Co-producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks aren’t quite done with telling harrowing but necessary World II epics just yet. After Band of Brothers and The Pacific, they’ve now come up with Masters of the Air, which is set to stream exclusively on Apple TV+. The nine-part series follows the 100th Bomb Group (aka “the Bloody Hundredth”), a US Air Force unit that attacked the skies of Nazi Germany at the height of the war.
The trailer boasts crisp CGI, elaborate sets (the budget reportedly soared to $300 million), and a star-studded cast that includes Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, as well as Callum Turner, Ncuti Gatwa, and Bel Powley.
Where to watch Masters of the Air
The first two episodes of Masters of the Air will premiere on January 26 on Apple TV+. New episodes will be released every Friday.
Right now, there is only one way to watch Masters of the Air: on Apple TV+.
Masters of the Air on Apple TV+
What hasn’t Apple touched yet, amirite? The tech company may have had its start with computers, but now it’s branching everywhere, including streaming, where it’s surprisingly thriving. You can read more about them and subscribe, if you want to, here:
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an ad-free and on-demand streaming service whose library may seem small compared to other streamers, but you can be sure that every single title it has is produced in-house. This covers critically acclaimed films like Killers of the Flower Moon, as well as dramas, sitcoms, kids' shows, and more recently, Friday Night Baseball. It costs $9.99/month and can be played on most devices except Android phones and tablets.
The unofficial trilogy
If Band of Brothers followed the Army, and The Pacific was about a unit from the Marines, then it seems fitting for the third series to trail the Air Forces. It’s an unofficial trilogy of sorts, with Spielberg and Hanks set to make this the most emotionally gut-wrenching and (thanks to modern CGI) most visually stunning one yet. Whether it makes a name for itself, however, as opposed to following a template and cowering under the shadow of its predecessors, is still up in the air.
Band of Brothers and The Pacific are available on Netflix and Max
HBO may have lost to Apple TV+ in the battle for Masters of the Air’s streaming rights, but it still owns the first two miniseries, which is why you can still stream them on Max.
Max
While best known for streaming epic shows like Succession, Game of Thrones, and The White Lotus, Max rounds its selection with blockbusters from Warner Bros., news from CNN, reality shows from Discovery, and for an additional fee, live sports from B/R. Max’s plans begin at $10/month, but if you already have HBO, you should check with your TV provider to see if it can give you Max at no additional cost.
No sweat, however, if you don’t have a subscription as they’re also very much available to stream on Netflix.