Masters of the Air

Bomber crews have to function as a unit in an environment where damage, cold and distance make a mistake difficult to survive. Masters of the Air follows the American 100th Bomb Group during the Second World War, with Austin Butler and Callum Turner among the leads.

The aerial sequences communicate vulnerability as much as scale. The aircraft may look formidable from outside, but the men inside depend on equipment, formation and one another. Time on the ground gives that dependence names and relationships rather than leaving it as an anonymous display of machines.

The ensemble does not settle as consistently as Band of Brothers, and some strands have less room than they need. Even so, the different conditions of the air war make this more than a repeat of that earlier series.

Based on Donald L. Miller's book, it is a worthwhile dramatised companion to Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The strongest reason to watch is the particular experience of crews preparing to leave the ground again, knowing what the previous mission cost.