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.
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.