one of my absolute favorites!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's been 3 years since socialite Eve Tozer (Bess Armstrong) heard from her wealthy father Bradley Tozer (Wilford Brimley). His business partner in London is trying to declare him dead. She has only 12 days before the partner steals the family business and the entire fortune. Her only option is hiring drunken war hero Patrick O'Malley (Tom Selleck) and his mechanic Struts (Jack Weston). Under fire from pursuing gunmen, they fly two biplanes from Turkey to Afghanistan and eventually China where Bradley is leading villagers in a battle against a local ruthless warlord.It's a rather simplistic 'road' movie. It's an action adventure following the successful footsteps of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The characters are simply drawn. Certainly, Selleck has a bit of Indy in him. The romantic chemistry is also drawn from that road map. I do like the flying although action is not always there. At least, that's what I remember most before watching it again recently. Of course, it's inferior to Raiders but it still works.

The behind-the-scenes story behind the casting of Indiana Jones for Raiders of the Lost Ark has become Hollywood folklore. After screen testing and considering dozens of actors, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas opted for TV actor Tom Selleck. Alas, Selleck was contractually tied to his hit TV opus Magnum P.I., which forced him out of contention allowing Harrison Ford to make screen history. Anyone wondering how Selleck would have fared in the role had a chance to see when two years later he appeared in the Raiders knock-off High Road to China...Boy, did Spielberg and company dodge a bullet! The plot, such as it is, is set in the 1920s and features flapper heiress Bess Armstrong being informed that she will lose her inheritance unless she locates her father (Wilford Brimley) last seen in the wilds of Afghanistan. She hires the services of boozy aviator Selleck to launch a search and a shoddy by-the-numbers adventure/comedy/romance results. See Tom and Bess get off on the wrong foot. See Tom and Bess bicker incessantly. See Tom and Bess make goo-goo eyes. See them bicker some more.The film's problems are many. First, there is no decent villain. Robert Morley appears as a business partner who throws assorted problems in their path, but he is never a believably menacing adversary and his obstacles never seem more than irritants. Indeed, there is very little actual danger confronting our intrepid twosome, resulting in a dearth of suspense. At no point does it seem the leads are in any real jeopardy, unless it is from nodding off like the viewer.Some of the scenery is lovely and John Barry contributes his usual reliable score, but therein ends the kudos. The screenplay is filled with groan-worthy dialog and an almost pathological lack of interest. The action sequences are positively stillborn and then film moves at the exhilarating pace of hardening concrete. I swear I grew a full beard by the end of the first hour.Worst of all are the leads. Armstrong has never been one of my favorite performers and she demonstrates why here. Her heiress is so darn perky, she about bounces off the ceiling. Armstrong and company no doubt find this characteristic endearing, but I find it insufferable. To say she has no chemistry with her leading man is an understatement of gargantuan proportions, but then I am hard pressed to remember ANY leading lady that generated even minimal sparks with Selleck.Selleck is a disaster. I freely admit, I never got his celebrity or his longevity in the business. He comes across as a handsome lumbering block of wood on screen - completely free of charisma. His idea of comedy is a bargain basement drunk impression and belching in the face of his leading lady. There is zero chemistry with Armstrong and it often appears that he is not even trying. He undergoes everything in the film with such a low wattage effort that he literally lowers the blood pressure of the viewer with each passing frame until one is nearly on the verge of losing consciousness.With no chemistry between its leads, low-octane performances from its stars, no memorable villain, deadly dull action sequences and dialog penned by a grade-Z hack, this is one flight that viewers should definitely miss.

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.

A drunk previous WWI pilot (Tom Selleck) and his underling (Jack Weston) are contracted 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 enough action 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 perceived by the film-going public as being a knock-off to Raiders of the lost ark (1981) when in fact the film had been in development since the late 1970s . 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 .