Completely agree Josh. Great moments scattered across the season but ridiculously overstuffed with plots and characters meaning that so many important moments are background events. That plot about the 2 trying to get home in France - so odd that just got completely cutoff. I actually thought I'd missed something.
There are a few ironic things about “Masters of the Air” that have come out, now that the entire miniseries was released in full. Originally Nate Mann and Anthony Boyle were auditioned for Cleven and Egan, but begged for Rosenthal and Crosby. Since, those were the lead characters they connected to more. Mann because his father is Jewish and they lost family in the camps, and Boyle because Crosby always threw up in the planes. Which added with John Orloff admitting he preferred writing for Rosie and Crosby, explains why those two are the superior characters of the four leads. Cleven and Egan, according to the research done by Orloff, were just hotshot flyboys looking for adventure. They joined the military because being a pilot sounded fun, not because the war effort was important.
Besides the overcrowded screenplay, “Masters of the Air” is proof just how important casting and directors are. Austin Butler was sorely miscast, despite being a great actor. Callum Turner started out fun, but got to point where it just seemed he was overacting. As for the directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and even Tim Van Patten seemed to have better grasp at understanding what John Orloff’s scripts were going for.
I could not picture Boyle or Mann as any other role to be honest thank you for this insight. Agree about Butler, great actor but his presence completely took me out of it just because of how big a name he is. At least with BoB Pegg and Schwimmer only appeared in one or two episodes but we're never the driving characters. Still an enjoyable insight and I would like to personally thank you for all the added context you've provided over these reviews
@@TheMovieApprentice - I cannot imagine Mann and Boyle as Cleven and Egan either. However, good on them for sticking with their gut and fighting for the roles they truly wanted. That is more important than taking a role, just because it will make you famous.
Covid smashed this shows budget unfortunatley, they were spending an insane amount on anti covid measures while shooting. If not for covid i really think it would have been a masterpiece. In the end i think they just run out of money and steam. Also I've seen a lot of the "so many characters we barely see" while this is true and I tottally understand this does depict in a way the casulties suffered by the 100th. 11 missions or around 6 weeks was the average expetancy for an 8th airforce flyer. A lot of those guys got to europe and were not around long at all. I would have much preffered a focus on one or two crews like Rosie and his guys for example who I think does an excellent job in his episodes. But I also understand it was probably impossible for them to scrap the project and basically restart once covid hit. Overall i think its very good, would have loved to have seen what it could have been without covid. Same when the Pacific dropped and people flamed it in comparisons to BoB. Give Masters of the Air a couple of watches and a bit of time and I suspect it will heavily grow on a lot of us.
That would be the hope, I did not know about the covid setbacks absolutely nuts that it's still affecting movies and shows years on, but it does explain why some plots just kind of stop.
@@TheMovieApprentice I remember this project being announced like a decade ago. HBO dropped the project in 2019 before apple picked it up. They were filming smack bang in the middle of covid. It caused massive issued for the production.
Why they only did 9 episodes is confounding to me. It could have used 12 tbh.
Completely agree Josh. Great moments scattered across the season but ridiculously overstuffed with plots and characters meaning that so many important moments are background events. That plot about the 2 trying to get home in France - so odd that just got completely cutoff. I actually thought I'd missed something.
Legitimately them randomly showing up with some throw away exposition to write them off was certainly a choice
There are a few ironic things about “Masters of the Air” that have come out, now that the entire miniseries was released in full. Originally Nate Mann and Anthony Boyle were auditioned for Cleven and Egan, but begged for Rosenthal and Crosby. Since, those were the lead characters they connected to more. Mann because his father is Jewish and they lost family in the camps, and Boyle because Crosby always threw up in the planes. Which added with John Orloff admitting he preferred writing for Rosie and Crosby, explains why those two are the superior characters of the four leads. Cleven and Egan, according to the research done by Orloff, were just hotshot flyboys looking for adventure. They joined the military because being a pilot sounded fun, not because the war effort was important.
Besides the overcrowded screenplay, “Masters of the Air” is proof just how important casting and directors are. Austin Butler was sorely miscast, despite being a great actor. Callum Turner started out fun, but got to point where it just seemed he was overacting. As for the directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and even Tim Van Patten seemed to have better grasp at understanding what John Orloff’s scripts were going for.
I could not picture Boyle or Mann as any other role to be honest thank you for this insight. Agree about Butler, great actor but his presence completely took me out of it just because of how big a name he is. At least with BoB Pegg and Schwimmer only appeared in one or two episodes but we're never the driving characters. Still an enjoyable insight and I would like to personally thank you for all the added context you've provided over these reviews
@@TheMovieApprentice - I cannot imagine Mann and Boyle as Cleven and Egan either. However, good on them for sticking with their gut and fighting for the roles they truly wanted. That is more important than taking a role, just because it will make you famous.
@@TheMovieApprenticewasn’t Austin cast before he blew up though?
Covid smashed this shows budget unfortunatley, they were spending an insane amount on anti covid measures while shooting. If not for covid i really think it would have been a masterpiece. In the end i think they just run out of money and steam. Also I've seen a lot of the "so many characters we barely see" while this is true and I tottally understand this does depict in a way the casulties suffered by the 100th. 11 missions or around 6 weeks was the average expetancy for an 8th airforce flyer. A lot of those guys got to europe and were not around long at all.
I would have much preffered a focus on one or two crews like Rosie and his guys for example who I think does an excellent job in his episodes. But I also understand it was probably impossible for them to scrap the project and basically restart once covid hit. Overall i think its very good, would have loved to have seen what it could have been without covid. Same when the Pacific dropped and people flamed it in comparisons to BoB. Give Masters of the Air a couple of watches and a bit of time and I suspect it will heavily grow on a lot of us.
That would be the hope, I did not know about the covid setbacks absolutely nuts that it's still affecting movies and shows years on, but it does explain why some plots just kind of stop.
@@TheMovieApprentice I remember this project being announced like a decade ago. HBO dropped the project in 2019 before apple picked it up. They were filming smack bang in the middle of covid. It caused massive issued for the production.