YESSS, FINALLY!!! - Masters of the Air - The 8th Air Force, Spielberg, Hanks, Goetzman (Crew behind Band of Brothers, Pacific)

[4th&Five 42026]

First 2 are up for me. Starting now. 

[Js1 87282]

1 minute ago, 4th&Five said:

First 2 are up for me. Starting now. 

Someone at apple forgot to hit a button lol

[Captainant 28596]

Yeah they're up! Stoked to check it out tonight

[Js1 87282]

Fantastic first 2 episodes 

[atomheartbevo 90670]

My only complaint is that we should have had a decent amount of time in the US.  But it would have been tough since everybody trained in different locations for different lengths.

[Lobwedgephil 1146]

Very good so far. 

[atomheartbevo 90670]

 

[Js1 87282]

Saw the R/television thread about the show this opening

show sucks

CGI sucks

it's not BOB, so it automatically sucks

casting sucks

characters suck

[Captainant 28596]

Only seen the first episode so far, but they really did a great job of capturing the terror and claustrophobia of being a WWII bomber crewman. Absolutely astounding and breathtaking what they did

[YChang 3571]

32 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Saw the R/television thread about the show this opening

show sucks

CGI sucks

it's not BOB, so it automatically sucks

casting sucks

characters suck

How long before it’s too woke makes it in?

[Js1 87282]

3 minutes ago, YChang said:

How long before it’s too woke makes it in?

The black characters haven’t shown up yet

[RPM 26675]

Watched the first 2 episodes. Typical Playtone quality. Writing is excellent, cast is great, CGI is good. 

[Deej 77866]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Saw the R/television thread about the show this opening

show sucks

CGI sucks

it's not BOB, so it automatically sucks

casting sucks

characters suck

Reddit sucks

[kingkoopa6 8745]

Me likey.

 

but Not a fan of after first 5 mins or so, The opening credits rolled in and seem like they played a shit load of clips of what’s to come. Spoilers mofo. 
 

 

[usmc0331horn 1000]

We watching our boys firebomb the shit out of the krauts this season.

[bolverk 30366]

I listened to "We Have Ways of Making You Talk", which is a podcast that does deep dives on WWII that I subscribe to. I listened to their interview with John Orloff, MotA's creator and author of two BoB episodes, about the making of the show.

Links to wherever you get your podcasts for those interested:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/masters-of-the-air/id1457552694?i=1000642849103

Google podcast

 

[CptnJiggleBits 990]

Jacked about this show. Sure it has already been posted somewhere, but if you dig this show/ the 8th Air Force content, then “The Cold Blue” documentary is a must watch.

[TexasHooch 5214]

The little I've read about the show says it starts pretty slow.  After the 1st episode I agree, but thought it was good.  My only complaint, and it might just be me, is that I am having a really hard time distinguishing between characters.  They all look about the same, and the constant headgear they wear makes it even harder.

[Parliament 14618]

11 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

The little I've read about the show says it starts pretty slow.  After the 1st episode I agree, but thought it was good.  My only complaint, and it might just be me, is that I am having a really hard time distinguishing between characters.  They all look about the same, and the constant headgear they wear makes it even harder.

As stated above, it'll get easier after they start getting killed by Nazi's.  So lucky you I guess.

[Js1 87282]

18 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

 My only complaint, and it might just be me, is that I am having a really hard time distinguishing between characters.  They all look about the same, and the constant headgear they wear makes it even harder.

Hahaha, that was exactly my thought too last night.  I kept being like "who are we looking at now?" when they would flip between different planes in the formation. 

Obligatory "all these white dudes look alike"

Edited January 26 by Js1

[bolverk 30366]

24 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

The little I've read about the show says it starts pretty slow.  After the 1st episode I agree, but thought it was good.  My only complaint, and it might just be me, is that I am having a really hard time distinguishing between characters.  They all look about the same, and the constant headgear they wear makes it even harder.

 

6 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Hahaha, that was exactly my thought too last night.  I kept being like "who are we looking at now?" when they would flip between different planes in the formation. 

Obligatory "all these white dudes look alike"

 

I watched both last night, and while it took more concentration in the first, by the second, they became much easier to keep straight. 

[4th&Five 42026]

My wife watched the first one with me last night and said they must’ve cast every young white guy in Hollywood. I also thought it became more clear in the second episode. 
 

[BearSchlong 8252]

My wife just came home and got mad at me for watching without her.

“Relax, if it’s as good as BOB then we will be watching it 25 times.”

[Deej 77866]

2 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

My wife watched the first one with me last night and said they must’ve cast every young white guy in Hollywood

Well, they need need guys who could believably play young white guys. 

[Firemans4Horn 18533]

3 hours ago, TexasHooch said:

The little I've read about the show says it starts pretty slow.  After the 1st episode I agree, but thought it was good.  My only complaint, and it might just be me, is that I am having a really hard time distinguishing between characters.  They all look about the same, and the constant headgear they wear makes it even harder.

It’s impossible with their oxygen masks but if you put on subtitles they will occasionally put the character name in front of the words so you can distinguish who is saying what.  

[billfromlaketravis 11862]

I like it, but it's very Austin Butler focused. If you like Butler, you'll like the show. 

I was expecting a ensemble cast like Band of Brothers or The Pacific. 

[atomheartbevo 90670]

30 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I like it, but it's very Austin Butler focused. If you like Butler, you'll like the show. 

I was expecting an ensemble cast like Band of Brothers or The Pacific. 

Well….it’s based on some true events and characters, and based on the previews and the book, you will soon see

Spoiler

B-17 crews in POW camps, where they cross paths with the Redtails - one of the pilots we’ve seen became good friends with one of them and wrote about it, as well as seeing the Holocaust up close and personal.

And the POW camp we see, or one of them, is the one that The Great Escape is based on, but it was Brits who escaped, not Americans.

 

Edited January 27 by atomheartbevo

[Chico_SA 530]

One of my favorite movies is Memphis Belle. First two episodes make me want to watch it tonight. 

 

 

[bschoolprof 6352]

I watched the 1st episode and thought it was really well done, as expected. The combat scenes were intense, and brutal.  

Narratively, it was a bit disjointed in that we start with Buck and Bucky as the heroes, but are then introduced to the perspective of navigator narrator, as if he's Smalls the protagonist in awe of Benny the pilot. But then that perspective is ditched as Buck hitches a ride with Saltburn's crew.  It made it a bit hazy in terms of perspective.  

[Guest]

I had no idea the war was so boring.

Wife likes it.  i fell asleep twice.

[atomheartbevo 90670]

4 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

My wife just came home and got mad at me for watching without her.

My wife walked in just as the pilot got his face shot off/blown open.  Not sure she will be watching more.

24 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Narratively, it was a bit disjointed in that we start with Buck and Bucky as the heroes, but are then introduced to the perspective of navigator narrator, as if he's Smalls the protagonist in awe of Benny the pilot. But then that perspective is ditched as Buck hitches a ride with Saltburn's crew.  It made it a bit hazy in terms of perspective.  

This is really where the lack of a training episode hurts.  We are told that all of these people are good friends, shown a few flashbacks or references, and there’s a voiceover explaining how the bombing campaigns worked, who we were fighting, etc. but I think it would have been better to show them in training.  Maybe not the individual training, but given that it starts in ‘43, they most likely had a few weeks or a month or two where the crews were assembled in the US.  Later on, they were just shipping in replacements left and right, but early on they would have had time to get to know one another and we could have seen most of them stateside.  Oh well.

[4th&Five 42026]

3 hours ago, Chico_SA said:

One of my favorite movies is Memphis Belle. First two episodes make me want to watch it tonight. 

 

 

Exactly what I thought of when they were struggling to get the landing gear down. 

[GreenspointTexas 9991]

CGI is terrible. I want to like this but it feels cheap. Like Red Tails type cheap.

 

But ill watch the whole thing. So far through 2 episodes though, Memphis Belle completely superior

[F250 29204]

I am only a few minutes into this but something feels off with the first scene. Maybe it's the "soap opera effect" but everyone looks very 2023.

[Pato del Muerto 53582]

3 hours ago, slorch said:

I had no idea the war was so boring.

Wife likes it.  i fell asleep twice.

Crayon coma?

Edited January 27 by Pato del Muerto

[Yev Kassem 1078]

8 hours ago, F250 said:

I am only a few minutes into this but something feels off with the first scene. Maybe it's the "soap opera effect" but everyone looks very 2023.

I felt the same way. Everything looks too “new”. BoB had a grittiness to the cinematography that just isn’t there in this show. 

[SubliminalHorn 7012]

7 minutes ago, Yev Kassem said:

I felt the same way. Everything looks too “new”. BoB had a grittiness to the cinematography that just isn’t there in this show. 

BoB is also over 20 years old. I think that probably plays a part in how it looks

[HouTex 1943]

I’m liking it so far.  But the bombing missions seem to be monotonous compared to ground combat.  I’m wondering how they will keep it interesting.  And Bucky seems to be more of an asshole each minute.  And his best friend really is nicknamed Buck?  Also hard to believe the puking navigator has lasted this long.  He’s a disaster waiting to happen.  

[Js1 87282]

5 minutes ago, HouTex said:

And his best friend really is nicknamed Buck?

I mean, they literally told you why he’s called Buck (by Bucky) and it stuck with the group. 

[HouTex 1943]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

I mean, they literally told you why he’s called Buck (by Bucky) and it stuck with the group. 

Of course.  I heard that.  Literally.  Still wild that they have similar nicknames.  

[RPM 26675]

1 hour ago, HouTex said:

 And Bucky seems to be more of an asshole each minute.  And his best friend really is nicknamed Buck?

You know this is based on real people, right? 

[HouTex 1943]

Just now, RPM said:

You know this is based on real people, right? 

Of course.  Not saying it didn’t happen or that it’s poor writing.  Just odd that it ended up that way. 

[Firemans4Horn 18533]

There is a 45 minute documentary on the Memphis Belle on HBO Max that was shot in 1943. I watched it last night and it was a good add on for the second episode. In the documentary they bombed the submarine pens. 

[The Dude 1263]

I like it ok, but they could take about 20% off the cheese and the main guy is almost a caricature 

[F250 29204]

Does it seem odd that people don't smoke cigarettes in this series? Seems weird to make the WWII bombers non-smokers considering the stress of the job and the fact that everyone smoked cigarettes at the time.

[Pato del Muerto 53582]

17 minutes ago, The Dude said:

I like it ok, but they could take about 20% off the cheese and the main guy is almost a caricature 

Main guy?  Is that mav or ice?

Edited January 27 by Pato del Muerto

[Neonmoon 38130]

First 2 episodes are good. Barry Keoghan is good in any role. 

[bschoolprof 6352]

17 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

First 2 episodes are good. Barry Keoghan is good in any role. 

I've only watched the 1st episode, but he's by far my favorite character, and he's had little dialogue.  I'm not a huge fan of Elvis.  

[Parliament 14618]

1 hour ago, F250 said:

Does it seem odd that people don't smoke cigarettes in this series? 

A mission lasts a long time and you can’t smoke up there.  A habitual smoker would be in the need of a heck of a fix halfway through.  Might be more fun to go cold turkey.

That or this show done went woke.

[Buzzrock 15140]

I would call the CGI noticeable but not terrible. The fact that it’s noticeable does take you out of it some, but where are they going to find a couple dozen B-17s?