Nearly twenty-three years after their seminal HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, and thirteen since its follow-up The Pacific, producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks return once more to the battlegrounds of World War II to deliver the (presumed) finale to what turns out to be a very prolonged trilogy. Produced this time for Apple TV+ amid a great deal of publicity and hype, Masters of the Air certainly has a lofty pedigree to live up to. Perhaps consequently, the premiere episodes struggle to take flight.

Truth be told, Band of Brothers is going to be the main point of comparison for most of the audience. While I think most fans also liked The Pacific, that spiritual sequel seems to have faded from the collective consciousness and is rarely discussed anymore except as a trivia note attached to the original. It may be too soon to judge Masters of the Air based on only the first two episodes, but I suspect something similar may happen here, perhaps to an even greater degree.

Title:	Masters of the Air
Season:	1
Episodes:	1.01 – Part One 1.02 – Part Two
Release Date:	January 26, 2024
Watched On:	Apple TV+

To give them some credit, Spielberg and Hanks have tried to examine a different aspect of the World War II experience in each of their miniseries on the subject, rather than just repeat themselves too closely. Band of Brothers was about the ground war in Europe, and The Pacific about Marines fighting in (obviously) the Pacific theater. Now, Masters of the Air focuses on the Allied forces’ aerial campaign to bomb Axis targets.

Based on a non-fiction book by historian Donald L. Miller, with a considerable amount of fictional embellishment for dramatic purposes of course, the story centers on the 100th Bomb Group, a U.S. Air Force unit shipped out to England to fly B-17 Flying Fortresses in bombing missions over Europe. In 1943, these fresh-faced young boys arrive feeling ready to take on the world, until sent on their first mission, in which they must face the hellish nightmare of aerial combat for the first time. Those few lucky enough to make it back are immediately changed by the experience.

The show premiered on Friday with two episodes that suggest the miniseries will follow a mission-of-the-week formula. The cast features a lot of young faces that, to be blunt about it, mostly look similar to one another, dress in the same uniforms, and aren’t really given enough material to work with to build very compelling characters. The few who stand out include best friends Maj. “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler, still holding onto some of the drawl from his performance in Elvis) and Maj. “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner), the poor navigator Crosby (Anthony Boyle) with an unfortunate airsickness problem, and the hellraising pilot Biddick (Barry Keoghan). Beyond that, it’s difficult to get too attached to anyone else, given how poorly defined the characters are, and how rapidly most of them get killed off and removed from the narrative anyway.

Masters of the Air is a very handsomely produced show, that clearly had a lot of money poured into its making. No expense was spared to capture the authenticity of the historical period. If the flight scenes might rely too heavily on CGI, I think that’s probably unavoidable today. Some of the most interesting parts of the first two episodes involve the technical details of watching the characters operate these (to us now) antiquated planes. As directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time to Die, season 1 of True Detective) the combat set-pieces are truly harrowing.

Where the show falters, sadly, is in the storytelling. The writing bends over backwards to be so respectful and deferential to the valor and sacrifice of the so-called Greatest Generation that it leaves very little room for drama. Characters don’t really have much of anything to do so far except fly planes and either die or don’t die. The story doesn’t even have a real antagonist, aside from the faceless Nazis never directly seen (they’re either targets miles below on the ground, or fighter pilots buzzing quickly past) or the existential concept of the heroes facing their mortality. The episodes also fall back on a really clumsy voiceover narration that doesn’t belong at all.

First impressions of a new TV series can be a tricky business. Some get better after they find their footing, and others turn into unconscionable disasters that just get worse from episode to episode. I’d like to give this one the benefit of the doubt that any misgivings I may have from the premiere will eventually work themselves out. At the moment, I don’t dislike the show, and I’ll continue to watch the rest, but I had hoped for and expected something more compelling.

Video Streaming

Apple TV+ launched Masters of the Air on January 26, 2024 with a two-episode premiere. New episodes will follow on Fridays, for a nine-episode run in total.

Like Band of Brothers and The Pacific before it, this is a very big-budget, prestige production with sterling production values. However, the series has been shot and stylized in deliberately understated terms, presumably to help sell the realism of the setting and the drama. Presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the 4K HDR image is only moderately sharp, enough that it doesn’t stand out as being too frustratingly soft, but nor does it impress much with vibrancy or detail. The photography is typically dim, shot under overcast skies, with a lot of drab colors. None of this gives much opportunity for the HDR grading the pop off the screen. The show still manages to craft some striking images, but the technical aspects feel reined in.

Moreover, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a straight-up disappointment. Although the aerial combat scenes make fair use of planes zipping around from speaker to speaker, bass is practically negligible throughout the entire show. Explosions hit with almost no impact. Even the musical score sounds flat and deadened, with no dynamic range. I don’t know what happened to this mix, but it sounds like it’s been compressed to hell.

Related

• Steven Spielberg (producer)
  • E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  • Gremlins (1984)
  • Jaws (1975)
  • Jurassic Park (1993)
  • Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  • Transformers (2007)
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)