Rating: 7 out of 10. Woke Nonsense: none

This show on Apple Plus has Tom Hanks as Executive producer, and involves the bombing crews over Europe in WW2. As he did in Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Hanks produces a winner while teaching us about what it was actually like to be in a bombing crew over Germany. Thousands died. And you meet many of them sympathetically portrayed by excellent actors, who then get killed as you are seeing dazzling action.

The actions scenes are top notch, although you have to get over your feelings as characters you have been introduced to are shot or blown up by German fighters. There is no deus ex machina where everything comes out all right. It didn’t, and the show does not pretend that it did. Wives, girlfriends, and mothers lose their sons. Ultimately 50,000 US service people died in the air wars over Germany.

One of the strenghts of the series is the discussions by the pilots of the morality of bombing civilian targets, or targets located in populated areas. I believe that many pilots had these understandable internal, moral debates. The series does not gloss over this personal dilemma. Again, reality is well portrayed.

We see scenes from the prison camps where downed pilots were interred, echoing The Great Escape, Colditz, Stalag 17, and Hogans Heroes. These are well done.

There is limited romantic interest, although there certainly are a few such. One portrays a budding romance between a nurse and a pilot; he is killed. Realistic portrayal.

The sad part about the bombing of Germany is that the air force was highly focused on strategic objectives; even mentioning a ball bearing factory as an objective. (Right out of many episodes of Hogans Heroes.). Studies after the war proved that this was ineffective, that German war production actually increased despite the bombing. The movie references the Norden bombsight, which was supposed to greatly improve bombing accuracy. It didn’t.

Despite that, Billy recommends Masters of the Air. Great show, compelling cast, and a good portrayal of the realities of the bombing campaign against Germany.