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High Road to China [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Sweden ] | ![High Road to China [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Sweden ]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/612HZ2SR6DL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Brian G. Hutton
Studio: Atlantic
Category: DVD
Buy New: $25.99
New (1) Used (1) from $25.99
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 52427
Format: Import, Pal
Languages: English (Unknown), Swedish (Unknown), English (Original Language)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 106
UPC: 731998003055
EAN: 0731998003055
ASIN: B000GWIEWI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | THIS DVD WILL NOT WORK ON STANDARD US DVD PLAYER |
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Product Description
Sweden released, PAL/Region 2 DVD:it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ),Swedish ( Mono ),SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu,SYNOPSIS: O'Malley (Tom Selleck) is a heavy-drinking, tough biplane pilot flying the skies of China for fun and profit when Eve (Bess Armstrong) seeks him out to help her find her father before he is declared dead and she loses an inheritance to the evil Bentik (Robert Morley). O'Malley does not really want Eve around, but adventure and the challenge beckon.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 An undemanding old-fashioned adventure May 16, 2008
Originally intended as a Roger Moore vehicle before being given to Tom Selleck as a consolation prize for missing out on Indiana Jones, formulaic old-fashioned adventure High Road to China is not a great film, but it's not a terrible one either. Directed by Brian G. Hutton as a `favor,' it gets off to an awkwardly perfunctory start that just feels like it's going through the motions, but while it doesn't exactly hits the heights it does get a lot better as it goes along until it settles down to being a forgettably enjoyable enough time-filler. John Barry's score is pleasant enough but far too laid back to add much oomph to a film that definitely needs it.
The Swedish PAL DVD isn't great, but offers an acceptable transfer with English soundtrack and with removeable Swedish subtitles. The only extras are trailers for The Deer Hunter, Highlander and The Third Twin but not the main feature itself.
 An Affectionate Nod to the 1930's February 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This wonderful film reminiscent of those 1930's comedy adventures had the misfortune to come on the heels of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was compared unfavorably to Raiders because critics were not astute enough to recognize the difference between a film paying homage to the serial adventures of the 1930's such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, and an affectionate wave to a bygone type of picture from the same era, no longer made.
Critics may not have known what kind of film this was but Tom Selleck, as the often soused air ace Patrick O'Malley does, and so does Bess Armstong, who is quite wonderful in this film. She is spoiled heiress deluxe Evie Tozar, who hires Patrick to search for her missing father. The complication is that Bentik (Robert Morely) wants to insure she does not find him, so he can gain control of her father's fortune.
The other complication is Patrick's drinking and her determination to find her father, even if it kills him! Watching Patrick and Evie argue and bicker all across Asia reminds us of Gable and Harlow, and the charm of those films from the 1930's where we knew the constantly bickering stars were going to fall in love.
John Barry wrote his most beautiful score for this film, one that even outshines his later score for Out of Africa. It adds a sweeping beauty to the aerial scenes and the inevitable romance between the two leads. Bess Armstong shows something special here and should have become a big star. Perhaps the lukewarm reception to this magnificent film prevented that from happening.
Wilfred Brimley as Evie's father, and Jack Weston as Struts offer fine support in secondary roles, but Selleck and Armstrong are the big stars here, and they fill the screen in a manner befitting those film legends of the 1930's. You will not find anyone who has seen this film who didn't love it. Make do with whatever copy of this film you can acquire for now. Surely someone will realize what an audience there is for this film and it will be available once again.
While this truly great film remains at this time unavailable in a region one dvd format, at least those in region two, or with the proper equipment, can see it. A truly wonderful film you must own, whatever the format.
The perfect romantic comedy adventure January 28, 2008
This superb film, which amazingly is not available for US coded dvd consumption, is an unheralded gem. It follows a classic romantic comedy format in which the lovers-to-be despise each other at the beginning. In this case, she's a spoiled little rich girl and he's an alcoholic WWI flying ace reduced to taking her wealthy lady friends up for a ride before bedding them. But the story is layered over with high adventure of the Indiana Jones mold. When she hires him to take her looking for her father, neither of them realizes how far they will have to go or how they will come to respect and finally love each other. I thought Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong were magical together, and the fantastic score helps the romance, the adventure, and some great scenery take this film to the high road. A pity the US movie public didn't see it, or its beauty.
Good movie, bad copy... December 6, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'll not talk much about the movie, because odds are if you're even looking at this you've probably seen it. I'll just say that I loved it as a kid, and apparently so did the wife which is why I ended up buying this for her.
Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it. It was a thousand times better than the VHS copy at the local videostore, which was probably the only copy within two hundred miles of here and (based on the picture and sound) was on its last legs. But there was little to no effort put into actually mastering/restoring this for a DVD release.
But, beggers can't be choosers. Don't be afraid to pick this up; if you like the movie, as I said it's higher quality than you'll get on VHS or watching it on television the once or twice a year it's played.
Note: as stated plainly, it is a PAL version, and not Region 1. Which means you'll need a Region 2/Region Free player than can play PAL, as well as either a player or TV that will convert PAL to NTSC for your television. If you have neither, it's fairly trivial nowadays to make a copy (for personal use only) that's re-coded to NTSC and Region 1/Free. I'll not go into it here, consult your local computer geek.
A Cult Classic November 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are some movies that, for reasons I don't quite understand, just flop at the box office. This was one of them. Tom Selleck, as some may know, was the original choice to play Indiana Jones, but couldn't do the film because of his commitment to the "Magnum, P.I." series in which he was starring at the time. This move, which came along slightly later, was an attempt to get him into the role of rather Indiana Jones-like adventurer. Unfortunately for poor Mr. Selleck, where "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was a huge blockbuster, "High Road to China" was a box office dud.
It really is a shame, because the movie has a good story, a great cast, decent pacing, and real chemistry between the romantic leads, and an absolutely beautifil score by the great John Barry. It's nowhere near the film "Raiders" was, but it should have done well. I just don't know why people stayed away from the theaters for this one.
The film is based on a decent novel that probably few have ever read, and departs quite dramatically from it in several respects. The British William Bede O'Malley is changed to American Patrick O'Malley. Tom Selleck, though he does well in the part, as an American is perhaps not quite the best actor to play an ex-WWI flying ace (there were relatively few U.S. aces, after all, given how late we entered the war), and at 6'4" he's also rather big to be a fighter jock, especially from that era. And it would be nice, for a change, to see a film made with American money where they don't feel compelled to change things in order to make the hero American. The book had a German ex-enemy-turned-friend who is written completely out of the movie. And the novel had the heroine's father a hostage taken by a Chinese warlord, not as a warlord himself. But it's still an entertaining movie, and makes for a great afternoon or evening's entertainment. The period and locations are mostly very well filmed, and it's a nice, old-fashioned, romantic adventure story.
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