Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were behind the WWII shows Band of Brothers and The Pacific. They created this new series that looks at American bombers flying missions to destroy targets in German-occupied Europe. As expected, there’s an enormous cast of young men, led by Callum Turner and Austin Butler. Sadly, so many characters mean that none of them get much focus. As a result, there’s little real concern about the men and sometimes a question of who they are. The only exception would be the few who parachute behind enemy lines, but that’s a small part of the story. The group scenes are often energetic, but cluttered without much narrative drive. What does stand out is the combat footage. Every episode revolves around a mission and the expected calamities, injuries and deaths that occur. The footage is often riveting, esp. with the speed of the aerial encounters. However, when this experience happens every episode, it loses some of the impact. Ultimately the whole thing becomes rather flat, lacking much depth in the characters and one blazing battle after another. (Review based on 6 of 9 one-hour eps) 
(3 / 5)
