Apple TV+ just released the first "Masters of the Air" trailer, its epic Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced WWII series starring Austin Butler.
The companion series to "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" follows the true story of the 100th Bomber Group, a group of US airmen who took to the treacherous skies over Germany.
The trailer, which racked up over half a million views within a few hours, showcases 128 seconds of gorgeous, terrible WWII aerial combat.
"When you look at it, and don't pay attention to what's really going on, it's kinda beautiful," muses Major Gale "Buck" Cleven (Butler) under a night sky lit up with explosions. A nod, perhaps, not only to the destruction witnessed by Cleven, but to WWII as a whole. 80 years later, looking back on the war through the lens of time and rah-rah-patriotism and "Call of Duty" video games, the terribleness becomes obscured. It becomes a spectacle; entertainment rather than a warning. Opening the debut trailer for the series with such a line indicates that a primary goal of the series will be to unobscure these realities of war.
The logline for the Apple Original series reads: "Based on Donald L. Miller's book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, "Masters of the Air" follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the "Bloody Hundredth") as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler's Third Reich, is at the heart of "Masters of the Air." Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all."
"Masters of the Air" features a star-studded cast. Joining the Academy Award-nominated Butler are Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Raff Law, Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa.
Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees and Tim Van Patten serve as directors.
"Masters of the Air" begins streaming on Jan. 26 exclusively on Apple TV+.
