On Jan. 26, Apple TV+’s new mini-series “Masters of the Air” was released. The TV mini-series demonstrates the perfect way to create a film adaptation of a book. What at first glance may seem like a cliche Hollywood depiction of WWII and another easy cash grab is a compelling story with elements of excitement, heartbreak and action that you can’t find anywhere else. The story is told in a way that you wouldn’t suspect it was a book to begin with. Trust me — when watching this, you won’t want to take your eyes off the screen for a single second.
“Masters of the Air” is about aerial missions in WWII. It explores the idea of the challenges the men face in combat. The mini-series specifically follows the 100th bomb squad. They go on missions to bomb places across Europe and lose many men along the way. What interested me in the story was to see what combat was really like for aerial troops. The film taught me what was going on inside the military planes which was a lot more intricate than I thought. The mini-series also follows people’s lives outside of war. This is shown by one of the main characters Buck running into his friend Bucky. One of the things I loved about “Masters of the Air” is that it followed enough people to where nobody is safe, meaning there isn’t much plot armor for characters keeping you on the edge of your seat.
It is important to know that this mini-series can be a big trigger for some people. It tackles deep war issues like graphic injuries, lots of death and disturbing situations. To give you an idea, when first watching the mini-series, it immediately reminded me of the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” which deals with themes similar to those in “Masters of the Air.” Some parts were either so surprising or disturbing that it left me shocked — but that’s how you know they captured the idea of WWII perfectly.
When I first saw the description of the film, I was excited. It gave me a big sense of what the mini-series was going to be like. “Masters of the Air” was co-produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman along with others. Steven Spielberg is one of the most well-known Hollywood directors out there, directing movies like “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and “Back to the Future,” along with many others. Tom Hanks is a famous actor and one of his best movies (in my opinion) is “Forrest Gump.” If Garry Goetzman doesn’t sound familiar, he produced movies like “Mamma Mia” and “The Polar Express.” When I saw all these Hollywood greats teamed up to make a TV mini-series, I had high hopes it was going to deliver — my hopes were answered.
Thanks to the production crew, great aspects of storytelling and riveting action, the TV mini-series “Masters of the Air” gave the audience a hidden gem that told us a new story about our past. This big hit offered me a newfound appreciation for WWII adaptations. There are four parts in this mini-series each spanning about an hour long. Three parts are out on Apple TV+ and the fourth part comes out on Feb. 9. This mini-series will soon come to HBO as well. I have no complaints about this mini-series and highly recommend it.
“Masters of the Air”: ★★★★★
