraft. Here's just a sampling of the 100's or thousands of them!"

Good list of funny and memorable 'ship' names, Martin!

Not 8th AF, but one of my favorite 'nose art' names is from a 12th AF B-25 bomber in the North African theater in early 1943...

"Dirty Gertie From Bizerte" (Bizerte 'Biz-er-tee' is in Tunisia)!

Along with the theme of the 'Bloody 100th' and the Mighty 8th AF in WW2...
Around 1965 or so, along with my cousin we opened a very old trunk of memories in a sunny back yard at Woonsocket R.I., it contained the musty smelling WW2 artifacts from his Uncle, who was KIA serving in the 92nd Bomb Group during 'Big Week'...photos of him, and with the rest of the crew of their B-17 (a camouflaged B-17 model F as I later learned)...and a positively huge 48 star American flag that we struggled to unfold as it was the biggest flag we had ever seen! (All I knew of the WW2 air-war at the time was seen in the then-current TV series '12 O'clock High' and my then barely understood and fragmentary comments of my own Uncle, this dead man's first cousin, who flew in RAF Halifax bombers of Bomber Command on night raids to the Reich...many years later I learned that he was shot down on his 11th sortie to Berlin in January 1944, took to his chute as only two surviving crew, and spent about 16 months as a POW).

I assumed that the huge American flag was from his memorial service, as with so many of these heroes, his grave does not hold his mortal remains. God Bless them all!

 

[MartinP.]

In Episode 8 (so don't read any further if you don't want to know anything), I was glad for the scenes in which Harry Crosby was shown coping with lack of sleep and overwork during the D-Day operations (in his book he says he was up for 75 hours straight) and it was shown he was given some drugs to keep him awake. Until I read an article about it once, I had never learned from any movie or TV series and the like, how often these men were fed benzedrine (amphetamines) to keep them awake and alert. The addictive qualities of these drugs weren't fully understood at the time. I was glad for these scenes because it's an aspect of the military I'd wager most of us don't want to know about.

If one does a perfunctory search online you'll find a lot of stories, articles, studies and more of this and it's more prevalent than one would think, or likely want to know. I mean, the home front doesn't want to think the military fighting for those back home could be all drugged up. Even if the stated purpose of these drugs is actually to help save lives.

This pertained not only to these men on the ground and in the air, but the military on all fronts of the war zone and not just WWII. From an article titled The War on Sleep - The Military Arms Race to Build Soldiers Who FIght Without Fatigue: Soldiers have been using stimulants forever. The British downed tea. The Prussians tried cocaine. Nearly every army has leaned on coffee or tobacco. In World War II, both sides took amphetamines. The U.S. military officially approved amphetamines in 1960. Since then, we’ve employed them in Vietnam, Panama, Libya, and during the first Gulf War. Today, all four branches of the U.S. armed forces authorize the use of dextroamphetamine under specific conditions. The Army rations caffeine gum, and every survey suggests that most U.S. aircrews, when in action, use stimulants. Publicly reported studies have been testing a newer drug called modafinil.

The scenes of Crosby dealing with sleep deprivation were on the ground so, in a slight way, they were a bit comical. What would audiences watching this episode think if it pertained to those pilots flying missions? During D-Day air crews were flying non-stop missions under some of the same physical conditions. I just feel more understanding of these conditions of war and/or just "keeping the peace" should make us realize why we should humbly support those who undertake these tasks and elect politicians who respectfully keep an eye on these military folks, and the country's, welfare.

P.S.: In a post above Ben linked a youtube video (History Professor Breaks Down "Masters of the Air" - Part 6) and I just watched Part 8 after I wrote this post and he talks about this issue and reads a section from Harry Crosby's memoir about what was portrayed in the episode.