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Masters of the Air, another WWII epic from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, is flying high on Apple TV+.
Written by Jenn Thornton
In one of the better bookends to come out of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have dropped their third WWII opus, Masters of the Air, on Apple TV+. Like its predecessors Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the nine-episode series is a soaring tale of heroism and heartache centered around one extraordinary military unit, in this case the Eight Air Force’s 100 Bomb Group, whose harrowing exploits in the hostile skies over Europe was immortalized in the film Twelve O’Clock Highstarring Gregory Peck as Brig. Gen. Frank Savage—a role that was offered to John Wayne but one that he ultimately turned down, though he did portray a few different WWII pilots in his career, including in the earlier war film Flying Tigers (1942).
Based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller and the memoir of Maj. Harry Crosby, Masters of the Air brings a gritty edge to an otherwise glossy-looking production. Piloting B-17 Flying Fortresses with real-life names like Hundred Proof, Lady Luck and She-Hasta, the 100th did battle in treacherous, flak-heavy skies, which the series dramatizes to nerve-wracking, almost breathless effect.
If the true story wasn’t blazing before your very eyes, you might never believe it. Flying on a wing and a prayer, in tight formation and escorted by fighters for as long as they had fuel, B-17s were manned by crews of 10. Squeezed tight as a tick inside the aircraft with no place to hide, crews were at the mercy of dreaded flak and a far more seasoned Luftwaffe. As the series makes clear, the situation was more than perilous; it was desperate. Not only did B-17s battle German fighters, flak, engine failures and direct hits, they did so in frigid temps with men wearing oxygen masks and sheepskin flight suits while firing 50-caliber machine guns.
Nicknamed the “Bloody 100th” for their unfathomably high losses—the group lost three B-17s (30 men) on their very first mission alone—the unit’s daylight bombing raids defy belief. Those dramatized in the series include the bombing raid to Regensburg in which the 100th lost 9 of 22 planes while continuing to North Africa and the now infamous mission to Munster. The latter makes for a nail-biter of an episode where only one of the 13 bombers that leave England returns—that being Royal Flush, piloted by then 1st Lieutenant Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal, whose feats as a combat aviator include completing an unheard of 52 missions. Shot down twice, the highly decorated Rosenthal evaded capture, earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and went on to become an assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.
Just like Band of Brothers and The Pacific before it, Masters of the Air is smartly centered around real-life characters like Rosenthal and Lt. Harry Crosby, as well as the 100th’s swashbuckling squadron leaders Majors Gale “Buck” Cleven and John “Bucky” Egan, and the famed Tuskegee Airman of the 99th Fighter Squadron. The series also features Allied resistance fighters and even American Red Cross volunteers. Each component makes for compelling, character-driven drama.
For an insider’s view of the series, the Masters of the Air podcast breaks down each episode and features commentary from series insiders. What’s more, The Bloody Hundredth—a documentary narrated by Tom Hanks that takes viewers behind Hollywood lines via rarely seen archival footage and exclusive interviews with members of the 100th Bomb Group—has also come in for a landing on Apple TV+.
With June 6, 2024, marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day—an operation made possible by the Allied air war—Masters of the Air is a fitting tribute to the collective sacrifice of a once-in-a-lifetime generation. One that truly went above and beyond.
Photographs courtesy of Apple TV+, except where noted.
