High Road to China

This is absolutely one of the best action/adventure movies that I have ever seen. The fabulous scenery, the exciting action scenes, and the chemistry between Selleck and Armstrong combine to make it an all-time great. Bess Armstrong is in her prime, and is gorgeous, magnificent, and believable in her role as a rich, spoiled brat. And Jack Weston's character adds an interesting dimension to the movie. But most of all, the musical score by John Barry is hauntingly beautiful. It's amazing that the movie didn't do very well when it was released. As far as I'm concerned, this is a must-see. Hopefully, it will be available on DVD soon.

Unaccountably under-rated for years this film will eventually be appreciated for what it is -- a wry, often spectacular, often lyrical comedy-romance with great leads and brilliant character performers, accompanied by a score so ravishing Barry simply re-set it for Out Of Africa after the indifferent reception of this film. No doubt it suffered from being released in the wake of Raiders of the Lost Ark but the comparison is unfair, if not odious. High Road to China didn't compete with any others -- it had its own style, and it was gorgeous.

This is one of the best adventure films I've ever seen. Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong are great and Jack Weston as Struts is hillarious. It has some great scenes of the planes flying across country. And John Barry's music is excellent. The story is simple: Rich woman (Armstrong) hires drunken pilot (Selleck) to fly her to China to find her missing father. Meanwhile, people are trying to have her killed, and each stop they make along the way allows for a sideline adventure. All in all, one of my favourite films, and a rare treat of a movie. They don't them like this any more. I wish it were available on DVD!

This is one of my all time favorite movies and without a doubt my favorite Tom Selleck movie. I've never understood why it didn't do better and isn't more well known. It has an excellent cast, the chemistry between Selleck and Armstrong is palpable, the movie itself is very well done; decent plot, fast pace, well developed characters, great score and great cinematography, and it's a fun story. When people look back at Selleck's career I think this movie and "Quigley Down Under" will be considered his best big screen work. And Bess Armstrong has always been a strong actress, she's great in this movie, as is the entire supporting cast. This is the kind of movie that people go to the movies to see. It should get much more respect than it does, and it should be available on DVD!

Brian G. Hutton's "High Road To China" is a classic example of good old fashioned chemistry. Lost-generation flapper hires boozy WW-I flying ace to help find her father, lost somewhere in China, to avoid losing her inheritance. You just know that they will eventually get together, and plenty of facial expressions and body language promise an ending that eventually delivers. Some great scenery and flying scenes, and burly he-manning from Brian Blessed, keep you in stitches. If this had been filmed in black and white in the 40s, it would have been up there with Casablanca, et al. Lots of low-expectation fun.

Given Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong, Wilford Brimley, Robert Morley, Brian Blessed, and Jack Weston, and a bunch of excellent aerial action scenes, this is a terrific film. So what if there isn't a great message, or outstanding drama. For what this is... a comedy-adventure... it's great. Tom and Bess have always been extremely watchable to me, and they continue that tradition here. A solid 9.