Masters of the Air “Review” …

[Randy Haskin]

One thing that bothered me, because it's so simple yet so stupid, is that in episode one or two--can't remember which--there's a scene of a B-17 crashing, in the distance, and what the viewer sees is a long, thin trail of smoke, angling straight down from several thousand feet and ending in a distant fireball. Soon thereafter, two pilots are discussing the incident and one asks the other what happened.

"Turned base to final too steeply, stalled and spun."

Don't they have any technical advisors?

There's actually not a long trail, and you don't see it descend "from several thousand feet".

You only see a very short flash of the airplane, its flightpath is mostly obscured by a parked airplane in the foreground.

EDIT: Sorry, had to take a photo of the image on my laptop screen due to Apple TV blocking the ability to take a screenshot.

[Stephan Wilkinson]

I'm sure you are right and that I exaggerated, thanks to the faulty memory of an 87-year-old, but it's certainly not the evidence of a stall/spin from a too-tight pattern turn.

By the way, I'm an old guy, but I do have left-seat time in Yankee Lady.

[Stephan Wilkinson]

I'm sure you are right and that I exaggerated, thanks to the faulty memory of an 87-year-old, but it's certainly not the evidence of a stall/spin from a too-tight pattern turn.

By the way, I'm an old guy, but I do have left-seat time in Yankee Lady.

[p51]

Watching again, I've notoced that some CGI scenes seem off, like how open parachutes and flares seem to hang with airplanes instead of dropping away quickly as they would in real life.
That, and there seems to be a LOT of German fighters struck by the gunners, well beyond what postwar analysis supports. A friend said it best, that it probably represents how those gunners recalled the missions afterwards.

[Mark Allen M]

Watching again, I've notoced that some CGI scenes seem off, like how open parachutes and flares seem to hang with airplanes instead of dropping away quickly as they would in real life.
That, and there seems to be a LOT of German fighters struck by the gunners, well beyond what postwar analysis supports. A friend said it best, that it probably represents how those gunners recalled the missions afterwards.

No! it's just the typical Hollywood "Pearl Harbor" overkill of CGI to keep the masses of uninformed viewers interested. In reality there's only a small base of viewers who would have preferred this series be more CGI authentic and fact based. Unfortunately for those in the small base of viewers, i.e. historians, veterans, enthusiasts, the much larger uninformed viewers are the producers target audience. And you can't blame them due to the massive cost to create this series.

For a small amount of us the MOTA developers "misuse" of a great tool such as CGI ruins the sense of reality of what actually took place during this time in history. The strong feelings that were experienced while watching "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" is just not happening.... yet anyway!

IMHO so far.

[dougdrivr]

One thing that bothered me, because it's so simple yet so stupid, is that in episode one or two--can't remember which--there's a scene of a B-17 crashing, in the distance, and what the viewer sees is a long, thin trail of smoke, angling straight down from several thousand feet and ending in a distant fireball. Soon thereafter, two pilots are discussing the incident and one asks the other what happened.

"Turned base to final too steeply, stalled and spun."

Don't they have any technical advisors?

Yeah, it's too bad they couldn't have covered that with a slight dialogue modification,
"Had an engine fire, turned too steep and stalled"

One of my very nit picky observations is when Lt. Burrdick forced lands in Scotland, as the airplane comes to a stop, none of the props are feathered. Overall though, the interior attention to detail is remarkable. These airplanes would be not far out of the factory and the fresh green primer even has scuff mark where people walk. So impressed I've had to freeze frame some of it.

[dougdrivr]

Question for you B-17 experts. What is that graph/chart on the armored headrests behind the pilots ? I've never seen that before. Looks like some kind of performance or weight and balance decal ?

424721746_10223966197489502_1579558880787478909_n.jpg

424729841_10223966172088867_5534025901071035876_n.jpg

Wow, thank you for that. I had no idea there was any provision for external bomb loads on the B-17 but I see a chart for them.

[dougdrivr]

Watching again, I've notoced that some CGI scenes seem off, like how open parachutes and flares seem to hang with airplanes instead of dropping away quickly as they would in real life.
That, and there seems to be a LOT of German fighters struck by the gunners, well beyond what postwar analysis supports. A friend said it best, that it probably represents how those gunners recalled the missions afterwards.

No! it's just the typical Hollywood "Pearl Harbor" overkill of CGI to keep the masses of uninformed viewers interested. In reality there's only a small base of viewers who would have preferred this series be more CGI authentic and fact based. Unfortunately for those in the small base of viewers, i.e. historians, veterans, enthusiasts, the much larger uninformed viewers are the producers target audience. And you can't blame them due to the massive cost to create this series.

For a small amount of us the MOTA developers "misuse" of a great tool such as CGI ruins the sense of reality of what actually took place during this time in history. The strong feelings that were experienced while watching "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" is just not happening.... yet anyway!

IMHO so far.

Agree with much of what you say but to be really authentic, especially when it comes to the German fighters, you actually wouldn't see very much at all, inparticular, the headon attacks

[dougdrivr]

Some of the critic reviews that seem to take giddy delight in bashing this series are stomach turning but this one takes the cake. The last paragraph is particularly disgusting,

"At this point, Hanks and Spielburg are taking it for granted that we all have a middle-aged father's interest in World War II"

https://www.laineygossip.com/tv-review- ... ving/77636

[Mark Allen M]

I’m sitting at the airport in Santa Barbara waiting for a flight. Weather is nasty as well so …. while I wait, see if I can attach this link correctly from my phone.

Extremely fascinating stuff from WIXer Taigh Ramey in the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8THAFHS ... ?fs=e&s=cl

[Steve Nelson]

the fresh green primer even has scuff mark where people walk. So impressed I've had to freeze frame some of it.

Except....

Wartime B-17s were largely bare aluminum inside. The parts that were painted like seats, control columns, throttle console, rudder pedals, etc. were Dull Dark Green, not the lighter yellow-green we're all so familiar with. Considering the attention to detail and authenticity, I assume the production went with the classic (and incorrect) "Zinc Chromate Green" because that's what everybody is used to and expects.

SN

[Steve Nelson]

One bit that also kind of bugs me..bombs are shown exploding on the target just seconds after being released. In some cases bombs are shown exploding on the target while some planes are still releasing their loads. I'm not sure how long it takes for a 500 lb bomb to fall from 20k feet, but I have to think it would be at least a minute or two. And of course, bombs fall in a ballistic trajectory, so they have to be released well before the planes are actually over the target. I presume the producers did it this way to compress time for the viewers, and again because "that's what people expect."

So far I'm not hating it, but I don't think it's risen to the level of Band Of Brothers, or the original Twelve O'clock High.


SN

[Randy Haskin]

Some of the critic reviews that seem to take giddy delight in bashing this series are stomach turning but this one takes the cake. The last paragraph is particularly disgusting,

"At this point, Hanks and Spielburg are taking it for granted that we all have a middle-aged father's interest in World War II"

https://www.laineygossip.com/tv-review- ... ving/77636

Since none of us have seen past Episode 4 at this point, how can you call it "disgusting"?

I think you have to ask yourself what the purpose of producing a series like MotA is, and then ask if it performs that purpose well.

Just because we happen to be enthusiasts of a certain subject, and feel an emotional attachment to memory of heroic men who did heroic things, doesn't supplant legitimate criticism of a piece of art depicting their actions.

That review isn't just mud slinging; it makes plenty of criticisms about the storytelling that it backs up with specific beats, characters, and actor performances. It is saying that the totality of the art isn't conveying the conviction and message the reviewer believes what the goal of the producers.

Personally, I have to weigh the opinion of someone who isn't as emotionally connected to the events and people as I am with a bit of validity, if we expect that Spielberg and Hanks had a desire for MotA to be something more than a vanity project or just a love letter to the real people involved in the events.

Criticizing the art doesn't smudge the memory of the acts the art depicts.

[Snake45]

Just out of curiosity (I haven't seen a second of MoA), how does its CGI/animation compare to this Sabaton video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6npKLMK9fo

[Steve Nelson]

Just out of curiosity (I haven't seen a second of MoA), how does its CGI/animation compare to this Sabaton video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6npKLMK9fo

"Masters" is far superior. I'm not sure how old that music video is, but they obviously had more primitive tech and a much lower budget. Don't get me wrong, it's really cool..just not particularly realistic.

I think most of the criticism of the CGI in "Masters" comes not so much from how realistically designed, detailed, and rendered the aircraft are, but rather how realistically they move. There have definitely been a few "uncanny valley" moments for me in the series, like where a B-17 appears to go into a flat spin while still traveling with the formation, whirling like a frisbee at 150 mph.

SN