Masters Of The Air - Apple TV
Discussion
clive_candy said:
Absolutely, Band of Brothers has a depth and quality to it that mean you can watch it again and again and yet you'll find something new every time you see it. Agreed too that The Pacific improves the more times you see it and I'm sure the same will be true of Masters.
I enjoyed MoTA more as the series progressed and think I was a little harsh on it at the start. I will give it another go in a year or so possibly...On the basis of comments in this thread I did buy the Band of Brothers DVD and agree with the comments here about it, and that it is probably superior to MoTA.
But Band of Brothers is over 20 years old now - it just shows how rarely series like this are made.
I also think BoB was easier "get on with" because we could get to know more of the characters - just not possible given the scale of the losses in the 'Bloody 100th'
And also - although it was about an American unit - I was familiar with many of the events depicted - D day, the grind through Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the liberation of the camps.
I really didn't know that much about the American air effort in WW2 - other than that they operated in the daytime - so it was all 'new to me'. I don't know if the series assumed the average viewer would have more background knowledge?
I definitely think a second viewing - and I would be happy to watch it all again - in a year or so is needed for a final verdict.
But if definitely beats most of the dross on telly these days...
silverthorn2151 said:
We've just finished the series. I'm afraid it left no impression on me whatsoever.
It was simply an ok thing to watch over a few weeks. In particular I found it difficut to tell one person from another.
Still, better than a lot of junk on the telly but thats it. I won't watch any of it again.
Agreed. As a reference I absolutely LOVED BoB, watched it twice, on the 135" projector, full home theatre. Pacific? I actually can't remember much of it which is telling. I remember enjoying it, but no more than that.It was simply an ok thing to watch over a few weeks. In particular I found it difficut to tell one person from another.
Still, better than a lot of junk on the telly but thats it. I won't watch any of it again.
MoTA? 1st thing we quickly noticed is we often had no idea who we were watching when flying as a) they mumble b) they mumble with a mask on c) they are obscured with a mask.
There are only so many scenes where airmen fly/drop bombs that can hold your interest. Its just not a dynamic that has much entertainment value to it - very repetative. The PoW part was more interesting TBH.
Ep8 we sat in confusion for the first few mins, "who ARE these people??"...then after a few more mins... "ahhhhh...". Tuskegee Airmen (who were not there historically). Then had an entire episode of characters that we didn't know and had no interest in. To say it was crammed in is an understatement
Ep9 - talk about cramming things in.... - the "oh the cart ahead has broken down so lets take a quick wander round a concentration camp" thing was a very clumsy way of inserting the horrors of the Holocaust. It just felt amateurish/rushed.
We both felt the whole series was a bit "meh", air bombing is just not an interesting enough visual subject, and the directors perhaps need to retire now :-)
I've struggled with this series in all honesty; I don't think the story is as good as it could be, the actors aren't as good as they could be. I feel like the wrong actors have been chosen personally...
It's nowhere near as good as BoB was/still is and it's not as good as The Pacific either
I've the last episode to watch; but it's not a series I'll return to like I can with BoB etc
It's nowhere near as good as BoB was/still is and it's not as good as The Pacific either
I've the last episode to watch; but it's not a series I'll return to like I can with BoB etc
Overall I enjoyed MotA, but I felt that it could have been better.
Some of the dialogue belonged in a Commando war comic, while the Buck and Bucky acting performances were grating at times. Shoehorning the Tuskegee Airmen into the storyline was rather incongruous, too.
And I guess that by now nobody should be surprised when American portrayals of WWII give the impression that the USA did everything single-handedly. MotA even tried to suggest that the Dutch famine relief flights were performed solely by the USAAF, whereas in reality RAF and Commonwealth planes dropped most of the supplies.
However, I think MotA did get one important thing spot-on: the sense of foreboding that must have come with flying those missions day after day.
Some of the dialogue belonged in a Commando war comic, while the Buck and Bucky acting performances were grating at times. Shoehorning the Tuskegee Airmen into the storyline was rather incongruous, too.
And I guess that by now nobody should be surprised when American portrayals of WWII give the impression that the USA did everything single-handedly. MotA even tried to suggest that the Dutch famine relief flights were performed solely by the USAAF, whereas in reality RAF and Commonwealth planes dropped most of the supplies.
However, I think MotA did get one important thing spot-on: the sense of foreboding that must have come with flying those missions day after day.
As someone who can't stand being in an air-conditioned control room for a few hours, around 16c, I still marvel how these guys dealt with everything whilst flying at minus 60c.
Watched an interview with an old gent who was a ball turret gunner and larger than the usual guys. He had to take off his fly suit off in order to fit in the turret.
He laughed when asked about the cold and replied that he was a farm boy and used to working in the cold.
But working on a farm you are doing physical activity and I can't think of an American state that would regularly hit minus 60c.
I watched a Russian film the other night about their first bombing raid on Berlin. That did show how cold the crew were along with instruments icing up and the plexiglass constantly having to be cleared.
I know they had electric suits but they didn't always work plus whatever supplied the heating could be damaged by enemy fire.
And in the case of the ball gunner, he took his suit off.
Watched an interview with an old gent who was a ball turret gunner and larger than the usual guys. He had to take off his fly suit off in order to fit in the turret.
He laughed when asked about the cold and replied that he was a farm boy and used to working in the cold.
But working on a farm you are doing physical activity and I can't think of an American state that would regularly hit minus 60c.
I watched a Russian film the other night about their first bombing raid on Berlin. That did show how cold the crew were along with instruments icing up and the plexiglass constantly having to be cleared.
I know they had electric suits but they didn't always work plus whatever supplied the heating could be damaged by enemy fire.
And in the case of the ball gunner, he took his suit off.
I think I've seen that interview - they bailed out over Denmark? The pilot landed in a frozen lake and the German soldiers shot at the Danes trying to rescue him. They waited until he'd drowned before they let the Danes pull him out. Lovely people.
I believe he said he was 5'11" as well. So they didn't always put the little guys in the ball turret.
I believe he said he was 5'11" as well. So they didn't always put the little guys in the ball turret.
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