I am really excited that the team who brought us The Pacific and Band of Brothers is making another epic. This time they are telling the story of the harrowing bombing campaign against Germany with a focus on the awful early period when 60% casualty rates were the norm. Sound familiar?
The project, from Playtone Productions, was quickly given the name “Masters of the Air” because it was announced early that the source material for the project was a non-fiction account of the same name by Donald Miller. Though it is a commanding title it is a rather vague one. Now with the name changed to THE MIGHTY EIGHTH there is no mistake who is getting honored here with a film. If you remember the two prior films in this WWII epic they took different approaches in telling their story. BAND OF BROTHERS was not about the U. S. Army in general, but of a specific unit and of the intense service that one unit gave for the cause. Where THE PACIFIC was more of a collection of events focusing on a handful
of servicemen illustrating what the war in the Pacific Theater was like. This third upcoming miniseries, now made more evident by its title change, will take the same angle as BAND OF BROTHERS; it will focus on one squadron and one set of characters through its chronicled heroic missions. It will be a great companion to the other two miniseries.
Indeed, this dramatic setting is what gives Hawser its bottom. I spent more than two years reading every book I could about the subject. I watched documentaries, read interviews and talked to as many veterans as I could find (not many left now). The idea was to give as accurate a picture of what this unique kind of warfare was like, to put the reader square in its center. It’s a big part of the story, but it’s not the whole story.
I guess you’ll need to read it to find out.