I’m looking forward to this.
If even close to Band of Brothers Ill love it.
Based on the compelling non-fiction book by Donald L. Miller, "Masters of the Air" follows the true, deeply personal story of an American bomber squadron in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep.
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It's the third World War II miniseries from Hollywood history professors Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
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I’m looking forward to “Masters of the Air,” the third World War II miniseries from Hollywood history professors Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Maybe now’s the time to go back and rewatch their first two, “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific,” the latter of which I think hasn’t quite gotten its due.
Based on the 2007 book by Donald L. Miller, “Masters of the Air” will follow the actions of the 100th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force. Many of the episodes are directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (“True Detective”), and the cast includes Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Callum Turner (“The Capture”), and Ncuti Gatwa (“Sex Education”). The Apple TV+ miniseries (the first two were on HBO) is supposed to premiere before the end of the year, although with the strikes, and the possibility of outlets deciding to stretch out their already-finished material, nothing is certain.
“Band of Brothers,” has become a classic since it first ran in 2001. But “The Pacific,” released in 2010, hasn’t achieved the same status as its predecessor. Perhaps that’s because, even with the same audiovisual intensity and psychological brutality, the same pace of tension and release, it’s not set in the more familiar European theater. That, however, is what I found distinctive about it.
Like the soldiers who’ve more recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marines featured in “The Pacific” are in an environment that is entirely alien to them. It’s a nightmare of heat and insects among Japanese soldiers more willing than our European enemies to sacrifice themselves. That strangeness adds to the power, as do the characters, who are a little more distinctly drawn in “The Pacific” than in “Band of Brothers.” The uniformed, short-haired men — played by James Badge Dale, John Seda, Jon Bernthal, Rami Malek, Joseph Mazzello, and many others — don’t blur together quite as much.
With its anarchic ground action and bazooka blasts silencing the chirping of exotic birds, “The Pacific” is a devastating 10-hour rendering of an analog war. Like “Band of Brothers,” it’s available to stream on Max.
