With nearly two years to assess the merits of Apple TV’s World War II miniseries, Masters of the Air, the consensus among critics and non-critics places the well-made and well-performed TV show just below The Pacific and Band of Brothers. Although all three WWII TV series were produced by Playtone and DreamWorks, HBO’s high storytelling standard and superb casting rarely led to a dull moment in The Pacific and BoB.
In depicting the harrowing realities of fighting an international war by land, air, and sea, BoB, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air paint a complete picture of what life was like for the heroic soldiers who risked their lives to ensure freedom for Americans during the deadliest war in history. With profound reverence for those who served and a steadfast dedication to dramatic quality over quantity, The Pacific and Band of Brothers delivered two seasons of perfection.
What Is ‘The Pacific’ About?
Released on HBO in March 2010, The Pacific is the second World War II TV drama commissioned by Playtone and DreamWorks following Band of Brothers. Based on the non-fiction books With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie, the sweeping drama focuses on the Marine Corps, which gallantly fought for American freedom in the Pacific Theater of Operations during WWII.
Band of Brothers writer Bruce McKenna created The Pacific and used his expertise to maintain high-quality storytelling and narrative consistency between shows. Sledge is portrayed by Joseph Mazzello, and Leckie by James Badge Dale, with the authors’ first-hand account of their time in the war informing their superb performances. Their personal stories are similar to countless others, with The Pacific‘s vast ensemble cast aligning with that of Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan before it.
With a $217 million budget allocated across 10 riveting TV episodes, The Pacific lived up to HBO’s high standard of cinematic storytelling, plunging viewers into battle with visceral intensity. Pre-famous actors like Rami Malek and Jon Bernthal helped bring the story to life with stark realism and uncompromising psychological torment. As such, like Band of Brothers, The Pacific won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries. With an 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating (91% audience score) and an 8.3 IMDb rating, The Pacific nearly reached the critical and popular heights achieved by Band of Brothers.
‘Band of Brothers’ Remains the Best WWII TV Drama Ever Made
Created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg following their five-time Oscar-winning WWII drama Saving Private Ryan (including Best Picture), Band of Brothers is arguably HBO’s finest achievement, not named The Sopranos or The Wire. Based on Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose and released on HBO in September 2001, the sprawling TV series follows the infantry of Easy Company, Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. Using many of the same crew members as Saving Private Ryan, BoB was hailed as the small-screen equivalent to the cinematic masterpiece Spielberg and Hanks collaborated on.
With gritty and grueling intensity, Band of Brothers covers the United States’ role in WWII from Operation Overlord to the Victory in Europe, painting a stunning portrait of sacrificial bravery and battlefield brutality. Whereas The Pacific focused on the Marines fighting the war at sea, Band of Brothers showcases the punishing ground efforts by the Allied Forces in Europe. The indefatigable action scenes paired with the quiet, character-building moments proved that Spielberg and Hanks were at the top of their craft.
Featuring movie-quality production values and terrific performances by Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Scott Grimes, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fassbender, Neal McDonough, Simon Pegg, James McAvoy, Dominic Cooper, and countless others, BoB delivered 10 riveting hours of TV.
Made during a time when TV was more concerned about appointment viewing than binge-watching, Band of Brothers currently ranks #4 on IMDb’s Top 250 TV Shows of all time. The show has a 9.4 IMDb rating, with no single episode rated below 8.6. Band of Brothers also has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating (and a 97% audience score) in 2025, indicating a superbly crafted, timeless tale that never gets old.
Winner of six Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries, Band of Brothers has become synonymous with HBO’s excellence in consistent dramatic storytelling. Although Masters of the Air was not an HBO production, it nearly soars alongside the two all-time great WWII miniseries.
‘Masters of the Air’ Flies High But Falls Just Short of ‘The Pacific’ & ‘Band of Brothers’
Based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller, Masters of the Air is an Apple TV original miniseries released in January 2024, 23 years after Band of Brothers and 14 years after The Pacific. Although it did not air on HBO, Masters of the Air was produced by Playtone and DreamWorks as a follow-up to BoB and The Pacific to maintain an epic cinematic scope.
While the other miniseries focused on ground soldiers and marines, Masters of the Air follows the daring missions of the 100th Bomb Group in the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII to give a full picture of the U.S. military operations abroad. Austin Butler stars as real-life Air Force Major Gale “Buck” Cleven, Callum Turner as Major John “Bucky” Egan, Anthony Boyle as Lt. Harry Crosby, Barry Keoghan as Lt. Curtis Biddick, all supported by a massive ensemble cast on par with BoB and The Pacific.
Beyond the differences between producing an appointment-viewing HBO miniseries and a binge-worthy streamer miniseries, Masters of the Air fell short by delivering only nine episodes, compared to BoB and The Pacific’s 10. Yet, despite not soaring to the heights of HBO’s award-winning WWII miniseries, Masters of the Air is a worthy companion that almost reaches a similar altitude.
For instance, Masters of the Air holds an 85% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 73% audience score. The site’s consensus reads:
“Soaring high with its immaculate production design and acutely well-observed characters, Masters of the Air can stand proud alongside its sibling series Band of Brothers and The Pacific.”
With a 72 Metascore and a 7.8 IMDb rating, Masters of the Air may fall short of the production and storytelling standards set by BoB and The Pacific, but it still merits a watch for fans of the HBO counterparts. The Apple TV miniseries may have a more plastic, polished veneer than the grimy Band of Brothers, which was shot on 35mm film, but the performances and high-flying action scenes have been lauded. While far from perfect, the plaudits outweigh the detractors, making Masters of the Air a fitting companion to the all-time great HBO WWII shows. Masters of the Air is available to stream on Apple TV, while Band of Brothers and The Pacific are on HBO Max.
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