Masters of the Air review: Another astounding feat from Spielberg and Hanks

The Pacific, meanwhile, may not have caught fire in quite the same way, but it was still critically acclaimed and won a boat-load of awards.

Fourteen years after that series, and 23 after Band of Brothers, we get Masters of the Air, a nine-part epic based on Donald L Miller's 2007 book, Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany.

It follows the actions of the 100th Bomb Group of the US Air Force, nicknamed the Bloody Hundredth because of the number of fatalities they suffered, while also featuring the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American fighter and bomber pilots.

And, just like its predecessors, it is one of finest, most jaw-dropping dramas you are likely to see in a very long time.

This is the first of Spielberg, Hanks and Gotezman's trilogy to be made for Apple TV+, and it's fair to say that the combination is a match made in heaven.

If there's one thing Apple TV+ is known for, it's their mind-blowing budgets, with Masters of the Air reportedly costing $250 million. Thankfully, the streamer is also known for making that money very visible on-screen.

Masters of the Air is not only gorgeous to look at, with astonishing production value, it also utilises a combination of practical and digital effects to create some of the most spectacular, horrifying aerial fight sequences seen in any medium - film or TV.

The 100th Bomb Group notoriously flew their missions during the day, so there's no opportunity to hide any shonky CGI in the darkness. Thankfully, there's none to be seen here, and the battles are simply all the more visceral because they're well-lit.

The resultant effect is for these sequences to be truly immersive. You may enter the show wondering how long a nine-part series can sustain interest in entirely aerial fighting, as opposed to on-the-ground soldiering, but the flight sequences never become stale or repetitive - they are always inventive and heart-pounding.

Directors Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and Tim Van Patten all manage to make sense of the chaos, meaning that, while the carnage and brutal terror of the missions persists throughout, it's always easy to keep track of what's going on from our vantage point - melding the two is not an easy feat, but here it appears effortless.

Right from episode 1, you come to understand just what these men were putting themselves through, day in, day out. The enormity of their sacrifice truly hits home.

Of course, no matter how effective the action is or how impressive the visuals look, all of this would be for nought if there wasn't a solid story to back it up, some real meat on the bone. Thankfully, it never seemed likely that there wouldn't be one with this team of creators, producers and directors on board.

The series is absolutely full of Spielbergian charm and emotion, as well as his sense of story and character. In many ways, this feels like the ultimate combination of both throwback and innovation, taking advantage of the most up-to-date technology to tell a real, old-school story.

Just as every moment in the battle sequences is critical, so are the moments of camaraderie - the games, the drinking in pubs, the quiet conversations. All of these allow us to understand the everyday torment of putting your life of the line so frequently, while also helping us to understand the men as individuals, as human beings.

One of our central focuses for this story is the friendship between Austin Butler's Major Buck Cleven and Callum Turner's Major Bucky Egan, which is so beautifully realised that one particular moment is sure to at least produce a lump in your throat, if not tears in your eyes.

Meanwhile, the real heart of the story and the MVP coming out of the series is Anthony Boyle, who plays Lieutenant Harry Crosby, our narrator through the drama.

Going into the series, a lot of attention has been paid to Butler, Turner, Barry Keoghan and Ncuti Gatwa - and rightly so, they're all excellent (although, in truth, Butler may be the weak link here, failing to bring as much personality to Buck as his scene partners do their characters).

However, it is Boyle that everyone will be talking about coming out of it, as his character grows and evolves throughout the series from a flight-sick newbie lacking confidence to an accomplished navigator. His inner life and, at times, turmoil, are rich, and Boyle sells every minute of it.

It's crucial that we relate to and care about these characters' day to day lives as much as their bravery in the air, because ultimately, this is a story of hope through sacrifice, of ordinary people doing the extraordinary and of the bonds of male friendship, forged in fire.

Those may feel like tried and tested, even re-heated themes for a show to explore, but they've felt surprisingly lacking in media of late, and revisiting them, and this horrific time period, in the manner that this show does is welcome.

Like Band of Brothers and The Pacific before it, the sprawling cast means the series is able to grapple with all aspects of the men's experiences, with some losing their lives, others being shot down and struggling to survive in hostile territory, others going on multiple missions and somehow, miraculously, emerging unscathed.

Not only does this make the series emotionally rich, but also informationally - the drama is packed with fascinating history and details about the Bomb Group and their activities, from processes when someone returned from enemy territory to how and when missions were flown for maximum impact.

The series also feels fully-formed and rounded in a way that so few often do. When, in recent years, some actors, writers and directors have started to talk about their TV projects as being like elongated movies, this is what they should have been striving for.

It's cinematic in every way conceivable, from the visuals and the story beats to the character arcs, which wouldn't feel out of place in any epic, big-screen experience.

But creators John Shiban and John Orloff, along with Spielberg, Hanks and Goetzman, also know that there are advantages to the TV format, and make good use of them accordingly.

Characters are able to dip in and out of the narrative in a way that is consistent with the real experiences of those in the Bomb Group, but which would likely be unsatisfying and incohesive in a two hour film.

Meanwhile, the drama also respects its episodic nature - yes, it's one long-running storyline, but each episode has its individual narrative and flavour, in a way that some series seem ashamed, or unwilling, to embrace.

Of course, if war dramas aren't your thing, then you'll want to stay away - this isn't some reinvention of the genre or re-interpretation of the period, it's a war drama through and through, leaning into all the usual trappings but doing so to maximum effect.

If you are a fan of the genre, or simply not opposed to it, then Masters of the Air should undoubtedly be on your watchlist, and high up it too - for its championing of young talent, its emotional core, its narrative strength, its historical intrigue and its breathtaking action.

Consider those lofty expectations well and truly met.

Masters of the Air is coming to Apple TV+ on Friday 26th January 2024. Subscribe to Apple TV+ here. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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