Masters of the Air, a Steven Spielberg series about the men of the 100th Bomb Group conducting perilous raids over Nazi Germany, premieres on Apple TV Plus January 26. Executive producing with Spielberg are Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Donald L. Miller wrote the book that launched the series. There are nine episodes. Two are available on premiere day.
Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa are in the cast.
Known as the Bloody Hundredth, the bomb group dealt with frigid conditions and a lack of oxygen, in addition to the Nazis. “Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of Masters of the Air,” said Apple TV Plus.
The directors are Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees and Tim Van Patten.
Spielberg and Hanks have worked on a number of World War II projects before. Spielberg directed 1998 film Saving Private Ryan and Hanks starred. Spielberg and Hanks, along with Masters screenwriter John Orloff, worked on the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers. Spielberg, Hanks and Goetzman executive produced the 2010 HBO series The Pacific.
Reviews for Masters of the Air are mixed. The Washington Post said the series “bombs.”
“Its heroes aren’t rebels or victims,” it continues. “They’re archetypes. The technology is the real star here; the B-17s are as period-perfect as they are immense. As for the story — well, at 25,000 feet, maybe it doesn’t matter that it’s almost as thin as the air.”
The BBC called it “gripping but creaky.”
NPR, for its part, said Masters of the Air is on par with the previous Spielberg-Hanks war projects. “Masters of the Air is the newest entry in this World War II project by Spielberg, Hanks and company,” it said. “It's every bit equal to, and boasts precisely the same strengths as, those previous offerings.”
Vulture said the show "skims the surface" and The Hollywood Reporter felt it "frequently soars and occasionally stalls."
