Skip to main content

If you love Masters of the Air, you need to watch this Apple TV+ documentary

Love Masters of the Air? Watch this documentary

By Joe Allen Mar 10, 2024 9:25 AM

Austin Butler and Callum Turner in Masters of the Air. — Apple TV Plus

Much like the other World War II miniseries that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have produced, Masters of the Air tells the true story of the 100th bomb group, who served in the Air Force during World War II. The series is set to debut its finale on Apple TV Plus on March 15, and now, we’ve learned that it will be accompanied by a documentary that tells the true story of the soldiers who are so central to the show.

The documentary, which is called The Bloody Hundredth, was produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and will be narrated by Tom Hanks.

Recommended Videos

“Directed by Mark Herzog and long-time Spielberg collaborator Laurent Bouzereau, the hour-long documentary spotlights the true stories of several characters and real-life airmen featured in “Masters of the Air” including John Egan (played by Callum Turner), Gale Cleven (played by Austin Butler), Harry Crosby (played by Anthony Boyle), Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal (played by Nate Mann), Frank Murphy (played by Jonas Moore), Alexander Jefferson (played by Brandon Cook), Richard Macon (played by Josiah Cross), as well as veterans John “Lucky” Luckadoo, Robert Wolf, and many others. From the shock of Pearl Harbor to the joy of VE Day, “The Bloody Hundredth” is a record of what was endured and achieved by a group of young Americans when their country and the world needed them most.”

The documentary is produced by Spielberg, Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and will likely be the perfect complement to Masters of the Air as the show wraps its run.

Masters of the Air — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

Masters of the Air is a companion to Hanks and Spielberg’s other WWII miniseries

Masters of the Air has a lengthy lineage for both Hanks and Spielberg, who were also behind 2001’s Band of Brothers and 2010’s The Pacific, both of which were made for HBO. Masters of the Air feels like the third in that trilogy of true stories about soldiers during World War II. The series is based on the book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller, which tells the story of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army.

Much like the previous two shows, Masters of the Air also features an array of young talent in front of the camera, including Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Josiah Cross, and Ncuti Gatwa.

Like the two previous miniseries, Masters of the Air is designed to be a one-season affair that tells the comprehensive story of the men at its center. This was the first time that Spielberg, Hanks, and Goetzman collaborated with Apple TV Plus on one of these shows, but based on the show’s reception, the effort seems like a tremendous success.

Joe Allen is a freelance writer at Digital Trends, where he covers Movies and TV. He frequently writes streaming… Read Full Bio

Topics

Streaming

Elevate your elegance: Choosing your first cigar

Face, Head, Person

Earlier this year, I was strolling the streets of New York and ended up sitting in the Carnegie Club with an Old Fashioned in one hand and a cigar in the other while My Way by Frank Sinatra played from a speaker flanking leather-bound books behind the couch I had been using as my perch. It was my first cigar, but it led to a slight obsession that recently found me on the back deck of a lodge in Kenya, staring at Mount Kilimanjaro and smoking a stick while giraffes meandered by. Admittedly, there has been no intention in my budding hobby; I am aimlessly choosing the cigars that look good (the ones that look like those smoked by Arnold or Stallone in the movies, obviously). But I have decided to approach these in a new way, with a little help from my friends over at La Aurora, who graciously decided to navigate my ignorance with some info compiled by Brand Manager John Gaglio, with input from Master Blender Manuel Ynoa, CEO Ed McKenna, and Brand Manager Elvis Batista.

What to look for in your first cigar

FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back

People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection

Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”