Elvis takes the yoke in "Masters of the Air"

Austin Butler flies the unfriendly skies

For some reason my wife doesn’t share my interest in World War II aviation. So I waited until she was out of town to finish “Masters of the Air.”

My verdict: It’s pretty good. Come for the thrilling air combat scenes, stay for the history.  

Since “Saving Private Ryan” in 1998, we’ve seen quite a few hyper-realistic World War II movies: stuff like “Fury,” “Dunkirk,” and “Hacksaw Ridge.” Then there are the miniseries “Band of Brothers” and “Pacific.” By now a certain sameness has crept into these stories. Apparently, there are only so many ways to depict young men fighting and dying between angst-filled moments in the barracks. 

“Masters of the Air” has quite a bit of that too. The characters are mostly predictable and dialog is sometimes wooden. But this series focuses on a different WWII: one fought at high altitude, high speed and in subzero cold. It’s the kind of warfare that had never been seen before and won’t be seen again.  

As noted sticklers for historical accuracy, co-producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have brought it all back to life.  Only half a dozen B17s are still flying today, but masterful CGI work lets you see hundreds in the air at the same time, battling through a maelstrom of flak and German fighters. 

Also, I’ll grudgingly admit that Austin Butler was not the worst choice for the lead role of Gale “Buck” Cleven. At first I was rolling my eyes at the thought of Elvis bombing Munich, but Butler pulls it off. His character here is not so different from when he played The King, but that Southern-fried charisma turns out to be a good fit for a legendary bomber pilot too.