Masters of the Air (2024)

Masters of the Air quickly becomes mired in its own cliched sentimentalism. Back slapping jokery characterisations are the norm. Airmen who are at the same time overconfident but somehow, inexplicably wise. Its unconvincing, as is the general sense of longing, for a rose coloured vision of a war time past, that never existed. Growing up I knew a man who fought in WWII and for a time had the unfortunate job of cleaning the bombers after a mission. What he told me about what was left in a plane after a bad mission was simply horrific. In fact, a lot worse than what we see depicted here. Although, in fairness, this series does at least make an effort to demonstrate, to a degree, the awfulness of war. That said, this series feels in most respects, more like a pitch for glory rather than the grisly, depressing reality of conflict and I, for one, find it rather inappropriate. Especially given the spread of very serious conflicts, in the world today. On the upside the acting is of a high standard, if somewhat hamstrung by the at times cheesy, cliched characterisations and associated narrative. The real stand out in this series goes to its special effects, which can only be described as "amazing". A heck of a lot of money has been spent here and it really shows. In summary, if the treatment had been more down to earth, realistic and steered away from glorifying war, this series could have been been a more meaningful and compelling watch. As it stands, to this reviewer, it comes across as yet another pro military poster child. Something the current war torn world, could well do without.