@@TheSocratesianbut this is a true story with real men who had a part to play. They were key in POW ops because it really was for certain they weren’t spies. Nazis tried that shit all of the time.
Two of the Redtails pilots that got capture Lt. Alexander Jefferson and Lt. Richard D. Macon (that end up in the barracks with Buck) were famous. Jefferson after the war wrote a book, Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW, is a personal memoir of those who served America in World War II and after. Macon and Jefferson helped found Tuskegee Airmen Inc. and each served as president of the Detroit chapter. And yes there are 2 movies at least that tell the story about the Tuskegee Airmen one is "Tuskegee Airmen" with Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr, and the other like you said its "Red Tails" also with Cuba Gooding Jr. And dont forget on the 15th, its the final episode, but Apple is releasing a companion documentary, which will include interviews and footage of the real men of the 100th. Similar to 'We Stand Alone Together' in Band of Brothers. I hope you will react to it as well.
And you can also kinda count Harts War and night at the museum 2. While the other Usaaf fighter units in Europe have never had any coverage other than looking bad in redtails media.
My neighbor flew an F4F Wildcat (Navy) fighter, and a family friend was a B-24 navigator (both now deceased). Sadly, and rarely talked about, they were both largely deaf because the engines and guns were incredibly loud and the planes weren't sealed or pressurized so changing altitudes sometimes injured the crew's eardrums.
The first 7 episodes. Of this show cover about 3-4 months, the last 3 cover a year and a half. It's really falling apart at the last leg and I say that as a ww2 aviation buff that knows what's happening, I can't imagine trying to follow this with no idea of the events.
@@charlize1253 I'm aware, I read it when it came out. The book also focuses on the entire 8th from conception, to the end of the war, the show can't do that in 9 episodes. I was hoping that it would focus on Rosie as he was there for the most time, but it's only scratching the surface while trying to shoehorn in the 332nd, hogan's heroes and Crosbys possible affair.
I would skip watching Red Tails. It wasn't a very good movie. a better movie on the Tuskegee airmen is the one with Lawrence fishburne and Cuba gooding jr
Also, the Red Tails were among the best escorts in the war. They really did save a lot of bomber crews. Not taking anything away from the other fighter groups but the Tuskegee Airmen had a lot to prove, and my God did they ever.
This excerpt from Jeffersons book really stuck with me "Having been treated by the Nazis like every other Allied officer, I walked down the gang plank wearing an Army Air Corps Officer's uniform towards a white US Army sergeant on the dock, who informed us "Whites to the right, N word to the left".
Thanks guys! Yes, the three Tuskegee Airmen were real guys and they were really in Stalag Luft III. Jefferson did a lot of sketching of the camp and Macon actually had a fracture in his neck when he entered the camp.
If you ever watch a movie about TUSKEGEE AIRMEN then do watch the HBO production by that same name TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. It is cleaner, no confusion about the story line and takes you through their training time on to the combat missions. It also shows the bias and racism they had to overcome to be finally recognised.
WW2 exposed a lot of myths about race in the US. Japanese citizens were put in internment camps, but when given a chance to serve, the all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team became, and remains today, the most decorated unit in the history of the US Army. The Tuskegee Airmen were segregated and posted in Italy away from the action (that's why they flew 500 low-risk missions), but when given a chance to escort bombers into Germany, they famously never lost a single bomber under their protection to enemy action. When these soldiers returned home to the US, they faced the racism of the 1950s. But their kids heard their stories and grew up to become the radicals and revolutionaries of the 1960s.
Well from the perspective of the bombers D-Day wasn't that much of a deal. Very busy with a ton of missions, but Doodlittles strategy worked out and there was little oposition. There is a reason Rommel argued for burring tanks as anti tank guns, because he expirienced first hand that anything of the German military that moved at day above ground was getting shot at from the sky.
While the was a ton of missions the wasn't really any danger from them or much danger. Also as Crosby is narrating and he slept through most of it not surprised
Lt Richard Macon actually broke his shoulder and Neck in that crash hence he kept passing out. The Germans managed to set his shoulder but it wasn't until he reached stalag luft 3 they eventually got him an Xray and managed to reset his neck.
Hi guys, great reaction to this episode. I love this show and it's been great watching it with you so far. It's fantastic you're seeing the war from an aerial perspective, because yeah you've only seen land based war movies & shows and they get all the attention/glory and air war has gotten largely overlooked. Yes please react to Red Tails (2012) its a brilliant telling of the Tuskegee Airmen story. And I highly recommend Memphis Belle (1990) for you to react to as well; one of the first B17's to complete the '25' in 1943
I feel like this show hit the fast forward since episode 6. Not sure if the 9 episode limit was because of budget or something like that, but it could've used more time to show other stuff, like D-Day.
They Tuskagee airmen in this episode that ended on Stalag III where shot down in southern France when the Allied invaded southern France from the Mediterranean Sea
The best escape plan was officers building a glider in the attic of the castle ... "Colditz Cock" they were liberated by the Allies before an escape attempt could be tried.
There's also a Tuskegee Airmen film from the 90s with Lawrence Fishbourne as a lead. A good film explaining the history of the men, but the flight scenes have aged quite a bit.
The Tuskegee Airmen is a great movie. Red Tails is alright but it's much more a stylized live action graphic novel complete with off the page stilted dialog. Very pretty to look at but little substance.
This was probably the worst episode, in my opinion. It felt rushed, and I didn’t feel a connection to the Tuskegee Airmen, like I do with the 100th. Red Tails was an okay film, but it did a much better job at building that connection with the Tuskegee Airmen. All their scenes, and the deaths in this, are so rushed, and exposition filled, to make up for not having them in previous episodes (likely do to historical timeline constraints), that I just was like “okay”, but every death in the 100th, was actually felt. I’m worried the finale will be or feel rushed. And if it is, they really goofed not making it a 10 episode series. But regardless, I can already say with full confidence, this show needs a 10th episode.
@TBR Schmitt. That form of hand-to-hand fighting / combat you said being praticed in the POW camp is based on two books (entitled Defendu and All in) written by a former British Policeman whom developed this style in China based on his experiencing policing the violent criminal Chinese gangs there. He latest tough this to British and Allied troops in WW2 after joining the British Army.
As for flying low, the 332nd Fighter Group were probably performing a shallow dive onto target, which gave better bombing accuracy. Whether they flew to and from the target at low level, I could not say. Flying low did allow attacking aircraft to get below radar and remain undetected for longer (in contrast, Eighth Air Force bombers took some time to take off and get into formation before heading to target, and the Germans could see them on radar before they left England). Some very famous raids took place at low level. The Dambusters raid in May 1943 was flown at low level at night. So low that they occasionally flew under power wires, and one was so low over the channel that the bouncing bomb hung beneath the plane was ripped off by a wave.
Good reaction to this episode. The Normandy invasion scene was sort of accurate in this episode. The bombers actually did fly over the invasion fleet and actually DID DROP bombs onto the Normandy area. This was to be done roughly an hour or so before the actual landings took place so as to eliminate the possibility of friendly casualties. However, instead of dropping their bombs as they flew over the beaches like they should have, they waited a few seconds later to drop them which caused the bombs to miss the beaches by a few miles. The accepted excuse for dropping the bombs a few seconds later than instructed is that the bombs exploding on the beaches would have made unnecessary obstacles on the beaches for the ground troops to negotiate. This is something still debated to this day. YES - the German Luftwaffe actually DID attack the Normandy beaches. 2 German fighters DID take off and STRAFED the British sector, catching them by surprise. They made 1 pass each and got the heck out of the area before something bad happened to them. Good depiction of this event in movies would be 1962 movie, "The Longest Day". Also, the bombers were being used in the tactic of CARPET-BOMBING, in which a crap-ton of bombers would fly a prescribed route and drop their bombs onto a strategic section of land in the hopes of blow the crap out of the enemy, demoralize them beyond belief, and utterly destroy anything in that sector, thus opening a route in the front lines for friendly forces to exploit. A good example of this CARPET-BOMBING tactic would be OPERATION COBRA in July 1944. The British/Canadian Armies were fighting probably the best German forces in Normandy. The plan was to keep the bulk of the German armor and SS formations occupied around Caen while the Americans would bust out of the bocage country (which was slowing down the Allied forces while making excellent defensive positions for the Germans) and into open terrain much more favorable for quick tank attacks. Day that Operation Cobra started, the bombers came over the front lines and actually dropped their bombs just a few seconds too early. Unfortunately, this had the result of massive friendly casualties as the bombs started to fall onto some of the more forward deployed American units. Also, the German forces facing the Americans suffered horribly as well. Have read that German survivors were stunned beyond belief wandering around the battlefield stupefied with their clothes in tatters and blood running out of their ears/noses; heavy tanks flipped onto their sides or backs; forests and buildings destroyed, and farm animals blown to bits. Once the Americans plowed through the opening in the front lines that the bombers created there was no stopping them. The Germans started pulling back en masse all the while being pursued by the British/Canadian/Polish Armies in the north and the American and Free French Armies in the south. Eventually the Germans were surrounded at a place called the FALAISE POCKET where they again suffered tremendous casualties and lost just about all their heavy equipment that they had left in northwestern France. In August 1944, the Allies invaded southern France in OPERATION ANVIL which was an even greater success than the Normandy invasion, but rarely gets talked about. Also, August 1944 the bomber formations went back to their regular bombing tactics of going after the German infrastructure. OK- enough of that rambling. Like most other people probably have already said in the comments, there are 2 movies dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen: Tuskegee Airmen (from the 1990s). Better depiction of how the unit was formed, training, combat experiences, racism. Red Tails (from the mid-2000s). OK movie but at least it does show the squadrons flying the P-40 Warhawks and then transitioning to the P-51 Mustangs. Also shows them battling it out with the German ME-262 jet fighters.
On the other hand the massive allied air carpet bombing preceeding Operation Goodwood in Normandy was not very effective. While some German armoured units were hit hard, particularly a company of Tiger tanks of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 with one Tiger flipped over on its back, on the whole the German panzer units and anti tank gun batteries were not greatly affected to the point they were not able to put up stiff resistance. Around 400 allied tanks were put out of action and the advance was not as far as hoped. I'd say the carpet bombing before Goodwood was actually a failure.
Thought this episode was a big stinker. So much interesting stuff to tell and they just rush through and half ass it all. No idea why they even bother including the Westgate France stuff in this episode, it would genuinely be more interesting left as a mystery and told solely from Crosby's perspective. Some of the writing and CGI in this episode in particular was also laughably bad to me. That cold open bomb run would have fragged all of their own planes. The scene where bucky goes "They landed, we're in western europe!" just because there is an announcement over the loudspeakers in German? I just cannot figure out what they thought they were doing with this episode.
This whole series has completely lost focus. The DDAY scene was just criminal, we got the same 3 second clip of DDAY that was in the advertisement lol..I hate to say it but.. The Tuskegee Airmen inclusion is extremely tokenistic. If we wanted that story, perhaps it should be the focus, since they had little or nothing to do with the 100th Bomb Group. Their inclusion is so brief that we have very little idea of the struggle they went through, and what little racial tension we see here is directly siphoned off by Buck being a good guy and bringing Jefferson into the plan. It’s feeling like they blew the whole budget in the first episodes and now scrambling to make it interesting with 10 different stories at once. I anticipated this for soooo long. I want to love it so bad. But man it’s getting tough. After 6-7 I said ok 8 and 9 are going to really bring it home…so disappointed…I wanted to get the physical copy next to my BOB and the pacific and unfortunately I don’t think I will, et alone watch it again. At least not for a long time. Episode 9 is going to have to pack in so much. I’m hoping they saved the rest of the budget for episode 9 lol.
Jefferson, Macon and Daniels all did end up in Stalag Luft 3. Two of them were shot down attacking radar stations in Toloun. The remaining one attacking radar stations at Marseille. While no definitive proof they mingled with guys of the 100th it was very possible they did. Jefferson even wrote his own book on his experiences.
WW2 exposed a lot of myths about race in the US. Japanese citizens were put in internment camps, but when given a chance to serve, the all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team became, and remains today, the most decorated unit in the history of the US Army. The Tuskegee Airmen were segregated and posted in Italy away from the action (that's why they flew 500 low-risk missions), but when given a chance to escort bombers into Germany, they famously never lost a single bomber under their protection to enemy action. When these soldiers returned home to the US, they faced the racism of the 1950s. But their kids heard their stories and grew up to become the radicals and revolutionaries of the 1960s.
As well two movies about the Tuskegee Airmen, there's also been some comics, I recommend Garth Ennis' 'Dreaming Angels' limited series to any readers out there.
I saw “Red Tails” in theatres when I was a kid and FUCK that’s a great movie. Go watch it. It makes what the bomber crews are saying make more sense. The white pilots would chase the Germans for the kills while leaving the bombers alone for times. The black pilots would normally stay closer to the bombers and instead of chasing down fighters miles away would just keep staying close to the bombers and it led to a really cool symbiosis between the two parties. Which is why in war movies the racism is toned down between Tuskegee airmen and Bomber crews
They were on the same camp, because each branch of the military had their own camps so army would be sent to enemy army camps. Pilots would be sent to Air Force prison camps, and Navy would be sent to Navy prison campa
I found episode eight to have absolutely one of the worst episodes of the whole show. The show is trying to cover too much and changes scenarios way too often. Masters of the Air has to be the weakest of the three in comparison to Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Yeah, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed with the series. There have definitely been good episodes, but also some meh episodes and then this episode. Seems weird to introduce three new characters right before the series ends; they should have been brought in earlier. I think it's a little weird to focus so much time on Crosby, when he isn't even on the bombers anymore (according to the show, anyway.) Not to mention that this show about bombers doesn't really show bombers that much anymore. Anyway, if you're interested in the bombing campaign in Europe during WWII, I recommend 'Memphis Belle' and '12 O'Clock High'. Much better.
@@kevinprzy4539 Crosby's book is one of the sources, but the main book it is based on is "Masters of the Air" by Donald Miller. "Masters of the Air" is about the Eighth Air Force in WW2, not just the 100th Bomb Group.
Actually you burn next to nithing running the engine empty on the runway. But takeing of together and then flying in formation can save you a lot of fuel on the way. So they are not stupid lineing up with running engines.
I believe Tuskegee Airmen flew the B/C model, which is now extemely rare--fewer guns, but lighter and a higher performer. To my way of thinking, there has never been a movie or documentary that drills into their tactics, particularly those they develped themselves. To me, that would be a proper testimonial. Red tails wasn't bad, but having a pilot deliver his lines with a chest full of 30mm?
00:45 - "Luftwaffe" ('Looft-vassa'). Literal translation from German is "air weapon", IIRC. The German Air Force. Even after the (other N-word that YT slams) days in Germany, their NATO-era Air Force is still called that. The movie about the Tuskegee Airmen is "Redtails" (2012). They had the red paint on the tails on the aircraft. In WW2, it was an experiment to see if black people could do that kind of work. Spoiler alert - they * could *.
The Code of Conduct I am an American fighting in the forces that guard my country and our way of life, I am prepared to give my life in their defense. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. Should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies. I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
I know how much you value the integrity of your reactions and reviews. But I could not, in good conscience, pass up the opportunity to impress upon you the sheer brilliance of Dune 2. You must experience it in IMAX and do a review. I promise you, you'll not regret it. It is a masterpiece. Trust me. Your pal, Raf dad.
Need to react to the 1993 version of The Three Musketeers. That movie is slept on in my opinion and its free on youtube right now. I haven't seen any reaction videos to it at all yet and its been out forever. Would be a good watch and you two are my favorite reactors at this point.
Really should see the 1974 and 4 musketeers if you haven't. I've seen them all from the 50s to the 00s. And the 74 version is stunning. The 3rd film made a long time after isn't good to. I'm also a little fond of the steam punk version with Milla Jovavich as M'lady.
Am i the only one who thinks the 2nd half of this series has been A$$?? It's like they had a whole series worth of actual bomber missions planned, realized they didn't have the budget half way, and had to make up filler for the last half (which has so far taken place mostly on the ground, not in the air!)
Yes! The cgi has gotten worst and this episode was a huge disappointment - overloaded and too disjointed - they probably ran out of money. Ep 5 & 6 were my favorites - directing duo Boden & Fleck with Jac Fitzgerald’s cinematography were the peak of this series. Too much focus on the ground now. I was expecting more Rosie but he was just glossed over.
Yup, remember lack of nutrition and exercise and vitamins and so on, play a role in peoples bodies, including the ability to stay warm naturally. It was a common thing. It also let them hide things on their person.
No need for that, since you made an even dumber comment then mine. Edit: This was a reply to a dude telling me to delete my comment... ironically he ended up deleting his. lol
The Tuskegee Airmen don't really belong in this story. A series about their story would be better than just shoving them into this series. The P-51s they had in August 1944 were P-51B/C, not he P-51D shown. The rockets weren't used in the way that was shown. They were either salvoed (all rockets go at once), or ripple fired (2 go at a time, but in quick succession). They were not an accurate weapon, and didn't guide themselves onto the the target like it appears in that scene. Rockets were not available on P-51Ds until 1945. P-51B/C used a different system, and may not have been able to carry drop tanks when using rockets.
Imagine if in the 9th and penultimate episode of Band of Brothers they sidestepped the main narrative threads and character arcs they worked to build up to in all the previous episodes, just to randomly introduce members of like say, the 17th Airborne just because theyre tangentially related. And we the audience have to ignore how rushed and shoehorned it feels because someone in the production really wanted the 17th represented even though theyre different units who fought on different fronts. Also they utilize stereotypes and cliche writing tropes because they dont have enough time to properly introduce and establish their characters. Viewers would rightly be like what the hell was that? Thats how I felt after watching this. Its too bad the writing in this show is so sloppy because it had the potential to be truly as great as its predecessors.
These last episodes are just total mess and a failure, and this one 8th is a pinnacle of this and totally crumpled. More of that.. amount of inaccuracies are over the top. As aviation lover of 30-40s .. I can say that it is so painful to watch. Even not avia-fans can clearly feel and see how BAD it goes one: these interrogation scenes by luftwaffe oficer are so bad and crumpled comparing to previous interrogation when Egan got caught. That one was intence and well scripted. But now.. it is like a joke with really BAD script-writing and direction. I hugely dissapointed by this series now. And if we will mention all tech & planes innacuraties, planes behavior and planes itself (it was good until fighters came on screen while ago from some point in the show)... it whould be total FAIL as TV-seties now.
I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this series, and in the first half of it, I did… But not now. It’s rushed, the cgi changed, it’s too ”Hollywood” compared to BoB or The Pacific… It made me sad. I was hoping it would be up there.
6:04 Can I get a translation of that line? Don't speak German and it wasn't captioned when I watched. I also agree, this could've been 3 to 4 seasons worth of show at 10 episodes a season.
This sure felt rushed to me. Muskagee should habe been a part of the show before this episode. Pacing felt off to me. Still good but not as tight of an episode.
Tuskegee Airmen deserve a series of their own.
Or more than one.
Yeah, Red Tails was about them. There was also an HBO movie about them in the 90s.
They definitely are worthy of one. Throwing them into this one is just unnecessary Hollywood "inclusion" BS. These were great men and deserve better.
The HBO movie is better with a storyline that is NOT confusing..
Agreed 👍
@@TheSocratesianbut this is a true story with real men who had a part to play. They were key in POW ops because it really was for certain they weren’t spies. Nazis tried that shit all of the time.
@@maxfrankow1238 I'm not sure what you are referring to.
Two of the Redtails pilots that got capture Lt. Alexander Jefferson and Lt. Richard D. Macon (that end up in the barracks with Buck) were famous. Jefferson after the war wrote a book, Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW, is a personal memoir of those who served America in World War II and after. Macon and Jefferson helped found Tuskegee Airmen Inc. and each served as president of the Detroit chapter. And yes there are 2 movies at least that tell the story about the Tuskegee Airmen one is "Tuskegee Airmen" with Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr, and the other like you said its "Red Tails" also with Cuba Gooding Jr. And dont forget on the 15th, its the final episode, but Apple is releasing a companion documentary, which will include interviews and footage of the real men of the 100th. Similar to 'We Stand Alone Together' in Band of Brothers. I hope you will react to it as well.
And you can also kinda count Harts War and night at the museum 2. While the other Usaaf fighter units in Europe have never had any coverage other than looking bad in redtails media.
My neighbor flew an F4F Wildcat (Navy) fighter, and a family friend was a B-24 navigator (both now deceased). Sadly, and rarely talked about, they were both largely deaf because the engines and guns were incredibly loud and the planes weren't sealed or pressurized so changing altitudes sometimes injured the crew's eardrums.
The first 7 episodes. Of this show cover about 3-4 months, the last 3 cover a year and a half. It's really falling apart at the last leg and I say that as a ww2 aviation buff that knows what's happening, I can't imagine trying to follow this with no idea of the events.
The book that the series is based on is over 500 pages long (depending on the edition), they really tried to compress a lot into 9 episodes
@@charlize1253 I'm aware, I read it when it came out. The book also focuses on the entire 8th from conception, to the end of the war, the show can't do that in 9 episodes. I was hoping that it would focus on Rosie as he was there for the most time, but it's only scratching the surface while trying to shoehorn in the 332nd, hogan's heroes and Crosbys possible affair.
as an average dude, I really have no idea what is going on haha I just know I have seen prisioners more than airplanes
I would skip watching Red Tails. It wasn't a very good movie. a better movie on the Tuskegee airmen is the one with Lawrence fishburne and Cuba gooding jr
Also, the Red Tails were among the best escorts in the war. They really did save a lot of bomber crews. Not taking anything away from the other fighter groups but the Tuskegee Airmen had a lot to prove, and my God did they ever.
This excerpt from Jeffersons book really stuck with me "Having been treated by the Nazis like every other Allied officer, I walked down the gang plank wearing an Army Air Corps Officer's uniform towards a white US Army sergeant on the dock, who informed us "Whites to the right, N word to the left".
Such a shame. Hope they know that most Americans today revere what they did.
Thanks guys! Yes, the three Tuskegee Airmen were real guys and they were really in Stalag Luft III. Jefferson did a lot of sketching of the camp and Macon actually had a fracture in his neck when he entered the camp.
If you ever watch a movie about TUSKEGEE AIRMEN then do watch the HBO production by that same name TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. It is cleaner, no confusion about the story line and takes you through their training time on to the combat missions. It also shows the bias and racism they had to overcome to be finally recognised.
WW2 exposed a lot of myths about race in the US. Japanese citizens were put in internment camps, but when given a chance to serve, the all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team became, and remains today, the most decorated unit in the history of the US Army. The Tuskegee Airmen were segregated and posted in Italy away from the action (that's why they flew 500 low-risk missions), but when given a chance to escort bombers into Germany, they famously never lost a single bomber under their protection to enemy action.
When these soldiers returned home to the US, they faced the racism of the 1950s. But their kids heard their stories and grew up to become the radicals and revolutionaries of the 1960s.
I’m so disappointed we only got a snippet of D-Day 😩
Same. Was expecting so much more.
Well from the perspective of the bombers D-Day wasn't that much of a deal. Very busy with a ton of missions, but Doodlittles strategy worked out and there was little oposition. There is a reason Rommel argued for burring tanks as anti tank guns, because he expirienced first hand that anything of the German military that moved at day above ground was getting shot at from the sky.
While the was a ton of missions the wasn't really any danger from them or much danger. Also as Crosby is narrating and he slept through most of it not surprised
Lt Richard Macon actually broke his shoulder and Neck in that crash hence he kept passing out.
The Germans managed to set his shoulder but it wasn't until he reached stalag luft 3 they eventually got him an Xray and managed to reset his neck.
That DDAY scene was CRIMINAL lol. They showed the SAME 3 second clip as in the advertisement!!!!!!!
Hi guys, great reaction to this episode. I love this show and it's been great watching it with you so far. It's fantastic you're seeing the war from an aerial perspective, because yeah you've only seen land based war movies & shows and they get all the attention/glory and air war has gotten largely overlooked. Yes please react to Red Tails (2012) its a brilliant telling of the Tuskegee Airmen story. And I highly recommend Memphis Belle (1990) for you to react to as well; one of the first B17's to complete the '25' in 1943
I feel like this show hit the fast forward since episode 6. Not sure if the 9 episode limit was because of budget or something like that, but it could've used more time to show other stuff, like D-Day.
They Tuskagee airmen in this episode that ended on Stalag III where shot down in southern France when the Allied invaded southern France from the Mediterranean Sea
The best escape plan was officers building a glider in the attic of the castle ... "Colditz Cock" they were liberated by the Allies before an escape attempt could be tried.
You guys haven't watched Tuskegee Airmen yet, that has to be a movie too watch very soon. It has a Star studded cast and an exceptional biopic.
There's also a Tuskegee Airmen film from the 90s with Lawrence Fishbourne as a lead. A good film explaining the history of the men, but the flight scenes have aged quite a bit.
Definitely much better than the Red Tails movie
The Tuskegee Airmen is a great movie. Red Tails is alright but it's much more a stylized live action graphic novel complete with off the page stilted dialog. Very pretty to look at but little substance.
This was probably the worst episode, in my opinion. It felt rushed, and I didn’t feel a connection to the Tuskegee Airmen, like I do with the 100th. Red Tails was an okay film, but it did a much better job at building that connection with the Tuskegee Airmen. All their scenes, and the deaths in this, are so rushed, and exposition filled, to make up for not having them in previous episodes (likely do to historical timeline constraints), that I just was like “okay”, but every death in the 100th, was actually felt. I’m worried the finale will be or feel rushed. And if it is, they really goofed not making it a 10 episode series. But regardless, I can already say with full confidence, this show needs a 10th episode.
4:15 Amphetamines or similar. Like Pervitin...
@TBR Schmitt. That form of hand-to-hand fighting / combat you said being praticed in the POW camp is based on two books (entitled Defendu and All in) written by a former British Policeman whom developed this style in China based on his experiencing policing the violent criminal Chinese gangs there. He latest tough this to British and Allied troops in WW2 after joining the British Army.
You guys should definitely check out Red Tails.
That movie stinks
As for flying low, the 332nd Fighter Group were probably performing a shallow dive onto target, which gave better bombing accuracy. Whether they flew to and from the target at low level, I could not say.
Flying low did allow attacking aircraft to get below radar and remain undetected for longer (in contrast, Eighth Air Force bombers took some time to take off and get into formation before heading to target, and the Germans could see them on radar before they left England).
Some very famous raids took place at low level.
The Dambusters raid in May 1943 was flown at low level at night. So low that they occasionally flew under power wires, and one was so low over the channel that the bouncing bomb hung beneath the plane was ripped off by a wave.
Good reaction to this episode. The Normandy invasion scene was sort of accurate in this episode. The bombers actually did fly over the invasion fleet and actually DID DROP bombs onto the Normandy area. This was to be done roughly an hour or so before the actual landings took place so as to eliminate the possibility of friendly casualties. However, instead of dropping their bombs as they flew over the beaches like they should have, they waited a few seconds later to drop them which caused the bombs to miss the beaches by a few miles. The accepted excuse for dropping the bombs a few seconds later than instructed is that the bombs exploding on the beaches would have made unnecessary obstacles on the beaches for the ground troops to negotiate. This is something still debated to this day.
YES - the German Luftwaffe actually DID attack the Normandy beaches. 2 German fighters DID take off and STRAFED the British sector, catching them by surprise. They made 1 pass each and got the heck out of the area before something bad happened to them. Good depiction of this event in movies would be 1962 movie, "The Longest Day".
Also, the bombers were being used in the tactic of CARPET-BOMBING, in which a crap-ton of bombers would fly a prescribed route and drop their bombs onto a strategic section of land in the hopes of blow the crap out of the enemy, demoralize them beyond belief, and utterly destroy anything in that sector, thus opening a route in the front lines for friendly forces to exploit. A good example of this CARPET-BOMBING tactic would be OPERATION COBRA in July 1944. The British/Canadian Armies were fighting probably the best German forces in Normandy. The plan was to keep the bulk of the German armor and SS formations occupied around Caen while the Americans would bust out of the bocage country (which was slowing down the Allied forces while making excellent defensive positions for the Germans) and into open terrain much more favorable for quick tank attacks.
Day that Operation Cobra started, the bombers came over the front lines and actually dropped their bombs just a few seconds too early. Unfortunately, this had the result of massive friendly casualties as the bombs started to fall onto some of the more forward deployed American units. Also, the German forces facing the Americans suffered horribly as well. Have read that German survivors were stunned beyond belief wandering around the battlefield stupefied with their clothes in tatters and blood running out of their ears/noses; heavy tanks flipped onto their sides or backs; forests and buildings destroyed, and farm animals blown to bits.
Once the Americans plowed through the opening in the front lines that the bombers created there was no stopping them. The Germans started pulling back en masse all the while being pursued by the British/Canadian/Polish Armies in the north and the American and Free French Armies in the south. Eventually the Germans were surrounded at a place called the FALAISE POCKET where they again suffered tremendous casualties and lost just about all their heavy equipment that they had left in northwestern France.
In August 1944, the Allies invaded southern France in OPERATION ANVIL which was an even greater success than the Normandy invasion, but rarely gets talked about. Also, August 1944 the bomber formations went back to their regular bombing tactics of going after the German infrastructure.
OK- enough of that rambling. Like most other people probably have already said in the comments, there are 2 movies dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen:
Tuskegee Airmen (from the 1990s). Better depiction of how the unit was formed, training, combat experiences, racism.
Red Tails (from the mid-2000s). OK movie but at least it does show the squadrons flying the P-40 Warhawks and then transitioning to the P-51 Mustangs. Also shows them battling it out with the German ME-262 jet fighters.
On the other hand the massive allied air carpet bombing preceeding Operation Goodwood in Normandy was not very effective. While some German armoured units were hit hard, particularly a company of Tiger tanks of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 with one Tiger flipped over on its back, on the whole the German panzer units and anti tank gun batteries were not greatly affected to the point they were not able to put up stiff resistance. Around 400 allied tanks were put out of action and the advance was not as far as hoped. I'd say the carpet bombing before Goodwood was actually a failure.
Write a book next time
The P-51 was hands down the HOTTEST plane of the war. Everyone wanted to fly it. It also was the primary escort for the bombing runs into Japan.
Crosby was able to stay awake as long as he did because the doctor was giving him amphetamines.
Thought this episode was a big stinker. So much interesting stuff to tell and they just rush through and half ass it all. No idea why they even bother including the Westgate France stuff in this episode, it would genuinely be more interesting left as a mystery and told solely from Crosby's perspective. Some of the writing and CGI in this episode in particular was also laughably bad to me. That cold open bomb run would have fragged all of their own planes. The scene where bucky goes "They landed, we're in western europe!" just because there is an announcement over the loudspeakers in German? I just cannot figure out what they thought they were doing with this episode.
Yeah
Thank you for this. Felt like I was going crazy watching this, it was truly horrible.
This whole series has completely lost focus. The DDAY scene was just criminal, we got the same 3 second clip of DDAY that was in the advertisement lol..I hate to say it but.. The Tuskegee Airmen inclusion is extremely tokenistic. If we wanted that story, perhaps it should be the focus, since they had little or nothing to do with the 100th Bomb Group. Their inclusion is so brief that we have very little idea of the struggle they went through, and what little racial tension we see here is directly siphoned off by Buck being a good guy and bringing Jefferson into the plan. It’s feeling like they blew the whole budget in the first episodes and now scrambling to make it interesting with 10 different stories at once. I anticipated this for soooo long. I want to love it so bad. But man it’s getting tough. After 6-7 I said ok 8 and 9 are going to really bring it home…so disappointed…I wanted to get the physical copy next to my BOB and the pacific and unfortunately I don’t think I will, et alone watch it again. At least not for a long time. Episode 9 is going to have to pack in so much. I’m hoping they saved the rest of the budget for episode 9 lol.
The drop tanks were mostly made out of paper and were referred to as paper mache tanks...they only had to last a couple of hours.
Need to watch The Tuskegee Airmen from 1995
The scene with crosby actually happened but in reality he almost crashed his jeep , somehow made it to his bed and zonked out immediately
4:13 "what are these caffeine pills?" -daniel
those are not caffeine pills.
Amphetamines if I remember correctly.
Jefferson, Macon and Daniels all did end up in Stalag Luft 3. Two of them were shot down attacking radar stations in Toloun. The remaining one attacking radar stations at Marseille. While no definitive proof they mingled with guys of the 100th it was very possible they did.
Jefferson even wrote his own book on his experiences.
You really need to give "Stalag 17" (1953) areaction to! A terrific movie that takes place in a German POW camp with downed fliers!
The Tuskegee sequences were a let down. You couldn't feel the scale of the group'c contribution featuring just a section of four planes.
WW2 exposed a lot of myths about race in the US. Japanese citizens were put in internment camps, but when given a chance to serve, the all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team became, and remains today, the most decorated unit in the history of the US Army. The Tuskegee Airmen were segregated and posted in Italy away from the action (that's why they flew 500 low-risk missions), but when given a chance to escort bombers into Germany, they famously never lost a single bomber under their protection to enemy action.
When these soldiers returned home to the US, they faced the racism of the 1950s. But their kids heard their stories and grew up to become the radicals and revolutionaries of the 1960s.
the finale is screened for 1h 17m so it is the longest episode so hopefully they’re able to fit everything in it well.
I read somewhere that the last episode should be longer (1h 15 min or so).
yes significantly longer than the other episodes because they have to wrap it up
As well two movies about the Tuskegee Airmen, there's also been some comics, I recommend Garth Ennis' 'Dreaming Angels' limited series to any readers out there.
I saw “Red Tails” in theatres when I was a kid and FUCK that’s a great movie. Go watch it. It makes what the bomber crews are saying make more sense. The white pilots would chase the Germans for the kills while leaving the bombers alone for times. The black pilots would normally stay closer to the bombers and instead of chasing down fighters miles away would just keep staying close to the bombers and it led to a really cool symbiosis between the two parties. Which is why in war movies the racism is toned down between Tuskegee airmen and Bomber crews
Thank you
They were on the same camp, because each branch of the military had their own camps so army would be sent to enemy army camps. Pilots would be sent to Air Force prison camps, and Navy would be sent to Navy prison campa
The planes had red tails but the movie is tuskegee airmen
I found episode eight to have absolutely one of the worst episodes of the whole show. The show is trying to cover too much and changes scenarios way too often. Masters of the Air has to be the weakest of the three in comparison to Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Now you guys gotta watch 1995's THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN with Laurence Fishburne. It's even better than Red Tails!
Yeah, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed with the series. There have definitely been good episodes, but also some meh episodes and then this episode. Seems weird to introduce three new characters right before the series ends; they should have been brought in earlier. I think it's a little weird to focus so much time on Crosby, when he isn't even on the bombers anymore (according to the show, anyway.) Not to mention that this show about bombers doesn't really show bombers that much anymore.
Anyway, if you're interested in the bombing campaign in Europe during WWII, I recommend 'Memphis Belle' and '12 O'Clock High'. Much better.
well isn't this whole show based off of Crosby's book so it makes sense to show him a lot.
@@kevinprzy4539 Crosby's book is one of the sources, but the main book it is based on is "Masters of the Air" by Donald Miller. "Masters of the Air" is about the Eighth Air Force in WW2, not just the 100th Bomb Group.
Actually you burn next to nithing running the engine empty on the runway. But takeing of together and then flying in formation can save you a lot of fuel on the way. So they are not stupid lineing up with running engines.
I believe Tuskegee Airmen flew the B/C model, which is now extemely rare--fewer guns, but lighter and a higher performer. To my way of thinking, there has never been a movie or documentary that drills into their tactics, particularly those they develped themselves. To me, that would be a proper testimonial. Red tails wasn't bad, but having a pilot deliver his lines with a chest full of 30mm?
They flew both the B/C and D model Mustangs, P-40s before that.
@@andrewwaller5913 They weren't flying P-51Ds in August 1944 though, and the P-51D didn't get rockets until 1945.
00:45 - "Luftwaffe" ('Looft-vassa'). Literal translation from German is "air weapon", IIRC. The German Air Force. Even after the (other N-word that YT slams) days in Germany, their NATO-era Air Force is still called that. The movie about the Tuskegee Airmen is "Redtails" (2012). They had the red paint on the tails on the aircraft. In WW2, it was an experiment to see if black people could do that kind of work. Spoiler alert - they * could *.
The movie RED TAILS is about them but has no substance..The earlier HBO version called TUSKEGEE AIRMEN is the one to be watched..
@@mohsinsyedain1754, sounds good, I'll see if I can find it. Thanks.
The Code of Conduct
I am an American fighting in the forces that guard my country and our way of life, I am prepared to give my life in their defense. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way. Should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies. I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
I know how much you value the integrity of your reactions and reviews. But I could not, in good conscience, pass up the opportunity to impress upon you the sheer brilliance of Dune 2. You must experience it in IMAX and do a review. I promise you, you'll not regret it. It is a masterpiece. Trust me. Your pal, Raf dad.
Officers go to Officer camps and enlisted go to enlisted camps.
Need to react to the 1993 version of The Three Musketeers. That movie is slept on in my opinion and its free on youtube right now. I haven't seen any reaction videos to it at all yet and its been out forever. Would be a good watch and you two are my favorite reactors at this point.
Really should see the 1974 and 4 musketeers if you haven't. I've seen them all from the 50s to the 00s. And the 74 version is stunning.
The 3rd film made a long time after isn't good to.
I'm also a little fond of the steam punk version with Milla Jovavich as M'lady.
you should check out the movie God's & Generals and it's sequel Gettysburg, great movies about the Civil War.
Am i the only one who thinks the 2nd half of this series has been A$$?? It's like they had a whole series worth of actual bomber missions planned, realized they didn't have the budget half way, and had to make up filler for the last half (which has so far taken place mostly on the ground, not in the air!)
Yes! The cgi has gotten worst and this episode was a huge disappointment - overloaded and too disjointed - they probably ran out of money. Ep 5 & 6 were my favorites - directing duo Boden & Fleck with Jac Fitzgerald’s cinematography were the peak of this series. Too much focus on the ground now. I was expecting more Rosie but he was just glossed over.
Many cases where the tanks wouldnt drop even into the Korean war and further.
Red Tails is good.
Honestly I was rather disappointed with Red Tails.
The HBO movie with Laurence Fishburn was better
Nahhh. Red Tails was not a very good film. It wasn’t even close.
The Tuskegee Airmen was a much better movie than Red Tails
7:26 It's August and they're wearing huge coats and beanies lol.
In Europe.
Yup, remember lack of nutrition and exercise and vitamins and so on, play a role in peoples bodies, including the ability to stay warm naturally. It was a common thing. It also let them hide things on their person.
@@AndrewAHynd Yeah, didn't think of that. Makes sense.
No need for that, since you made an even dumber comment then mine.
Edit: This was a reply to a dude telling me to delete my comment... ironically he ended up deleting his. lol
@@AndrewAHynd - The Stalags were nothing like what the show portrayed. Even “Hogan’s Heroes” was historically accurate.
In reality crosby only slept 24 hours according to his book but yeah slept through D-Day
♥
The Tuskegee Airmen don't really belong in this story.
A series about their story would be better than just shoving them into this series.
The P-51s they had in August 1944 were P-51B/C, not he P-51D shown.
The rockets weren't used in the way that was shown. They were either salvoed (all rockets go at once), or ripple fired (2 go at a time, but in quick succession). They were not an accurate weapon, and didn't guide themselves onto the the target like it appears in that scene.
Rockets were not available on P-51Ds until 1945. P-51B/C used a different system, and may not have been able to carry drop tanks when using rockets.
Imagine if in the 9th and penultimate episode of Band of Brothers they sidestepped the main narrative threads and character arcs they worked to build up to in all the previous episodes, just to randomly introduce members of like say, the 17th Airborne just because theyre tangentially related. And we the audience have to ignore how rushed and shoehorned it feels because someone in the production really wanted the 17th represented even though theyre different units who fought on different fronts. Also they utilize stereotypes and cliche writing tropes because they dont have enough time to properly introduce and establish their characters. Viewers would rightly be like what the hell was that? Thats how I felt after watching this. Its too bad the writing in this show is so sloppy because it had the potential to be truly as great as its predecessors.
Only two more episodes till the finale, which is such a shame, considering that this is a great miniseries.
Next week is the final episode of I believe
These last episodes are just total mess and a failure, and this one 8th is a pinnacle of this and totally crumpled. More of that.. amount of inaccuracies are over the top. As aviation lover of 30-40s .. I can say that it is so painful to watch. Even not avia-fans can clearly feel and see how BAD it goes one: these interrogation scenes by luftwaffe oficer are so bad and crumpled comparing to previous interrogation when Egan got caught. That one was intence and well scripted. But now.. it is like a joke with really BAD script-writing and direction. I hugely dissapointed by this series now.
And if we will mention all tech & planes innacuraties, planes behavior and planes itself (it was good until fighters came on screen while ago from some point in the show)... it whould be total FAIL as TV-seties now.
I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this series, and in the first half of it, I did… But not now. It’s rushed, the cgi changed, it’s too ”Hollywood” compared to BoB or The Pacific… It made me sad. I was hoping it would be up there.
6:04 Can I get a translation of that line? Don't speak German and it wasn't captioned when I watched.
I also agree, this could've been 3 to 4 seasons worth of show at 10 episodes a season.
Man, this was a huge flop for me. Was looking forward to seeing this part of the story and it ended up being the worse episode so far by a mile…
Red Tails movie stinks.
This sure felt rushed to me. Muskagee should habe been a part of the show before this episode. Pacing felt off to me. Still good but not as tight of an episode.
tuss-kee-gee - Tuskegee AL - pretty world famous. shocking you didnt have an idea on whom they were. very shocking
the big time jump and the intro of many new characters seemed very disjointed to me, kind of disappointed actually.
This series was great until it wasn't.
Don't watch "Red Tails", it sucks :D
Terrible movie