The actions of the men in "Masters of the Air" are so unfathomably brave and stirring that we forget they were performed by real people. And those real people will be the subject of the upcoming documentary, "The Bloody Hundredth."
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As the WWII epic "Masters" closes in on its Episode 9 finale, which premieres on Friday, March 15, Apple has announced the accompanying doc will premiere the same day. So the moment you're done with the dramatization, you can become acquainted with the actual events. "Masters" has in no way overplayed the heroics of the men or the terribleness of the conditions. But history buffs and fans of the series alike should appreciate the added historical context.
Narrated by Tom Hanks, "The Bloody Hundredth" is directed by Mark Herzog ("Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story," "He Has Seen War") and longtime Steven Spielberg collaborator Laurent Bouzereau ("Five Came Back," "Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford"). Like "Masters," the doc is executive produced by Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
"The Bloody Hundredth" will cover the true stories of several characters and real-life airmen featured in "Masters of the Air" including John Egan (Callum Turner), Gale Cleven (Austin Butler), Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle), Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal (Nate Mann), Frank Murphy (Jonas Moore), Alexander Jefferson (Brandon Cook), Richard Macon (Josiah Cross), as well as veterans John "Lucky" Luckadoo, Robert Wolf and many others.
The official logline for the hour-long documentary reads: "From the shock of Pearl Harbor to the joy of VE Day, 'The Bloody Hundredth' is a record of what was endured and achieved by a group of young Americans when their country and the world needed them most."
Both of "Masters'" companion series, "Band of Brothers" (2001) and "The Pacific" (2010), featured pre-episode newsreels of the actual conflict narrated by Hanks as well as interviews with the veterans who lived it (frustratingly, this content is now absent from the streaming versions of "The Pacific").
"Masters" has opted to tack on this hour-long doc instead. There are still four men who fought with The Hundredth alive today, and at least two of them will appear in the doc: John "Lucky" Luckadoo and Robert Wolf. The trailer also shows an older interview with Rosenthal, who passed away in 2014.
