Lorne Birch

Masters of the Air will undoubtedly be the final word in cinematically depicting the Air War of WW2, both in its massive sweep, it's stunning visual capture of both the satanic grandeur and horror of aerial combat and it's dreadful human costs. Films like 12 O'clock High and Memphis Belle have given us graphic glimpses of the trials of the 8th Air Force but nothing rivals Spielberg & Hanks work in comprehensiveness. We see the bombing campaign in the larger context of the European conflict with action everywhere from Norway to North Africa, France and especially to Germany and even to the brutal fighting on the Eastern front at war's end. Often stunningly beautiful, even in capturing the ordeal, aspects of the Air War usually overlooked are highlighted; the heroism not only of the air crews but also of the ground crews as well; the nightmare of baling out of stricken planes only to be captured and sent off to grim POW camps; to the courageous members of the Resistance who, at risk of their own deaths, aided and shepherded downed airmen back to England; and not least, the suffering of the civilian population of Europe generally, and especially the victims of Nazi atrocities, the Holicausr especially. For me, the most shocking, disturbing segment of Masters is when Bucky Egan is shot down during the disastrous Munster raid and is captured. As he is marched with other downed U.S. fliers to POW imprisonment, they are beset by enraged German civilians digging out from the smoldering rubble. They savagely attack the Americans as they scream "terror bombers", lea ving only the brutally beaten Egan alive at the end. This leaves us with the most profound and deeply troubling question that this this memorable third chapter of Spielberg & Hanks WW 2 trilogy raises: the dubious morality of Strategic bombing. At series end, Crosby, navigator and narrator of Masters of the Air, qoutes Nietzsche who said "When you fight monsters, you must be careful not to become a monster yourself. For when you gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss gazes back at you." We are left pondering this critical dilemma long after this epic is finished. How do we fight evil without some of that evil rubbing off on us? ir Force but nothing rivals this entry of Spielberg and Hanks in comprehensiveness. We see see the bombing campaign