I'M HOOKED!!! | *Masters of the Air* Ep 2 Reaction | Film Student' First Time Watching 

The reason why the RAF switched to night bombing wasn't because they didn't see value in daylight precision bombing, it was simply because the UK, being a smaller country than the USA, simply couldn't take the losses. The USAAF very nearly couldn't take it: some missions were absolute bloodbaths. Night bombing was much less precise, but it was sustainable. Both approaches got better as the war progressed. Night bombing became more accurate due to various high-tech (for the early 1940s) navigation and electronic countermeasures systems, and daylight bombing became less costly because long-range fighters like the P-47, and especially the P-51, made it possible to escort bombers all the way to the majority of targets that mattered.

Great reaction Jacqui like always. I like that is actor that portrait Lt. Harry Crosby (The guy that is always throwing up) the narrator of this series, and the real Lt. Harry Crosby was a author and writer of many books and stories about the 100th bomb group, and the producers use many of his stories as material for this series. In his book 'A Wing And A Prayer' Harry H Crosby stresses how incompetent he felt leading the group to Tronheim. All the congradulations he received after the mission left him dismayed. Being switched from Brady's crew to Blakely's was the best thing that could happen to him. Blakely was all about practice. Every day they would fly practice missions to and from Scotland. Sometimes just an individual aeroplane and sometimes in formation with other Forts. Soon Crosby worked out the kinks and built up his confidence. Not only him, but the whole outfit. By the end of the War he was regarded as the best navigator in the whole eighth army air corps. Keep up the good work.

From Belgium here, what you must keep in mind is, every time a B-17 is shot down that's 10 men dead/injured/missing in action, near my home there is an american cemetery, where entire bomber crew are buried and that's a LOT of crosses!

Most war movies focus on small-unit infantry battles, but millions served as air crews, Navy sailors, submariners, artillerymen, scouts, minesweepers, tank crews, flak gunners, underwater frogmen, merchant marines on supply ships, combat engineers, demolitions teams, all with very different experiences of war. Great to see different angles

Usually I'm someone who prefers practical over CGI, but in this case I don't have a problem with it. CGI isn't inherently a bad thing (and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about), and for a show about this very subject it would be borderline impossible to do it all practically so smarter to use CGI to do what you otherwise couldn't. A show about ground troops mostly sitting in trenches is must more feasible to do practically than a show about flying planes that don't exist anymore except in museums. And they still use enough practical sets and props smartly to blend in with the computer graphics, so I think it looks good, especially for a miniseries. I imagine they built the interiors of the planes practically, and that shows.

Grandpa flew a B-17 in the European theater luckily made it through the war. Went on to fly commercial until the mid 70s great man! Never really talked about the war that much.

So far I am enjoying these. There is a famous actor by the name of James Stewart. He trained pilots for the B-24 and B-17. He flew in several missions piloting the B-24. He retired as a Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserves.

Brilliant reaction! My grandfather flew Lancasters in the RAF and later trained pilots in Canada, so it's incredible to connect to what he went through in such a visceral way.

The three most Expensive Projects for the U.S. during the war, The Bomb, The Boeing B-29 Bomber, and the Norden Bombsight. And two of them worked good, the third was a bit of lemon, and that was the bombsight.

My mother’s cousin was a pilot in B-17’s over Europe in WWII. He was a real character, and lived into his 80’s. He became a master plumber after the war in the family plumbing business.

Here's what I noticed with many reactors to this show, it's interesting to see the ups and downs and how quick they are. One moment it's all stressful, then they get back and it's all jokes and laughs, having a good time, then an abrupt change from smiling to serious. And here's what's interesting about that, the airmen must have gone through those same emotions but on a bigger scale. The extreme highs and lows. And I kept thinking about when you say dramatic, it very much is! And for those guys back in 43, it was just another Saturday mission.

8:48 breaking the Enigma code was a big achievement and secret held during the war. I believe Crosby was referring to things the Americans were working on; while Enigma was primarily a British endeavor.

@Jacqui- At the beginning of this episode, the hospital scene with the ball turret gunner, showing the Frostbite on his thighs and butt, happened because he was so frightened he "pissed" himself (at altitude its -40 to -50 degrees outside...) and did not realize it until it was too late... Ouch! Redder is better! Thanks for a great review! Cheers, M-

When they said the Nordon bombsight was top secret through out the war, one of the other super secret things was the proximity fuses used in American anti aircraft artillery shells.

The German V2 rocket was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The rocket was powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine. It was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a vengeance weapon and was used to attack Allied cities like London as retaliation for the Allied bombings of German cities.

Jacqui, you are one of my favorite destinations on You Tube for movie/TV reactions. You make even the most sobering, dramatic content an enjoyable watching experience.

It would be interesting to see your reaction to “Memphis Belle” (1990). It’s a similar story but it would be interesting to see how the filming techniques have changed

Jacqui, the narrative arcs in these series is very much how war is... it starts when you leave for war and doesn't end until you finally make it home. It's just a continuous series of ups and downs, woven thru ebbs and flows of calm and chaos that you have no way of predicting when they will happen or end.

Up to April 1944 crews needed 25 missions. After from April 1944 to June 6 1944 Day crews needed 30 missions. After June 6 1944 needed 35 missions before going home.

My late father was a 19 year old waist gunner on a B29 in the pacific. A lot of military personnel were young in WWII.

"They should put her in mass production".. a line borrowed from "The Best Years of Our Lives" perhaps?? - what Dana Andrews said about Teresa Wright on how amazing she was... I luv that line

Hang on tight! 3rd episode is brutal!

Disappointingly, a lot of people seem extremely upset about the more dramatic tone that Masters of the Air goes with, but i think you're right that it's appropriate for the souece material. The way these men are going from safe comfort at home to THE most lethal space in all of WW2, then back again, a dramatic tone fits perfectly.

Amazing series so far. Ive been waiting for this for years! My mothers Uncle was a Ball Turret Gunner (under the belly of the bomber) in the 381st bomb group 532nd Squad. My mothers uncle went in on a bombing raid March 24th 1944 into Germany and became a POW that day due to having 2 of the 4 engines were knocked out and some of the nose damaged. This damage kept them from keeping up with the rest of the Bombers heading back over to England. So while my mothers uncles B17 pulled out of formation the pilots kept control of the Bombers and limped it across Germany then through France ( which was still being held by the Germans ) but could no longer fly anymore due to the damage sustained. They nursed the bomber as far they could hoping they can get across the channel and back to England ( which some B17’s that were heavily damaged did make it across) but to no avail on this day . So they had to crash land in the French countryside , the French resistance got their before the German Patrols and quickly rounded up whom they could , 4 of the 10 man crew escaped with them and hid for months , the other 5 were captured eventually including my mothers uncle. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 1 POW CAMP. You also need to realize that the German Fighters had 20 or 30 MM rounds being shot at those bombers , where as we were only shooting back at them with 50 caliber rounds , if the bombers got hit with those 20 mill rounds it would go through like a hot knife through butter. God bless these young men who fought and died for this country

I dont mind the CGI either, and after the initial trailer release I was extremely worried about it. They did a decent job considering the constraints they were working with. It's also worth noting that "it looked absolutely unreal, almost like a dream" was a pretty common refrain amongst bomber boys going on their first mission. So there's probably some element of that at play here

I can't wait for you to get to Pacific. Your gonna love/hate it.

Another "oops" by MotA. Civilians-kids!-wandering around an active B-17 field? No way.

With regard to the CGI: yes, it's subpar for a tv show that had a 300 million dollar budget. HOWEVER, they spent a good portion of that money re-constructing B-17 cockpits to shoot in, as well as actual life-sized B-17s to serve as ground props that they stand around before/after missions. This show also ran into delay's thanks to COVID, so that through a wrench in its process and may have affected the quality as well.

That bit where Harry Crosby thinks he's been hit (and it turns out to be his frozen puke) made me chuckle. Did that particular thing ever really happen, I wonder?

The 100th’s high casualty rate mirrored that of its parent division, the Eighth Air Force, which suffered more fatalities-26,000-than the entire Marine Corps over the course of World War II.

Me, Sgt Perez retired Usmc . Say “band of brothers,” and “the pacific” have different camaraderie stories. This is different, Pilots don’t care too much about radio etiquette. They get the mission done from above.

Thanks for the reaction. I recommend a good , similar movie (based on a true story) Memphis Belle (1990) and an even earlier film Twelve O'Clock High (1949) which later became a TV series.

I had a great Uncle who was super kind to us when we were kids in the 70s and 80s. He flew bomber missions over Europe. But he never uttered one word about it.

10000 feet is at physiological level where air crews dont need supplemental oxygen.

the B-17 was actually already outdated by the time the first Japanese bomb fell on Pearl Harbor, and its initial wartime introduction produced results so dismal that the British, who were the first to test it in combat, decided against the Boeing bomber and instead opted for the new Consolidated airplane that had been designed to replace it as their four-engine bomber import.

I love your reactions. The other day I spend several hours watching your reactions, I just discovered your channel. Your perspective is invaluable to me: we are in many ways polar opposites, namely I have very little understanding of how films are made and your reactions help me understand the art that is filmmaking. So thank you, your reactions are educational for me along with the value of your perspective of someone who never served. Most civvies are… well, let’s say lack understanding of what war is like to endure, your empathy is an outlier. You seem to understand so much more than most people. Lastly, I love your sense of humour, especially in your Top Gun Maverick reaction, #goodtimes Thank you again, and please keep up with the reactions, your perspective really shines. Cheers from Canada eh 🍻

I’ve never seen Bucky’s actor in anything else, but he seems like he can probably sing irl. It’s really hard to fake not being able to sing and that sounded more like drunken singing than bad singing

Crosby def my favorite character! Funny but still good at his job

Awesome reaction of my favorite episode of Masters Of The Air!!!!😊😊😊😊

Incredibly there are still a couple of B-17 and B-24 crew around. I just watched a couple of YT videos of guys around 100 years old who flew bomber missions for the USAAC. One was a navigator on a B-24 and the other was John "Lucky" Luckadoo.

Love your comments and thoughts on this

Just finished Part 3 but gosh I can not wait for the reaction..... (goes hard)

4:14 that’s Jude law’s son lol. He is spitting image of his father. At peak production of B17’s in the Seattle factory of Boeing they would produce 16 B17’s a day. American production was something to be talked about during the war.

Honestly I really love both!!! It just gives you a different perspective of the ground war and the air war...love your reactions so far!!! I am waiting on your B.O.B part 2 😊

When we flew, we always included in our crew briefs we always took off our rings because it can cause de- gloving injuries .

According to the Making Masters of the Air podcast one of the reasons ball turret gunners would get frostbite in their "private area" was the fact that they often had no choice but to relieve themselves in their pants during the long flights (something I certainly never thought about before).

Well stated about "Enigma". They kept that a secret for 40 plus years!

propeller aircraft just looks so good on film

Love that you know about Bletchley Park!

Aircrew often don't wear their wedding rings when flying (or sometime after). Too easy to catch a ring on a piece of equipment and lose a finger.

Still Crazy to think these Missions were like 6-8 hours Long.

You’ll just be wrecked by episode 3. I have watched it several times now and just a numb feeling. Have watched all the episodes many times it’s wild. To point have rewatched BoB and Pacific.

There are complaints about the CGI???

If you love drama you might try the WWII war film 'Twelve O'Clock High' 1949. During production a stunt pilot was paid 4500, nerly 60,000 in today's dollar' to Belly land a real B-17 for the film.

As a photographer, I love the framing in that shot at 4:33

36 flying fortress B-17's arrived at Thorpe Abbotts Air Base in May of 1934. By October 34 of them had been shot down.

I love your reactions, watch them as soon as they drop, and sometimes double watxh.. but one issue i had with this one and only this one, was all of the "AAAAAWWWWWs". They happened so often that they became almost condescending like they were puppy dogs, and not the young men facing the absolute horrors of war. Other than that. Love the channel and the technical film making bits you teach!

That kid who played the crew chief looks like Jude Law (probably because he's Jude's son)!

To really get a better perspective of what these men went through. I would suggest that you visit a local Air museum. If there is a B-17... or other types Aircraft of the era. Ask if you can tour the interior. You will say, how did they do all that in here.

Bletchley Park did NOT break the Enigma code. The Poles broke Enigma in 1938.

Love how much you love the show and honestly I can’t tell what people mean by the cgi being bad 😅

cracking enigma was a British achievement mostly. I think maybe he was referring to American programs.

God dammit jacqui my dad always throws salt over his shoulder but not like that 😂

When we flew we removed our rings for safety.

Total USA airmen lost in combat during WW2 over Germany or Europe, was 38,418 and 14,533 in the Pacific region taking out the rest of the Japanese Navy, reclaiming Islands and bombing mainland Japan. These are only those in aircraft and nothing more. Bombers had a crew of 10. About 25% of these aircraft were destroyed before they could return home.

can't wait until you watch the pacific

both this and band of brothers are based on real life so it would never follow the narrative structure you see in movies and tv shows, as real life don't have structure, war sucks another amazing war series worth checking out is " Generation Kill " its 7 episodes but there long ones almost 2 hours each its based on the book written by Evan Wright who was imbedded with US Marine Corps' 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, some of the soldiers from that war and unit are actual in the tv series playing them self or different roles and its about the Iraq War invasion

I so want this when it comes out on DVD

Breaking the enigma was a British thing

That air raid scene at the end was cool

26:09 "Title"

Can you please please react to the movie "Hard Candy" 🙏🏻🙏🏻?? Starring Patrick Wilson

.."Cool 'H-Wip !" ( I know what ya did there !)

cool

That was a fun reaction. As to your getting sucked in to it,, Pleas refrain from getting sucked in to it as your content now is fun with you on This Side of reality, we would all be nervous wrecks with you trying to do your dhow from in a bomber, then there would be the whole mantle heath issue of us watching trying to fathom WTH we just watched as you suddenly wind up there. But just in case, Might I recommend the Radio ops position as it would be easier to explain away talking to people that are not there. The voice and, well how differently you would look in the uniform might be harder to explain. Loving the journey, Bless and be well.

I can't wait for your Episode 3 reaction. bring some tissue.....

Please react to the percy jackson finale. It's the best episode yet and a satisfying conclusion

I might repeat myself but as I wrote in another reactor section: RAF wasn't dropping bombs everywhere just because Brits had been longer in the fight than their USAAF counterpart. Even if I assume some crews saw it as a payback for the Blitz over English cities... But Churchill and head of the RAF Bomber command* truly believed that by bombing every major German cities its population would put so much pressure on the Nazis. At a point Hitler wouldn't had any other options than surrender... *Air Chief Marshal Harris (who was either nicknamed Bomber, Butch or Carpet bombing.. Yep that said a lot.) said: We are going to scourge the 3rd Reich from end to end. We are bombing Germany city by city and ever more terribly in order to make it impossible for them to go on with the war. That is our object; we shall pursue it relentlessly... Also the RAF did it by night because there weren't many night fighters (Nachtjad) with radar in the Luftwaffe at the beginning (1942 was a pivotal year.. and at the end of the war in Europe RAF increased loss during night raids were far superior than those of the 8th USAAF). And Lancaster or Halifax crews didn't have to face Focke-Wulf 190...

Are you going to release your reaction to the other Masters of the Air episodes on RU-vid? or is it Patreon exclusive?

the british, even though they did nighttime bombing. were extremely good at precision bombing, they ended up doing the most difficult missons, but the americans did the most of them from what i have gathered

At some point you’ll have to react to The Pacific.

Good job calling out Enigma as a bigger secret.

I know you said you already watched Band of Brothers, but, uhhh, can you post them?

Please I want Percy jackson

I feel like Bucky is trying too hard to be cool while Buck seems to interact with people way more naturally

Like to see what you think of 3

Daytime precision bombing was meant to hit specific targets. The Brits did night time flying meant they many times did not hit their targets. In 1943 the B-17G model took to the air, it carried 13 .50-caliber air-cooled machine guns and almost 7,500 rounds of ammunition to keep them firing.

First

Did you skip The Pacific?

What happened to Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse?

Band of Brothers?

Pls react to the last episode of percy Jackson

I love everything about this show except the CGI. Obviously they had to use it, but it's painfully bad in some scenes. Completely removes me from the show. 😢

Where is episode 8 on percy jackson

You should react to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

I like the series but it's nowhere near the quality of band of brothers. The british pilots were made cartoonishly rude, there's a lot of dramatic music in the air. There's far more voice over narration than you need, and there are many, many instances where they cut away from the results of an action for cheap tension. Like... oh what happened next? Don't know because we cut away JUST THEN. It's still a good series but it's just a bit more 'Hollywood' than Band of Brothers and the Pacific. I honestly don't care much about the cgi, first because in my time cgi was way worse, and second because there was no way they'd be able to field real planes. Maybe back in the day they could have done real models but that craft is long gone. It's far better than something like the Nolan film where they used real planes and only ever show 3 of em.

Jacqui you are a absolutely stunning woman and I really enjoy your reactions and your film points, but that being said when I do watch your video's I feel like I am playing red light green light. When your making a key film point the film is turned off and this persists through your entire reaction, which for me personally causes a disconnect. Now I'm not sure if you have to do it that way because of copyright or what but that's the way it seems to me. So far there is only one reactor I know of who is 75/25 meaning your watching the video 75% of the time and she only interrupts and off the video only 25% of the time. She has the same screen setup as you which I really wish all reactors used, it makes it better for us the viewers. In any case just some thoughts:)

Lots of VERY negative reactions on IMDB! I can certainly understand why, after 2 episodes my Wife and I are ready to throw in the towel! Horrible 2 dimensional cliched characters, poor writing and story line. Whats with the James Dean perfect hair everyone has?? Its so sad to see how bad this is after the wonderful real characters in Band of Brothers! This series is all style over substance! Will give it a couple more episodes but I can't see it will be redeemed!

Not as good as Band Of Brothers.

Btw it's not a reboot it's own story with its own books it's based off of so they have to film it differently. Also only 9 episodes for this series the other 2 series were both 10 episodes