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New HBO mini series on WWII about to be made. (Masters of the Air)


history-buff1944
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history-buff1944

Just got word that a new HBO mini series about WWII is going to be made. Its with Steven Spielberg and tom hanks. Its going to be about the 8th Air Force and is going to be called: Masters of the Air.

 

I for one will be looking forward to this one even if tom hanks is a lower than pond scum these days.

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Just got word that a new HBO mini series about WWII is going to be made. Its with Steven Spielberg and tom hanks. Its going to be about the 8th Air Force and is going to be called: Masters of the Air.

 

I for one will be looking forward to this one even if tom hanks is a lower than pond scum these days.

Looking forward to that, out of curiosity what's the reference to Tom Hanks about?

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Hanks kind if put his foot in his mouth about the nature of the hatred between Japanese and American soldiers and made a big deal out of American racism while Possibly downplaying Japanese atrocities. First time i heard it, it didn't bother me because I know the Pacific was bad, but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. He lionized the guys from BOB, but in some ways, turned against the marines and soldiers that had to actually fight the Japanese. check it out for yourself, alot if that is my opinion, of course. He might have been trying to be as neutral as can be, but from knowing a few Pacific theater vets, I have a hard time thinking they would have resorted to such savagery if the Japanese didn't have such a penchant for severed heads, mutilation, and changing locations of ones' genitalia if captured.

 

That being said, I don't hate the guy, but hearing his name attached to a WWII piece doesn't have that ring anymore.

 

I will still watch this, and pretty eagerly await it, actually.

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After it airs, AAF items should triple in price! :D

 

I look forward to the series as well...I'm sure it will be well made & one to own!

 

On the one hand I hope it will be a series which will be a true and worthy tribute to the Eighth Air Force veterans (so not over romanticised like The Pacific). On the other hand, as a collector of USAAF bomber militaria, I seriously fear prizes will sky rocket if the series turns out to be a great success. Just like it happened with 101st Airborne stuff after Saving Private Ryan and BoB.

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This is going to sound odd coming from a Mighty Eigth collector but why the 8th AGAIN! Any thing a person could ever want to know about the men of the 8th has already been published or filmed. There are some great filmed interviews with the vets themselves.

 

There were so many men that faced the same dangers and fears that flew in the MTO and PTO and have never been the subject of so many books and movies. I would have liked to seen them get the respect they deserve. I would love to see some thing on the B-29s history and the stories of the men who risked everything to bomb Japan. The 15th AF faced the same German fighters at the 8th but has been over looked for much too long. What about the medium bombers that fought in all theaters of the war? The 8th did not win the war alone.

 

As for prices...they have been going up all the time I have been collecting. About 6 years now. There are just so many items you need for a nice display. Flight gear, uniforms, photos, personal items. A collector has to really want to spend a lot of money to do it right. I am not sure your average joe is willing to do this. After all unless you have your own personal warbird all a renactor can do is stand around in a flight suit.

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I actually knew about this about a month ago, but didn't want to say anything till news broke out because my wife's uncle told me about it. He works on SNL and Late Night w Jimmy Fallon, and since Tom Hanks has been on both shows several times, he's gotten to know him. Recently Tom was on Fallon, and he knows my wife's Uncle (Steve) is into WWII and history, so during conversation Tom mentioned to him about getting back together with Speilberg for a new HBO miniseries and mentioned they would base it off of the book Masters of the Air by Donald Miller. Steve told me about it, and I wanted to post it in the thread about the rumor of a new show, but I thought twice about it. I get to hear a few good stories about guests on SNL especially, which I'm sure is not material to blabbed about on the internet! Personally, I feel like the exposure the series will get is good, and even though there will be us button inspectors and rivet counters, if it sheds any light on the subject for people that normally could care less or never heard about it, well, then that's a positive outcome. Of course I want them to do it right, but overall, this is definitely a positive.

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The casting will be interesting...whenever they choose to announce it. Shows like this are better with relative "unknowns" in the leading roles...IMHO.

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AAF_Collection

This is going to sound odd coming from a Mighty Eigth collector but why the 8th AGAIN! Any thing a person could ever want to know about the men of the 8th has already been published or filmed. There are some great filmed interviews with the vets themselves.

 

There were so many men that faced the same dangers and fears that flew in the MTO and PTO and have never been the subject of so many books and movies. I would have liked to seen them get the respect they deserve. I would love to see some thing on the B-29s history and the stories of the men who risked everything to bomb Japan. The 15th AF faced the same German fighters at the 8th but has been over looked for much too long. What about the medium bombers that fought in all theaters of the war? The 8th did not win the war alone.

 

While I agree it would make a change to see one of the less well known theaters get some coverage I must respectfully disagree that every aspect of the Eighth has been published or filmed,while this is true to an extent regarding the bomber and fighter operations information on the vast support structure of the Eighth is seriously lacking,both in books and TV/films produced on the subject.

 

Matt.

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445th Bomb Group

It’s a little odd that they’re using Donald Miller’s Masters of the Air as source material. It’s a good book, but it’s an overview of the air war in Europe with an emphasis on 8th Air Force operations, it doesn’t follow a specific unit or persons. The 100th Bomb Group does feature prominently in the book, and I would guess that is the unit that the miniseries will focus on. It would be nice if some recognition were finally given to the B-24 groups of the 8th or 15th AF, but unfortunately I don’t think that will ever happen.

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To paraphrase the great Abe Lincoln..."You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time...but you can't please all of the people all of the time!" At the end of the day, we should just be grateful that such a film is apparently actually going to be made! ;)

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Glad to see the AAF get some screen time. If they do half as good a job with the authenticity as the other series did, it'll be worth the time. As a life member of the 91st BG association, I of course would love to see the 8th AF on screen again but agree with others that the 8th AF is overdone on film.

AAF has always been on the higher-end of collecting. Even when I got into US collecting in the 80s and the grunt stuff was still dirt cheap, the AAF stuff was always pricey for its time, no matter the era.

After all unless you have your own personal warbird all a renactor can do is stand around in a flight suit.
Exactly! Just like "The Pacific" didn't spawn the generation of PTO re-enactors that so many thought it would (I never thought it'd happen as other good PTO movies didn't do a thing either), AAF is something you're either into or you're not. I have a good AAF flight gear impression but haven't worn it in many years...
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To paraphrase the great Abe Lincoln..."You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time...but you can't please all of the people all of the time!" At the end of the day, we should just be grateful that such a film is apparently actually going to be made! ;)

 

Exactly!

 

Being a WW2 aviation collector, I am super excited! I had hoped that their next series would cover the Air War. As for the price of AAF items, I'm sure there will be a uptick in attention, but as someone mentioned, the good stuff has always been at a premium price.

 

JD

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I don't know seems like USAAC items have always been expensive to me since I've been collecting.

 

It should be good, even the Pacific with some of its low points was still a great series.

 

But please enough of the modern war film cliche of muted horns in the soundtrack....yikes!

 

Leonardo

 

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history-buff1944

Looking forward to that, out of curiosity what's the reference to Tom Hanks about?

 

 

I referred to his latest rants after The Pacific was made at how racist the US Marines were and the public in general towards the Japs, Germans and Eyeties. What hanks seemingly """""forgot""""" was that there was a war going on started by those folks who did 100 times more killings than any of the Allies did non battlefield killings. hanks is just another to jump on the "bandwagon" in slamming the Country he lives in and makes buckets full of money in making Films and such--which includes lots of killings and such. In other words--hanks is the pot calling the kettle black.

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history-buff1944

Hanks kind if put his foot in his mouth about the nature of the hatred between Japanese and American soldiers and made a big deal out of American racism while Possibly downplaying Japanese atrocities. First time i heard it, it didn't bother me because I know the Pacific was bad, but the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. He lionized the guys from BOB, but in some ways, turned against the marines and soldiers that had to actually fight the Japanese. check it out for yourself, alot if that is my opinion, of course. He might have been trying to be as neutral as can be, but from knowing a few Pacific theater vets, I have a hard time thinking they would have resorted to such savagery if the Japanese didn't have such a penchant for severed heads, mutilation, and changing locations of ones' genitalia if captured.

 

That being said, I don't hate the guy, but hearing his name attached to a WWII piece doesn't have that ring anymore.

 

I will still watch this, and pretty eagerly await it, actually.

 

 

As Fonzie used to say: "Exactamundo Mr. Cummingham." My opinions and such are the same as excellently written above.

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