[TV] Masters Of The Air

[el punal]

Going back to my previous post about the Yanks and Scotch whisky, the spivs had them by the short and curlies. Nothing like flogging off a bottle with a legit looking label and filled with cold tea. After a while the Americans wised up to the con and insisted on sampling the goods.

Not a problem. The spivs still filled the bottles with cold tea up to the neck. They then layered that with vegetable oil or similar, then topped that with real Scotch - which floated on the oil and didn’t sink. The gullible Yanks would then sample the ‘Scotch’ which of course was genuine and pay top dollar for the rest of the bottle. Oh dear!

 

[One Love]

Watched the first two episodes and yes, 80 years on, they can't help belittling the contribution from our guys and making it all about how they won the war on their own.

There must be something about their target audience that deems this necessary.

Go USA , pathetic.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Watched the first two episodes and yes, 80 years on, they can't help belittling the contribution from our guys and making it all about how they won the war on their own.

There must be something about their target audience that deems this necessary.

Go USA , pathetic.

Not much different to Russia's narrative that they won WW2 on their own tbf. Similar target audience aswell I suspect. European WW2 movies/series are often so much better.

 

[wunt be druv]

Watched the first two episodes and yes, 80 years on, they can't help belittling the contribution from our guys and making it all about how they won the war on their own.

There must be something about their target audience that deems this necessary.

Go USA , pathetic.

I think when it comes to both World wars the Americans certainly need a history lesson! As far as American T.V. / films go it is very much a case of why let the truth get in the way of a good story.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

I’ve now watched the first two episodes. I really am trying to be objective but there are a number things that irk me.

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

No, because the Superbowl didn't come about until the mid '60s.....



* Its OK, I know exactly what you mean....just larking about!

 

[el punal]

No, because the Superbowl didn't come about until the mid '60s.....



* Its OK, I know exactly what you mean....just larking about!

Wooo! Yeah! Get in the hole! USA! USA! Gard bless ‘merica!

 

[Greavsey]

Watched the first two episodes and yes, 80 years on, they can't help belittling the contribution from our guys and making it all about how they won the war on their own.

There must be something about their target audience that deems this necessary.

Go USA , pathetic.

Agreed this was quite jarring initially so I did a little research, and apparently the purpose of that scene is to highlight the confidence the American's had in their daylight strategic bombing strategy initially, and further through the series it becomes apparent that the losses are unsustainable so they adjust to a similar strategy to the Brits.

However, I very much doubt it is pointed out in such a direct way that they ended up being wrong!

 

[el punal]

Agreed this was quite jarring initially so I did a little research, and apparently the purpose of that scene is to highlight the confidence the American's had in their daylight strategic bombing strategy initially, and further through the series it becomes apparent that the losses are unsustainable so they adjust to a similar strategy to the Brits.

However, I very much doubt it is pointed out in such a direct way that they ended up being wrong!

I recently read a very interesting book written by Malcolm Gladwell called ‘The Bomber Mafia’. It dealt with the strategy of the USAAF during WW2. The two main protagonists involved were Major Generals Haywood Hansell and Curtis LeMay.

Hansell’s tactics were to conduct strategic bombing using the Norden bomb sight to ensure precise delivery. Fine in principle but not in practice. The Norden bomb sight proved to be very difficult to operate in the conditions experienced and the aircraft involved were sitting ducks in order to be able to bomb accurately. The results were not good and the casualty rate appalling.

LeMay eventually replaced Hansell and his option was blanket bombing an area, similar to that of the RAF. Both these men were very much involved in taking the air war to Japan.

 

[Happy Exile]

"Those Who Fall" by John Muirhead is a good book for the viewpoint of an American bomber pilot. He was based in Italy before being shot down and becoming a POW, and from memory it's quite poetically written and not in any way at all gung-ho or as cliche ridden as the average war film.

 

[One Love]

Agreed this was quite jarring initially so I did a little research, and apparently the purpose of that scene is to highlight the confidence the American's had in their daylight strategic bombing strategy initially, and further through the series it becomes apparent that the losses are unsustainable so they adjust to a similar strategy to the Brits.

However, I very much doubt it is pointed out in such a direct way that they ended up being wrong!

Did they not ever have any fighter support or was the many guns deemed sufficient for defence?

 

[Silverhatch]

Did they not ever have any fighter support or was the many guns deemed sufficient for defence?

When they stuck the Merlin engine in the P51 Mustang (and stuck tanks on the fighter) they offered the B17 daylight cover.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Just watched the third one, it's a much better than the previous two.

 

[Seaview Seagull]

Yes E 3 is better and a difficult watch. I agree it's not nearly as good as bofb but I will carry on to see how it develops. The pub scene was daft.

 

[Mr Bridger]

Just watched the third one, it's a much better than the previous two.

Im starting from episode 3 then.

 

[vegster]

Watched the first two episodes and yes, 80 years on, they can't help belittling the contribution from our guys and making it all about how they won the war on their own.

There must be something about their target audience that deems this necessary.

Go USA , pathetic.

If it was about us Brits it would never have got made. Ultimately its about selling the series ( or any other series ) to the big US market...thats where the cash is. That's why many UK made and written tv shows had an American character involved.
Those old enough will remember numerous TV shows and the odd film with a Yank as a central character...off the top of my head, Dempsey and Makepeace, Sapphire and Steel ( David McCallum regarded as a yank in the US), Colditz and The Champions as just a few examples...everything is tailored to the US that's why lots of BBC Natural History series only run to approx 48 minutes, this allows for US TV advertisements when broadcast stateside.


If ever you see a BBC show that ends with a 10 minute section tagged on called " How we filmed@@@@" or "The making of @@@@ " you can bet its made and edited for the US market..... as for Masters of The Air, its probably visually stunning and enthralling but will remain unknown to me as I dont have Apple/Prime/Paramount etc etc.

 

[PTC Gull]

Agree E3 is better. This is not a show for entertainment more a docudrama. Its based on a true story of the Bloody 100th.
Couple of surviving pilot stories here:


and a good background story here: https://news.yahoo.com/bloody-true-...Mugc63C6B3_KZ6tvbRzAPCuzH9bIV_lBRtWYSoSY5USfD

I have a friend whose father (recently passed away) was a Lancaster gunner and he had nothing but respect for the daylight raids the USAF went on. Some of the harrowing conditions they all had to face, are depicted in the series and the pilot interviews.

I think there is a message that those who were willing to sacrifice their lives, should not be forgotten.

 

[PTC Gull]

This popped up on YT. Some background on the series.

 

[Grizz]

The scenes in the air are really well done, but it seriously seems to lack the gravitas of Band of Brothers. Just doesn't seem to have that ability to drag you in. Maybe because you don't see all the hard work training before flying to England via Iceland, which you did the equivalent in BoB. You don't bond with the characters in the same way? Not sure.

I've just finished episode 3 and it is an improvement, the Schweinfurt/Regensberg raid was truly a disaster, but I didn't feel immersed like I was with Band of Brothers.

As to the whole scene in the pub, I've no doubt there were plenty of rumbles between the RAF lads and the Americans, but they seem to use it as a way of illustrating the differences between Daylight and Night time strategies and I think that could've been handled much better, with much more respect shown to both sides. There was no need for it really.

I'll carry on, but feel a bit deflated after all the hype surrounding it.

 

[The Clamp]

Unforgivable how they portrayed the RAF.

The makers are rightly getting a lot of stick for it.


Stupid yanks.

 

[JJ McClure]

Agree with others on this thread that the first two episodes were poor and the third is better. However three episodes in and other than Buck, Bucky and Crosby I couldn't tell you who anyone else is, so the casualties so far haven't meant anything unlike BoB where you knew the characters by the time they met their unfortunate demise. Its obviously not helped by the realism of everyone wearing oxygen masks so its hard to tell who anyone is even if you did know.