GamesRadar+ VerdictA suave, old-school cool start with visceral, violent aerial battles, Masters of the Air’s debut episodes showcase high-budget, cinematic, prestige television.
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
A suave, old-school cool start with visceral, violent aerial battles, Masters of the Air’s debut episodes showcase high-budget, cinematic, prestige television.
A suave, old-school cool start with visceral, violent aerial battles, Masters of the Air’s debut episodes showcase high-budget, cinematic, prestige television.
Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are no strangers to the war drama genre. FollowingSaving Private Ryan, the duo reunited – this time as executive producers – for Band of Brothers, widely regarded as one of the greatest TV shows ever made, then set their sights on another theater of war with miniseries The Pacific. Now, the duo have once again returned as executive producers on Masters of the Air, another epic-in-the-making that adapts the true-life story of the 100th Bomb Group.
From the very first scene of the series' double episode premiere, the show exudes suave, old-school cool. We’re introduced first to Austin Butler’s Major Gale Cleven and Callum Turner’s Major John Egan as they bid farewell to their sweethearts. The threat feels far away in that dim, warm bar: but before the opening credits have even rolled, we’re thrown into our first aerial battle, and it’s a visceral, shockingly fast-paced scene, all blood and bullets. Any doubt that Masters of the Air wouldn’t recapture the harrowing naturalism of Band of Brothers is immediately dispelled.
Those opening minutes are essentially the show’s mission statement: we’re welcomed into the regular life of the 100th, before being brutally reminded that any one of these men could be struck from the story in seconds, whether at the mercy of a stalled engine or a stray bullet. Welcome to the war.
We happy few
(Image credit: Apple)
Butler has a quiet magnetism as Cleven, with the actor’s Old Hollywood charm lending the Major a steadying, comforting presence. It’s Turner, though, who steals the show as Egan – he’s effortlessly charismatic, whether he’s getting drunk to mourn heavy losses or joyfully grabbing the microphone to sing at an evening shindig.
As for the planes the men spend so much of their time in, the machines oscillate between majestic as they line the runway for take-off and shuddering metal death traps when they’re in the air: broken glass in the freezing temperatures of high-altitude or a jammed turret both cause gruesome injury. There are many ways to die above the clouds.
Enemy fire
(Image credit: Apple TV Plus)
It would be tempting for this show to indulge in flashy spectacle for spectacle’s sake, but the opening two episodes wisely focus on the humans flying the planes during the action, and the frenetic, terrifying, and confusing experience of fast-paced aerial battle. James Bond helmer Cary Joji Fukunaga directs both episodes, so it should be no surprise that the action is cinematic, showcasing that reported $250 million budget.
Taking flight
(Image credit: Apple)
Masters of the Air easily establishes itself as prestige television in its debut. There is a sense of more to come, though, with the foundation laid for gut-punching emotion, more fierce action, and the growth of that camaraderie among the 100th.
If Masters of the Air can keep up this level of quality (and there’s absolutely no reason to believe it can’t), then it will be a worthy companion to Band of Brothers, and another shining achievement for Hanks and Spielberg – surely, at this point, masters of the war drama.
The first two episodes of Masters of the Air release this January 26, with remaining episodes to follow weekly. You can fill out your watchlist with our guide to thebest Apple TV shows.
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Masters of the Air episode 9 review: “A satisfying conclusion, but doesn’t surpass Band of Brothers”
Masters of the Air episode 9 review: “A satisfying conclusion, but doesn’t surpass Band of Brothers”
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