I haven't seen High Road to China(1983) but the cast looks great! Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong, Wilfred Brimley, Robert Morely, Brian Blessed and Jack Weston, how can you go wrong?
Plus Cassandra Gava, the incredibly alluring witch in Conan the Barbarian. And Bess wan't exactly chopped liver in The Four Seasons.
I also note that the legendary director John Huston was originally attached to this project and was involved with the pre-production.
I may be 38 years late to this party but I have high hopes once it comes around again on one of my cable channels.
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"I know positively that our good friend Dr. Stall has treated this boy...for Malta fever, Beriberi and that dreaded of all diseases, Mo Go on the Ga Go Go."
...Egbert Souse(WC Fields) in The Bank Dick (1940)
I recall very little of this movie but have listened to its soundtrack by John Barry (my favorite film composer) many times. I'm sure the score is the best thing about it. Barry, like Goldsmith, could write some fantastic scores to even the biggest of clunkers. Such was their genius!
An interesting side note is that the director of the film was Brian G. Hutton, who directed one of my absolute favorite films of all time - the snowy WWII adventure epic WHERE EAGLES DARE! Every winter when it begins to snow outside I get out my DVD of this timeless classic and it never gets old. The score by Ron Goodwin is pure exhilaration!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh7S7V-y500
Hutton also directed KELLY'S HEROES, which was also good but nowhere near the excitement of EAGLES.
With the benefit of hindsight and decades of moviemaking since.... It was a flawed production in some key areas. It was stylistically dated when it came out!
The directorial choices were pretty bad. Close ups were too tight, pacing was off, action was not well done, SD version's lighting seems way too dreary, and there was nothing to create any empathy for the characters (at least in the first half of the film). Also, not really any chemistry to speak of.
I haven't looked to see who produced and directed, but it was clearly the wrong team. MPI had far better production talent and storytelling. I see the potential in this ptoject, but it was an awkward and lilted attempt.
It was a waste to put TS in the role. He had depth and it was not used. Shame.
Watched it until the end, but it didn't feel like I'd watched a 1980+ feature film.... More of a 1970's alt. production for TV.
6/10 is a fair assessment. TS did well with what he could influence.
With the benefit of hindsight and decades of moviemaking since.... It was a flawed production in some key areas. It was stylistically dated when it came out!
The directorial choices were pretty bad. Close ups were too tight, pacing was off, action was not well done, SD version's lighting seems way too dreary, and there was nothing to create any empathy for the characters (at least in the first half of the film). Also, not really any chemistry to speak of.
I haven't looked to see who produced and directed, but it was clearly the wrong team. MPI had far better production talent and storytelling. I see the potential in this ptoject, but it was an awkward and lilted attempt.
It was a waste to put TS in the role. He had depth and it was not used. Shame.
Watched it until the end, but it didn't feel like I'd watched a 1980+ feature film.... More of a 1970's alt. production for TV.
6/10 is a fair assessment. TS did well with what he could influence.
I've seen portions of the film, not the whole thing. I'm sure the best thing about it is the magnificent John Barry score. Also the director of it was Brian G. Hutton. Not a household name but he did direct 2 WWII classics - WHERE EAGLES DARE and KELLY'S HEROES! EAGLES is actually one of my all-time favorite films. The Alpine snowy scenery is some of the best I've ever seen in any film, the plot is intricate and twisty but really interesting, and the Ron Goodwin score is sublime! Every winter I'm drawn to rewatching this beautiful snowy film! I encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. What an unlikely team - but it works!!
