Very best movie i ever watch

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

"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.

OK, so this is all opinion, but of all the movies you can find on DVD, why not High Road to China?Relatively big name actors, big name soundtrack.If you're looking for a great entertaining enjoyable movie you probably would enjoy this.Bess Armstrong is adorable in this movie.Although Tom Seleck doesn't turn in a lot of Oscar worthy performances, he does a good job in this movie and you cant help but hope he ends up capturing the heart of the spoiled rich girl(Bess Armstrong)I have been looking for this for years.Whichever studio owns this should put it on DVD with Seleck "Her Alibi" both good adventure/love stories.Gotta be enough Tom Seleck fans alone to make money on the release of the DVD in the United State.I really enjoyed this movie and think its about time to open it up to another generation.Dear movie studios:Please release this on DVD in the USA.Thank You

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.

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!