Les aventuriers du bout du monde

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.

A drunk previous WWI pilot (Tom Selleck) and his underling (Jack Weston) are hired by a young heiress (Bess Armstrong) who must encounter her dad before her contender (Robert Morley) takes over the inheritance . They will face dangerous bandits (Brian Blessed) , numerous adventures and risks .

This exciting story gets an agreeable look and feeling to vintage adventures , exotic places , dastardly nasties and daring getaways than ever before . Packs action enough with explosion galore , especial aerial effects with impressive images of flight and dogfighting , comedy , tongue usefully in in its check , all that make it a cinematic roller coater ride . It's made like a classic's 30s-style adventure reminiscent of early serials and in the wake of ¨Raiders of the last ark¨ . Tom Selleck is a hard-drinking former air ace , he's a dashing and intrepid pilot , Bess Armstrong is perfectly cast as feisty heiress looking for his father , she's continuously irritated with the smooth talker and alcoholic adventurer . Both of whom play a special love story in a screwball-romance style . Besides , displaying spectacular images of Selleck and Armstrong gliding over extraordinary landscapes with musical background by John Barry , perhaps copied by Sidney Pollack in ¨Out of Africa¨ with the couple Redford and Meryl Streep , flying in similar plane and soundtrack . Regular cinematography by Ronnie Taylor filmed in Yugoslavia and England, the colors are worn-out , it's necessary an urgent remastering . The film was lavishly produced by Fred Weintraub and Raymond Chow , producers of ¨Operation Dragon¨ starred by Bruce Lee . This was 27th highest grossing film of 1983 at the American box-office . The picture was frequently considered by the film-going public as being a rip-off to Raiders of the lost ark (1981) when in fact the movie had been in development since the late 1970s , formerly the famous Spielberg adventure.

The film was well handled and professionally directed by Brian G Hutton, however was a flop and failed to give cash . Hutton started his career with little and prestigious films , such as ¨Wild seed¨ and ¨The Pad¨. There after , he veered off into big budgeted and all-star movies, proving which he could handle big scale production , as ¨Where the eagles dare¨, one of the best from Alistair McLean , furthermore with ¨Kelly's heroes¨ added humor to the warlike action . His next picture was ¨High road to China¨ marked a partial return with panache to his previous form but faltered at the Box-office , in spite of being quite amusing and with occasional touch of directorial skill, for that reason is a must for adventure buffs .

The last of a great breed. This is truly one of the last of the great classic films, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Simply put, films like this are a thing of the past, as has been shown in the last twenty years. They appeal to too narrow an audience by today's corporate marketing genius's standards (heavy sarcasm), and because of the cross market appeal this film has, it's guaranteed to be a box-office bust (again, buy today's standards).

Technically; the Kahn sequence seemed a touch slow and contrived, as well as the British army sequence and some of the other character oriented scenes, but still necessary. Regardless, the camera work, locations and art direction are top notch. Good stunts, excellent flying sequences, and, most importantly of all, there's no CGI to ruin the movie. Heck, there aren't even miniatures in this film! Everything you see in this film IS REAL. Aeroplanes, explosions, sets, locations, the whole shootin-match. :-) (so to speak).

No awards will be won by any single actor, actress or crew member. But, as a whole, this is a spectacular film that I really want for my DVD collection. Regrettably the only version available to us in the United States is the one provided on Youtube.

Romantic and adventurous settings, locations and story makes this one not to miss. Sellick and Armstrong definitely sync well together on screen.

*RESCREENED JAN 10th, 2010* My new title; "Indiana Jones Grows Up"

I got my DVD of this film a few days ago, and popped it into my region 2 player after work. All I can say is I'm truly glad I have this in my collection, and I think I appreciate the film now more than ever. What we have here is the bratty socialite connecting with the hero-has-been who's never grown up. She's a socialite aviatrix with womanly wiles, while he's the rugged man of the world, but prefers to stay in his immature mold and lost to the world. Both have lessons to teach one another, and it pays off. I find it a heart warming film that I think couples true of heart to another can share and enjoy.

Regrettably my region 2 DVD is not letter boxed, and the transfer, though respectable, is not what it could have been. Still, it's the only game in town as far a DVD version of this film goes, and I'm okay with that. Though shame on the powers that be for not making this film a priority for market.

Well, I don't have too much more to say other than I'm going to watch it again. :-)

Enjoy.

*EDIT JULY 10th, 2012* I got a brand new letterboxed and remastered DVD from Hen's Tooth Video. A fantastic transfer. Excellent quality. Many kudos to the people at Hen's Tooth. The film looks better than ever before. Pick up a copy today.

It's actually so sad to think they don't make movies like this anymore. 'High Road to China' is an enjoyable action adventure comedy in the vein of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', blending these genres to perfection. The premise is simple, without complicated issues or shocking twists - which seem to be the norm nowadays.

I always find films before CGI to be better film making. Given the fact that actors were shot on location as opposed to a studio with almost everything being added in post-production, I also found the acting to be more natural and realistic.

Romance between the lead characters is predictable and inevitable, but in this instance the chemistry between Patrick O'Malley (Tom Selleck) and Eve (Bess Amtrong) was so endearing (and even funny) that I was hoping for it, and enjoyed it.

The film offers a good dose of humor, action and adventure in equal proportions, and the climatic finale is action-packed and simply put fantastic! I really enjoyed this!

Would I watch it again? Hell, yeah!

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.