Masters of the Air, worthy heir to Band of Brothers (review)

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg resurrect the Band of Brother saga for a breathtaking aerial ballet, which meticulously describes the little-known history of US bombers during the Second World War.

“Everything is true. Everything you see on screen actually happened“. John Orloff did not need to invent anything to write Masters of the Air. Inside the large file published in the latest issue of Première (currently on newsstands), the creator and main screenwriter tells us to what extent he relied on meticulous research work to develop this new chapter in the saga Band of Brothers. Because as the previous seasons narrated the landing of 1944 or the Pacific War, through the point of view of soldiers who actually existed, Masters of the Air follows the fate of real pilots, who gave their lives to stop the Nazis. A grand epic that details how Major Gale Cleven and his longtime friend, Major John Egan, found themselves together, stationed in Britain, as the U.S. Army began planning the massive bombing of Nazi positions in Europe .

The historical truth anchored to the body. This has always been the watchword of Band of Brothers and this is still the case in this impressive aerial variation of details. For the needs of the series, real B-17s were recreated in the studio and a crazy amount of special effects – more hours than on Avatar ! – were necessary to give all their power to the aerial battle sequences. The result is incredibly spectacular. Never seen. Never have the big or small screen been able to reproduce so faithfully, so impactfully, the violence of war in the clouds. Visually stunning, Masters of the Air (made in part by Cary Fukunaga) stages a fascinating ballet, where the bombers of the Hundredth try to make their way between the DCA fire and the Luftwaffe squadrons.

Inside the cockpits, another choreography plays out. Because Masters of the Air does not only have the ambition to be a rigorous reconstruction. It is not a question of coldly telling the truth of the facts like in a documentary. It is also a drama, which seeks to pay tribute to these young men who just wanted to pilot planes, and who found themselves caught in a psychological hell. How to react to death? Almost certain death? These “Bloody Hundredth” (nicknamed because there were so few of them who returned alive after each mission) took off with fear in their stomachs and the series shows with intense emotional power the anguish of these soldiers at high altitude, petrified by the cold (it’s -40°C at 8000 meters) and by the unbearable fear of being shot down… at any moment! A terrifying Russian roulette with its feet in the void, perfectly embodied by a cast of astonishing young stars. Austin Butler (Elvis), Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) or Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) shine under the oxygen masks and also when the story brings us back to Earth, between two missions, an unbearable waiting room before his next appointment with death…

Certainly, we can blame Masters of the Air a tendency towards a somewhat outdated form of US patriotism, even a certain glorification of military bravery. Nevertheless, the series has the merit of never transforming these aviators into sauce heroes. Top Gun. They vomit their guts out with stress and terror, supporting each other and suffering together. A painting of the torments of war like “a good reminder, to remember everything that had to be done, everything that had to be sacrificed, the last time these dark forces took power.” insist the creators, who have set themselves this mission, in a world which tends to swing back towards extremes: “If you understand your own history, there is no fatality. History doesn’t have to repeat itself at all.”

Masters of the Air, 9 episodes to watch from January 26 to March 15, 2024, on Apple TV+ and also Canal + in France.