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[TV] Masters Of The Air









Pogue Mahone

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2011
10,950
MOTA was just reviewed on ‘Must Watch’ on Five Live.

Not a must watch, apparently. Full of cliches and, though well done, nothing special. They didn’t go as far as @The Clamp, but my eagerness to see this programme is seriously diminished.
 








Greavsey

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2007
1,166
It may be from the producers of Band of Brothers, but MOTA isn't in the same league AT ALL, IMO. I found it largely disappointing.

I tend to agree based on the first two episodes, but, I think it unfair to judge until you've seen the whole series. I find the guy who played Elvis particularly annoying for some reason. But having heard podcast interviews with one of the writers, there is a glimmer of hope he might be killed off fairly soon!

Watching the first two episodes of BOB in isolation may not be the greatest TV, but once you've developed an infinity with the main characters later in the series it is unmissable.
 


el punal

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2012
12,553
The dull part of the south coast
Lots of Brit bashing and making the RAF out to be moustache twiddling weaklings.

The second episodes’ pub scene was enough for me. I’m out and won’t be returning to it.
Despite Steve McQueen doing his best to pole vault the fence on his motorbike (WTF!!) at the border I can assure you that no Americans were hurt in the ‘Great Escape’. My Dad, who was in the real thing, informed me that the Yanks were moved to the North Camp of Stalag Luft 3 and therefore were not involved in the famous escape. But hey, never let fact get in the way of a Hollywood blockbuster.

I asked my old man his thoughts on the film - he was invited to the film premiere - he said that the producers made it look like a holiday camp. The reality was totally different. The conditions were grim, accommodation, food and the sheer boredom unrelenting.

I suppose my point is this, however you dress it up be it Masters of the Air or the Great Escape, you will never replicate what it was truly like. I, and probably millions like me, are probably grateful that we never had to endure the ‘real thing’.
 


Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patron
May 8, 2007
13,108
Toronto
MOTA was just reviewed on ‘Must Watch’ on Five Live.

Not a must watch, apparently. Full of cliches and, though well done, nothing special. They didn’t go as far as @The Clamp, but my eagerness to see this programme is seriously diminished.
I haven't watched it yet but this does echo the review I read a couple of days ago. I'll still give it a go though. It's a case of whether the negative aspects are enough for me to stop watching.

Talking of turning things off, I started watching Dumb Money on Amazon Prime the other day. It's about the guys on Reddit who pushed up the price of Gamestop to screw over hedge funds. I thought it might be interesting but I only made it about 20 minutes before I had to turn it off. The characters are all quite awful and the soundtrack is probably the worst I've ever heard in a film. Completely inappropriate songs, with obscene lyrics, being played so loud you can't hear the dialogue.
 




Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

I believe in Joe Hendry
Oct 4, 2003
12,093
Agree with others it’s been disappointing so far compared to Band of Brothers. I’ll carry on though and see if it improves. I found The Pacific disappointing for the first couple of episodes but as the story went on you got more invested in the characters, hoping this happens here.


I tend to agree based on the first two episodes, but, I think it unfair to judge until you've seen the whole series. I find the guy who played Elvis particularly annoying for some reason. But having heard podcast interviews with one of the writers, there is a glimmer of hope he might be killed off fairly soon!
He survived the war and Austin Butler watched videos of interviews he did in his 80s to perfect his voice
 


Papa Lazarou

Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
Jul 7, 2003
19,365
Worthing

If you look closely you can actually pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks in two​


Opinion formed.PNG
 








Kinky Gerbil

Im The Scatman
NSC Patron
Jul 16, 2003
58,792
hassocks
I can’t stand the yank bantz between the characters.

Let’s show them dang krauts who we are and get back in time for a kiss with ma lady and a big ol’ slice o moms apple pie.

Even worse when they try to do pathos.

I don’t know what I saw, we got a long road ahead of us.. etc etc



It’s why I could only watch Band of Brothers the once. Great stories, terrible dialogue.

Special effects were passable in my opinion.

Acting was terrible.

And us Brits were portrayed as some sort of Hobbit race.

When the plane lands at the airbase, we chatter and dance with glee as if it were fireworks night in The Shire.

Shame.
Austin Butler voice/accent is very annoying, quiet and mumbling, it's him playing elvis again.
 


Kinky Gerbil

Im The Scatman
NSC Patron
Jul 16, 2003
58,792
hassocks
Lots of Brit bashing and making the RAF out to be moustache twiddling weaklings.

The second episodes’ pub scene was enough for me. I’m out and won’t be returning to it.
I saw a document about the Pacific, which was enjoyable enough as someone that didn't know much about that side of the war, however they said it tanked so badly in DVD sales/viewing figures that Masters of the Air was cancelled by HBO and no one picked it up till a couple of years ago.

After the first two episodes, it seems it should have remained that way.
 








Jim in the West

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 13, 2003
4,957
Way out West
We've watched the first two, and tend to agree with the comments on the dialogue - but at the same time it really captures the absolute lottery of life and death when flying those missions. A lot of bravado, interspersed with terrifying vulnerability.

But definitely a notch up from MOTA (if you're looking for something on Apple TV+) is Hijack - gripping stuff :)
 






Gabbafella

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
4,907
I've watched the first two episodes and it's alright but made for a flag saluting American audience. The jibes at the English get boring, yanks know best, they won the war, Brits are all hooray Henry softies who can't fight blah blah blah.
If you've seen Memphis belle then you've seen this I'm afraid. Lucky charms being exchanged, cloud cover over bombing runs, wheels not down for landing, absolutely nothing new.
And the guy who played Elvis in the movie plays Elvis in this.
I'll carry on watching it but I don't see how it will be anything but they go on a bombing run, something bad happens, most of them survive, god bless America, rinse and repeat.
 


el punal

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2012
12,553
The dull part of the south coast
I’ve now watched the first two episodes. I really am trying to be objective but there are a number things that irk me.

1. You’re on a bomber station in World War 2, yet you have Land Girls raking up hay right by the runway, you have children messing about there as well. Um, surely there would have been a security fence around the whole perimeter with armed guards patrolling? Think of those lovely saboteurs dying to sabotage those lovely B-17s.

2. Did the Yank airmen really whoop and holler like the Super Bowl back in 1943?

3. The pub scene - everyone drinking copious amounts of Scotch and not a pint of bitter in sight. FFS! Whisky was rationed, you‘d be lucky if any pub had more than one bottle a month. Don’t even mention the American version of the RAF chaps doing their stuff.

Apart from that the scenes in the air look authentic and terrifying, and that’s what makes this series compelling. Shame about what happens on the ground though.
 


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