Bookend to Band of Brothers and the Pacific…impressive first two episodes
On AppleTv
On AppleTv
Streaming Masters of the Air
- Thread starter Gasometer
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I'm pumped to watch this, even though chromecasting AppleTV is an absolute bastard at times. The Pacific was great viewing (even though it wasn't quite as good as Band Of Brothers) and all the reviews are suggesting that this new miniseries is right up there as well.
Do you have to watch the others first?
No, they're all completely separate, focusing on different campaigns and units from each other. I would STRONGLY recommend putting at least Band Of Brothers high on your watch list though. Quite probably the best miniseries ever made and better than any war movie that I've watched too.
Father Jack
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I'm surprised there hasn't been more 'buzz' about this coming out, as it looks terrific and it's got a great pedigree too, considering the the other two shows that came before it. By the looks of the first ep which I watched last night, it is going to live up to that pedigree as well. The only issue with The Pacific was how it jumped around a bit with the characters it followed due I guess to being based on several books, but this looks like it was based on just the one like BoB, so it should be a bit more focussed.
It's because its not on HBO this time.
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The Pacific was damn sad in places
BoB was about a single unit as it went through the war. Pacific was about several different characters some of whose storylines crossed. The Pacific was also about different battles where it was different units that fought them.
MoA definitely has the Spielberg/Hanks look and sound.
Good flight scenes. Some cliches, and some historical inaccuracies. Hopefully the overall story makes you forget about that.
MoA definitely has the Spielberg/Hanks look and sound.
Good flight scenes. Some cliches, and some historical inaccuracies. Hopefully the overall story makes you forget about that.
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It didn't feel real - like I was watching a bunch of actors asked to depict some standard WWII tropes. Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan were both jingoistic at times but at least I felt immersed in the characters and the plot.
It hinted at the discrepancy between the excitement of young men wanting to join up and fight - and the brutal reality of war. By contrast, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 and 2022) absolutely hits you in the guts with that.
It hinted at the discrepancy between the excitement of young men wanting to join up and fight - and the brutal reality of war. By contrast, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 and 2022) absolutely hits you in the guts with that.
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Anyone interested in the subject matter of this series and in the US aircraft and aerospace history in general I can highly recommend a visit to the PIMA Air and Space Museum and the USAF Davis-Monthan Base Boneyard next door - the largest military aircraft boneyard in the world. Both located a short drive out of Tucson Arizona.
Also located at PIMA is the US 390th Memorial Museum. which celebrates the history of the 390th World War II Bomb Group that flew the B-17 Flying Fortresses over Europe. It has a fully restored B-17 and a full history of the bombing campaign.
When I visited there in 2019 I was lucky to meet up with one of the last surviving B- 17 WW2 serving pilots Colonel Richard B Bushong - who flew his first combat mission at just 20 years old, going on to captain 28 combat missions over Europe - only missing one flight due to illness (a mission that saw his plane, his crew and the replacement pilot shot down over Germany).
At the end of WW2 Col Bushong went on to serve as a pilot in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, ending his career in 1974 as an f-4 carrier pilot. A truly amazing man - huge in stature and courage, Col Bushong was 96 when I met him in 2019 so he must be 100 years old today. Last I heard he still turns up at the 309th Museum at PIMA everyThursday to give talks about his time in B-17s. A signed copy of his memoir sits proudly in my bookcase.
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Also located at PIMA is the US 390th Memorial Museum. which celebrates the history of the 390th World War II Bomb Group that flew the B-17 Flying Fortresses over Europe. It has a fully restored B-17 and a full history of the bombing campaign.
When I visited there in 2019 I was lucky to meet up with one of the last surviving B- 17 WW2 serving pilots Colonel Richard B Bushong - who flew his first combat mission at just 20 years old, going on to captain 28 combat missions over Europe - only missing one flight due to illness (a mission that saw his plane, his crew and the replacement pilot shot down over Germany).
At the end of WW2 Col Bushong went on to serve as a pilot in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, ending his career in 1974 as an f-4 carrier pilot. A truly amazing man - huge in stature and courage, Col Bushong was 96 when I met him in 2019 so he must be 100 years old today. Last I heard he still turns up at the 309th Museum at PIMA everyThursday to give talks about his time in B-17s. A signed copy of his memoir sits proudly in my bookcase.
MEANDERING THE MESQUITE: The ancient aviator: A tribute to Dick Bushong as he turns 100
Living for more than 36,000 days is quite a feat. Ten decades can produce a lot of stories to relate. Richard Bushong has memories.
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They mentioned the number of training hours that they did in one scene and it ran into hundreds of hours. I was under the impression it was less and that’s why they developed Checklists, to run through inexperienced pilots what they needed to do to get the Plane in the air
I remember the Memphis Belle and the horror of falling out of the Plane
I remember the Memphis Belle and the horror of falling out of the Plane
Father Jack
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I'd have thought that every pilot would go through a checklist before a flight, no matter how experienced?
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I have read Checklists started here due to the number of incidents without them.
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Father Jack
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After the landing I was expecting the second half of the episode to be the debrief and whatnot, but instead the credits rolled as it seemed time had a played a trick on me and it had gone for much longer than the twenty odd minutes it felt like.
James Colorado
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I don't have Apple TV+ (yet), but this is one of the shows I'm eager to get it for. But what you said is really the mark of quality of any entertainment experience; it feels like it's gone in the blink of an eye, but then you look at the clock and it took a lot longer than you thought.
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Brutal and horrifying
BlakeyNoFlakey
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I always admired those men, but seeing this is mind-blowing, just how dangerous these missions were. I'm really enjoying the series so far.
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It’s up there with the two greatest fears…falling or drowning
Tandy
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Ep 3 out now. I was a little harsh on this mainly because it was built up to be insanely good and didn't meet the expections I had. It's still good, not the Pacific or band of brothers good imo but it does a really good job of portraying their bravery and showing what it was like up there. And that's scary as *.
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Video walkaround and walkthrough of the B-17 that's located at PIMA base as per my earlier post (not my video btw). Gives you a good feel of the plane's mechanics and crew positions. Imagine how friggin scary it would have been as a 19 year old sitting in one of the gun positions flying across to Germany and enduring heavy flak over the target.
In late 1943, the average life expectancy of a B-17 was a mere 11 missions; a similar statistic applied to the crews themselves.
In late 1943, the average life expectancy of a B-17 was a mere 11 missions; a similar statistic applied to the crews themselves.
Father Jack
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I wonder if the fact that two of the main characters are named 'buck' and 'bucky' is a nod to just how hard it is to tell everyone apart during missions when they've all got masks covering most of their face. I find it's a real struggle keeping up with characters when there's a large cast like this at the best of times
