‘Masters of the Air’ – Official Trailer:

23 October, 2024 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

Genre: War drama, Created by John Shiban, and John Orloff, and Based on "Masters of the Air" by Donald L. Miller, and Developed by John Orloff, and Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Tim Van Patten, Starring: Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Nikolai Kinski, Stephen Campbell Moore, Sawyer Spielberg, Isabel May, James Murray, Nate Mann, Kai Alexander, Laurie Davidson, Joanna Kulig, Louis Hofmann, Jamie Parker, Bel Powley, Sam Hazeldine, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook, Ncuti Gatwa, Jerry MacKinnon, Josh Dylan, and Narrated by Anthony Boyle, with Theme music composer: Blake Neely, and Country of origin: United States, and Original language: English, with No. of episodes: 9, and Executive producers: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg, with Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw, Jac Fitzgerald, Richard Rutkowski, and David Franco, and Editors: Mark Czyzewski, Carmen Morrow, Mark Sanger, Spencer Averick, and Billy Rich, with Running time: 48–77 minutes, and Production companies: Playtone, Amblin Television, and Apple Studios, and Original Network: Apple TV+ (2024)

The Bloody Hundredth…

Masters of the Air is a 2024 war drama miniseries created by John Shiban and John Orloff for Apple TV+. It is based on the 2007 book of the same name by Donald L. Miller and follows the actions of the 100th Bomb Group, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber unit in the Eighth Air Force in eastern England during World War II. The series serves as a companion to Band of Brothers (2001) and The Pacific (2010). It is the first series to be produced by Apple Studios in cooperation with Playtone and Amblin Television and stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Bel Powley, and Ncuti Gatwa as part of an ensemble cast. The series premiered on January 26, 2024 and consisted of nine episodes.

John Shiban attends the premiere of Hulu's "Shut Eye" Season 2 at The Magic Castle on November 28, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage

John Orloff attends the UK Premiere of "Masters Of The Air" at Picturehouse Central on January 22, 2024 in London, England. Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage

The inspiration for the major Apple TV+ series, streaming now! The riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II and the young men who flew the bombers that helped beat the Nazis and liberate Europe, brilliantly told by historian and World War II expert Donald L. Miller. The Masters of the Air streaming series stars Austin Butler and Callum Turner, and is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the legendary duo behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people. Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller’s Air Force band, which toured US air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers. The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America—white America, anyway. The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the “King of Hollywood,” Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland. Masters of the Air is a story of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed. Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world’s first and only bomber war.

Donald Miller (L) and Kirk Saduski attend the premiere of the Apple TV+ “Masters of the Air” at the Regency Village Theatre on January 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. “Masters of the Air” will make its global debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, January 26, 2024. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Apple TV+

The 100th Air Refueling Wing (100th ARW), nicknamed the Bloody Hundredth, is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. It is stationed at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall. The 100th ARW is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater, operating the Boeing KC-135R/T Stratotanker. During World War II, its predecessor unit, the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraft missing in action (MIA), flying its last mission on 20 April 1945. One of the wing's honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code (Square-D) of its World War II predecessor. The 379th Bomb Wing used its Triangle-K tail code until deactivated in 1993, but when reactivated as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing was assigned a rotating mix of flying squadrons who used their parent unit's tail code. The Triangle-K is retained as an unofficial unit insignia.

Badger's Beauty V, a Boeing B-17 Fortress of 350th BS crash landed in Normandy near Villers, France 4 October 1943. All crew survived. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.

German planes fly over Poland, Sept. 1939. Photo Credit: Defense.gov

Genre: War drama, Created by Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg, Based on "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose, Written by Erik Jendresen, Tom Hanks, John Orloff, E. Max Frye, Graham Yost, Bruce C. McKenna, Erik Bork, Directed by Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine, Mikael Salomon, David Nutter, Tom Hanks, David Leland, David Frankel, Tony To, Starring: Kirk Acevedo, Eion Bailey, Michael Cudlitz, Dale Dye, Rick Gomez, Scott Grimes, Frank John Hughes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, James Madio, Neal McDonough, Rene L. Moreno, David Schwimmer, Richard Speight Jr., Donnie Wahlberg, Matthew Settle, Douglas Spain, Rick Warden, Marc Warren, Shane Taylor, Dexter Fletcher, Colin Hanks, Ross McCall, with Theme music composer: Michael Kamen, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of episodes: 10, Executive producers: Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Producers: Gary Goetzman, Tony To, Erik Bork, Erik Jendresen, Stephen E. Ambrose, Mary Richards, with Cinematography by Remi Adefarasin, Joel J. Ransom, and Editors Billy Fox, Oral Norrie Ottey, Frances Parker, John Richards, Running time: 49–70 minutes, Production companies: Playtone, DreamWorks Television, HBO Entertainment, British Broadcasting Corporation, Original network: HBO (2001)

Genre: War drama, Based on "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by Eugene Sledge, and "Helmet for My Pillow" by Robert Leckie, Written by Bruce C. McKenna, Robert Schenkkan, Graham Yost, George Pelecanos, Laurence Andries, Michelle Ashford, Directed by Tim Van Patten, David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa, Graham Yost, Carl Franklin, Tony To, Starring: James Badge Dale, Jon Seda, Joseph Mazzello, Rami Malek, Composers: Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli, and Blake Neely, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of episodes: 10 (list of episodes), Executive producers: Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman, Producers: Tony To (co-executive), Graham Yost (co-executive), Eugene Kelly (co-executive), Bruce C. McKenna (co-executive), Cherylanne Martin, Todd London, Steven Shareshian, Tim Van Patten (supervising), George Pelecanos (co-producer), Robert Schenkkan (co-producer), Running time: 47–58 minutes, Production companies: HBO Entertainment, DreamWorks Television, and Playtone, Original network: HBO (2010)

Austin Butler as Major Gale "Buck" Cleven in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Callum Turner as Major John "Bucky" Egan in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Bel Powley as Alessandra "Sandra" Wesgate in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Anthony Boyle as Lt. Harry Crosby in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Barry Keoghan as Lt. Curtis Biddick in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Ncuti Gatwa as 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Masters of the Air recounts the story of the 100th Bomb Group during World War II and follows bomber crews on dangerous missions to destroy targets inside German-occupied Europe. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraft missing in action (MIA), flying its last mission on 20 April 1945.

Smoking the ceiling” was a ritual adopted by crews to record their combat missions. Done with a cigarette or candle, here members of the 306th BG celebrate their survival. Photo Credit: libertyladybook.com

Boeing B-17G Fortresses of 351st BS Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

1st Lt Owen “Cowboy” Roane (first row, right) of Valley View, Texas, flew a smuggled pygmy African ass into the United Kingdom after the shuttle mission of August 17, 1943. Photo Credit: 100th Bomb Group Photo Archive

The show portrays the intensity of war, the dangers that the airmen face, and the friendships and relationships that develop.

Darragh Cowley, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Edward Ashley, and Matt Gavan in in "Masters of the Air" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

A companion documentary titled The Bloody Hundredth, narrated by Tom Hanks, tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group that inspired the stories in Masters of the Air. It was released on March 15, 2024, on Apple TV+.

Tom Hanks attends the world premiere of Apple TV+'s "Masters of the Air" at Regency Village Theatre on January 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic

John "Bucky" Egan and Gale "Buck" Cleven in "The Bloody Hundredth" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Alexander Jefferson and Richard Macon in "The Bloody Hundredth" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Alexander Jefferson in "The Bloody Hundredth" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Richard Macon in "The Bloody Hundredth" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

A companion documentary titled The Bloody Hundredth, narrated by Tom Hanks, tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group that inspired the stories in Masters of the Air. It was released on March 15, 2024, on Apple TV+.

Harry Crosby in "The Bloody Hundredth" (2024) Photo Credit: © Apple TV+

Masters of the Air is the Featured Television Blog of the month for October, you can expect a detailed critique of the limited series with a look at the cast of the series and the real life heroes they portrayed. There is also a recommendation of the limited series where we look at the 100th Bomb Group during World War II, along with a synopsis of all nine episodes. There is also a detailed review of the 2007 book of the same name the 2024 limited series is based on by Donald L. Miller. For the interview, check out the companion documentary, The Bloody Hundredth narrated by Tom Hanks. There is also a Top Ten List, and for Masters of the Air, the list is My Top Ten World War II Series! Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the month includes an Official Trailer for the featured series!