I've always loved this period in history - books, tv shows/movies, and museums. BF and I went to the WWII museum in New Orleans over the holidays and are currently watching Band of Brothers (which I was shocked to hear he's never seen).

Just heard about this show today, so I'm adding it to the watch list.

Question for those who've read the book: how does it compare to Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers? I read that book years after watching the mini-series, and it was, comparatively speaking, a snooze-fest. I don't think I've ever said the film adaptation of a book is better - except for this one. The book was just so information-dense, and it was hard to keep all the details straight.

If you've read both, how does Masters of the Air compare?

If you think BoB was information dense, I feel like Masters of the Air is 3x as bad. I personally love it, but it can be a helluva slog of you don't

wangus12 said:

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If you think BoB was information dense, I feel like Masters of the Air is 3x as bad. I personally love it, but it can be a helluva slog of you don't

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Hmmm…I may give it a go anyway. I probably should have taken notes when I was reading BoB. Maybe I'll try that approach with this one.

TXTransplant said:

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I've always loved this period in history - books, tv shows/movies, and museums. BF and I went to the WWII museum in New Orleans over the holidays and are currently watching Band of Brothers (which I was shocked to hear he's never seen).

Just heard about this show today, so I'm adding it to the watch list.

Question for those who've read the book: how does it compare to Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers? I read that book years after watching the mini-series, and it was, comparatively speaking, a snooze-fest. I don't think I've ever said the film adaptation of a book is better - except for this one. The book was just so information-dense, and it was hard to keep all the details straight.

If you've read both, how does Masters of the Air compare?

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The book is mostly fact driven with some personal history. The movie, I am sure, will be more dramatized and story driven like BoB.

wangus12 said:

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If you think BoB was information dense, I feel like Masters of the Air is 3x as bad. I personally love it, but it can be a helluva slog of you don't

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Agreed. The book is a relatively tough read, but worth it. One of my favorites in recent years, although I don't plan to tackle it again any time soon.

[You saw the warning given to the other poster about derailing and you ignored that warning even when you have been banned for that on this forum before. When you can post again you can start your own thread about that subject but do not derail this one or your ban will be longer than one week. You have-Staff]

Gotta know who put that article out

PatAg said:

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Gotta know who put that article out

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Copied the text directly from the image and did a search, found it:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/jan/20/going-out-staying-in-complete-guide-to-this-weeks-entertainment#:~:text=Since%20this%20series%20about%20second,ride%20of%20a%20period%20piece.

Been excited for this for a long long time. Wild Blue is one of my all time favorite books. Although MotA is about B-17 crews, I'm sure the experience as a bomber pilot + crew was largely universal.

Fighting the controls of a behemoth, dodging ground fire + enemy planes to hit a tiny target in the bomb sight. I will always greatly admire the men of that generation.

SIAP but this is an interview slightly over an hour long with the guy who wrote Masters of the Air and one of the fellows who worked with him to turn the book into the series. Held at the National WWII Museum:

Apple has genuinely made some great shows but it's putting out a $250m sequel to Band of Brothers and The Pacific this week produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, starring some of the biggest young actors today, and I'm fairly sure the average person has absolutely no idea

— Cal (@wyattyhalpert) January 21, 2024

I told my dad about this today and he was super excited, but he didn't have the slightest idea it existed! I haven't even seen the trailers promoted or advertised anywhere beyond the actual app

— Cal (@wyattyhalpert) January 21, 2024

I honestly doubt it, avoiding discussion of the director of a few episodes is pretty easy for TV, they can easily fall back on this being shot pre-allegations/covid, and they have figures like Spielberg, Hanks and even other directors like Dees Rees and Tim Van Patten involved

— Cal (@wyattyhalpert) January 21, 2024

Cary is a high-profile director after directing TRUE DETECTIVE S1 and the last JAMES BOND MOVIE. Also, these accusations are connected to the show's production on their set. Again, Apple doesn't seem to want to properly market their shows but this stuff could be part of it too.

— Christopher Marc (@_ChristopherM) January 21, 2024

I'm always wary of the "why isn't anyone talking about ____!?" posts that include no information about ad-spend or other metrics.

Same.

I think a lot of people (perhaps Apple too) misjudge how much time the average Joe spends online. They assume everyone is in touch with internet culture.

My wife is addicted to NBC Today Show and I think she heard about it there...

They played an ad on 1310 The Ticket today

Computer special effects have gone such a long way that it's basically impossible to differentiate it from real life anymore.

HOWEVER, whey they do shots that are basically impossible to actually film (like zooming around the bomb as it is falling) then it still breaks the immersion for me. I wish they didn't do that. Just because it CAN be done doesn't mean it SHOULD be done.

JJxvi said:

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How exactly is history being reinvented?

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Don't know in this case since it hasn't aired yet. This conversation came about due to the presence of the Tuskegee Airmen in the trailers when it is known that their squadron did not operate with the US 8th Air Force. It's certainly possible that this will be a multi-front story with some of the action following the TA where they actually operated from, in which case that should be fine.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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JJxvi said:

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How exactly is history being reinvented?

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Don't know in this case since it hasn't aired yet. This conversation came about due to the presence of the Tuskegee Airmen in the trailers when it is known that their squadron did not operate with the US 8th Air Force. It's certainly possible that this will be a multi-front story with some of the action following the TA where they actually operated from, in which case that should be fine.

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Here is how I think they are going to combine the storyline. Like you said it will show these characters on their respective fronts. 8th AAF in England and the Tuskegee Airmen out of SE Italy.

I do think they will somehow intertwine the storylines during the SchweinfurtRegensburg mission when some of the 8th AF bombed Regensberg then flew straight to Africa. I could see them having the TA show up as a fighter escort over the Mediterranean at the end of the mission.

It is a fact that TA that were shot down were sent to the same POW camps as white airmen. The Germans didn't separate POWs based on color, at least for officers. Spoilers for those who don't want to know the story of the men being portrayed, Both Egan (Callum Turner) and Cleven (Austin Butler) were shot down and finished the war in POW camps. Both were initially put into Stalag III, famously know for where the "Great Escape" happened (I do wonder if they'll work this in). There were TA (including Alexander Jefferson who is being portrayed in the series) held in Stalag III as well.

That is how I hope they do the show and how it would be portrayed correctly.

I personally don't think John Orloff will incorporate ANY wokeness. While yes he is a giant lib-tard, he has a passion for portraying history as it was.

The dude is a genius and does a damn good job at writing material. As others have mentioned, I too think Orloff will tie in the TA men into the Stalag stuff.

As someone who has collected WWII memorabilia since 1996 and actively does static line jumps from old warbirds, I am beyond pumped for this series!

Wait, you jump out of perfectly good airplanes when there's no war on?

Had family who did that, but that was over France in 1944.

byfLuger41 said:

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Yes indeed!

I will be jumping into Normandy this June to commemorate the 80th anniversary of DDay.

Jumping from C47s is a very life enriching behavior.

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That's awesome! I'm sure it's a blast, and truth be told, I'd love to do it once in my life, but I doubt I'd do it from a warbird. I'd be so much more interested in just flying in such an old aircraft than diving out of one.