High Road to China (1983)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Captivating movie !

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"High Road to China," is a film that is challenging to a 21st century movie reviewer. The troubling issues arise when deciding how to contextualize the film and story devices. Essentially this is an adventure comedy done with very dated sensibilities. As an example of technical skill and cinematography, HRtC meets and occasionally exceeds all of the conventions of early 80's film making. However, the character types and cultural representations are somewhat crude and naïve by current standards.Essentially, this is a film version of a 1950's style boys adventure novel. HRtC contains the requisite action, foreign locales, dashing characters, and subdued romance. The story is straightforward and focuses more on thrills than on breaking new ground or developing characters. With such a story, the film does require the use of stock characterization and a higher degree of stereotyping. The stereotyping is the single aspect of the film that leads to the most problems. To begin, the main protagonists are quite likable but noticeably hollow. Selleck would have made for a dashing pilot had the script given him more personal exposition and less snide quips. Armstrong plays the plucky dilettante to a tee. Again, her character is never given any dialogue to develop the character beyond a caricature. The second issue regarding stereotyping is the depiction of various Asian cultures. In maintaining a faster pace, any attempt at humanizing the tribal cultures is neglected. The Arabs are misogynistic tyrants. The Nepalese are doe-eyed mystics. The rural Chinese are barely functional in-fighters. While these caricatures do hearken back to pulp adventure novels, current audiences may cringe at such simplistic and imperialistic representations. The effect of these less than stellar characterizations is a film populated by hollow facades rather than relatable human beings.Even with its faults, HRtC is a very enjoyable film. As mentioned above, the story is simplistic yet engrossing. The action sequences are well done and have a wonderful early 20th century flavor. The cinematography is, at times, breathtakingly beautiful. The score is poignant and expertly coupled with the mood of the scenes. Essentially, this is a highly accomplished film on a technical level that falters in the gross stereotyping and mawkish dialogue. To be sure, HRtC is great entertainment; it is just great mindless entertainment.On a personal note, I really like this film. The fact that HRtC is a clear Indiana Jones copy in no way detracts from this movie. Steeping myself in high flying adventure from by-gone days is pure nostalgic bliss. I see this film as having great potential as a family film. The movie provides great entertainment and an opportunity to open up discussion on film and cultural representation. I will probably recommend this film to my father, so that we may relive past days and mull over just how correct Said was in "Orientalism." 6.5 of 10 stars.

This film will probably always be compared to "Raiders Of The Lost Ark". Compare most films to "Raiders..." and they will come out second best and, sadly, that is also the case here. However, High Road To China has lots to commend it and, taken on its own merits, is a very enjoyable film. On the surface, it's hard to see what's wrong with it. There are some superb flying sequences using vintage aircraft, some excellent cinematography, a score by John Barry (never a bad thing) and the two lead actors, Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong, deliver excellent performances.And yet... there's something lacking. Where does it fail? It's hard to say exactly. Maybe the stakes aren't high enough - the quest is only so that the heroine, Evey, can find her father and save her inheritance, but when she's throwing about tens of thousands of pounds to hire O'Malley, it's difficult for the viewer to believe she's in dire need of financial security. Then there's the villain of the piece, Bentik. He's played well by Robert Morley, and whilst his scenes are quite amusing they're basically brief inserts and seem largely unconnected to the main events. He never meets the main protagonists at all.Overall, High Road isn't quite as inventive as Raiders, it's not quite as pacey and perhaps the humour isn't quite as strong. The heroes do most of their fighting in aircraft, so it's less of an action picture in that sense, but the budding romance, although clichéd, is handled very well. Both Selleck and Armstrong act to a point where you can see what's going on behind the eyes, which helps make their on-screen relationship much more credible. Battlestar Galactica followed in the wake of Star Wars and was too easily dismissed as a weak clone of that film. Its good points were overlooked for years, but eventually its qualities won recognition. Now, dare I say, the same re-evaluation is required for High Road To China. Write it off as a weak clone of Raiders Of The Lost Ark if you like, but you're missing a lot of good points in this decent film. It won't have you on the edge of your seat, but it will certainly hold your attention throughout.

I'll say flat out that "High Road To China" is a lot of fun to watch. It features pretty decent performances from the two leads: Tom Selleck as ace pilot Patrick O'Malley and Bess Armstrong as rich girl Eve Tozer, and it has some good photography and camera work, and some decent action scenes. Unfortunately, the story itself leaves much to be desired. Predictable almost from the start, it doesn't provide enough "meat" to really captivate a viewer.Eve is a rich girl in the 1920's who stands to lose everything unless she can find her father (played by Wilford Brimley once he's discovered,) who was last seen three years before in Afghanistan. She hires O'Malley to take her to the region, and the pair begin their search, complete with a bit of a love/hate relationship with each other (it starts with more hate than love, then evolves.) To make their search more complicated, Eve's father's former business partner (played by Michael Morley) - who stands to take over the business (and thus Eve's money) unless her dad is found quickly - has people out trying to stop them. There were problems with the story. The efforts to stop them never really seemed threatening - actually, none of the predicaments they found themselves in seemed threatening; there was never any real sense that Eve and O'Malley were in any real danger. It was far too easy to find Eve's dad. True, they had to make a lot of stops, but every time they stopped they found someone who knew just who to go to for information. Interestingly enough even though I thought Selleck and Armstrong gave pretty good performances, I also didn't feel that they sparkled with chemistry together - the "romance" elements of the story seemed forced and insincere to me. (I confess that I did like the last line of the movie, given to Selleck, who closes by admitting to Eve that he had made a mistake. When she asks what it was, you expect him to say "falling in love with you." Instead he admits essentially the same thing, but by way of a joke - "I should have sold you as a slave when I had the chance!" The line has to be seen in its context to really be appreciated.) It's a bit of an escapist movie, I suppose - and nothing wrong with it in that sense, but it's not very meaty, it's far too predictable in every way and it won't leave you breathless. 5/10

I really enjoyed the movie immensely. The characters were all excellent. Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong had great chemistry. Jack Weston, Wilford Brimley, Robert Morley all provided superb support in their character roles. The wonderful music was provided by John Barry. The aerial duel with the German ace was well choreographed. The escape from the Arab village was exciting. The final battle sequences were very well done. If the movie has a flaw, it's predictable. However, it's great fun and I enjoy romantic adventures in the Hollywood style of the 30's, 40's and 50's. What's wrong with good clean exciting romantic entertainment? They need to make more these pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing it again!