After delivering the critically acclaimed series Band of Brothers and its follow-up The Pacific, executive producers are back with an all-new World War II tale: Masters of the Air.
This time around, the WWII action will take place on Apple TV+ instead of HBO where Spielberg and Hanks previously unfolded their first two wartime epics. As for the setting, Masters of the Air takes the battle to the skies as the new series focuses on the real-life 100th Bomb Group and their harrowing missions to help defeat Germany.
Starring Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Barry Keoghan, Masters of the Air is already racking up rave reviews ahead of its two-part premiere that arrives later this week. You can see what the critics are saying below:
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter:
It is, mind you, a misnomer to say that anything associated with Masters of the Air is “small,” be it the screen or otherwise. Based on Donald L. Miller’s 2007 book of the same name and developed for Apple TV+ by John Orloff, Masters of the Air is, by any measure, huge. It boasts a mammoth ensemble of young stars in various states of ascension, requires an astonishing quantity of technical effects to achieve its high-flying narrative and, when its key moments land, is equal parts breathtaking, exhilarating and rousingly inspirational.
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast:
A sprawling 1943-1945 saga about the 100th Bomb Group that soars far more often than it falters, it romantically lionizes the bravery and commemorates the anguish and sacrifices of “the greatest generation” via muscular action and poignant drama that understands what war is, what it takes to triumph in it, and why those who risk it all in service of their country and the world deserve our highest respect.
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian:
At the heart of it all is the inseparable duo of Maj John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) and Maj Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler). Bucky is a rabble-rouser and a drinker who fights with passion, while Buck is solid, sedate and tempers Bucky’s fire. Both actors are phenomenal. As quickly becomes clear, their missions are not so much fraught with danger as a compulsory ticket to a mortality lottery with dreadful odds. Every time they depart, there is no guarantee they will make it back.
Luke Reilly, IGN:
There is no doubt, however, that Masters of the Air is at its most thrilling in the skies, and the visual effects do a good job of translating both the violence and sheer velocity of WWII air combat to the screen. Viewed from the cockpits of the B-17s, watching the specks of dozens of enemy fighters manoeuvre at the American bombers is an intimidating sight – especially with the contrails they leave behind arcing out towards the formations like icy fingers. The over-the-shoulder viewpoints on the gunners, combined with the staggering head-on closing speeds of the fighters, makes the air-to-air action suitably quick and chaotic.
Kayleigh Dray, The A.V. Club:
Of course, there’s no denying that Masters Of The Air does offer up some visually stunning depictions of airborne battle. That it, too, leans heavily into the schmaltzy side of war in its opening credits (quite easily the more unpalatable thing about the series). Still, though, it does incredible work in offering the real-life bomber boys a voice at last. In allowing itself to get personal, to delve deep into their lives away from their aircraft, to explore their individual traumas, and to explore who they really were and where they came from, the series ensures that they don’t become collateral damage in yet another expensive screen project that glorifies military action.
John Nugent, Empire:
This is a view of the war from a triumphalist American lens; the final episode even offers a moment of literal flag-fluttering Stars-and-Stripes patriotism. Yet it’s hard not to be stirred. There is something moving about the moral simplicity of it all, a straightforward fight against fascism and the astonishing response from ordinary men using unbelievably precarious (and at the time, brand-new) technology. At its best, Masters Of The Air functions like the epic war movies Hollywood used to produce: a vast canvas, a sweeping starry ensemble, a sobering, involving reminder of history’s bloodiest conflict.
Masters of the Air premieres January 26 on Apple TV+.
