Tom Selleck only just missed out on the Indiana Jones franchise. The only reason the “Magnum, P.I.” star didn’t take the lead role in 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was because CBS refused to let him shoot George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s adventure movie and work on “Magnum.” So, Harrison Ford was brought in and the rest is cinematic history. Meanwhile, Selleck became a major TV star. But while his Indy odyssey officially ended in 1981, he did go on to front a movie two years later that was basically an unofficial Indiana Jones outing.
1983’s “High Road to China” was one of many “Raiders” clones that capitalized on renewed interest in the adventure movie following Ford’s film. “Treasure of the Four Crowns,” “King Solomon’s Mines,” “Firewalker;” all these movies emulated the Indiana Jones style, which was sort of fitting for a franchise that had taken its cues from adventure outings of years past. What’s more, one interesting byproduct of the “Raiders” clone craze was that Selleck got a chance to demonstrate what he might have done as Henry Jones Jr. in “High Road to China.”
Though the actor himself always remained sanguine about having to pass on “Raiders,” it remains one of the great “what-ifs” of Hollywood history. Selleck epitomized the muscle-bound Indy of Jim Steranko’s “Raiders” concept art, and he had all the charisma you could want from the rugged adventurer. So it only felt right that he did eventually get to embark on a globe-trotting odyssey of his own with “High Road to China,” which as these “Raiders” imitators go isn’t actually bad — despite what critics at the time said.
Read more: The Complete Indiana Jones Timeline Explained
High Road to China was an Indiana Jones clone that also had its own style
It’s not hard to see why Hollywood started churning out Indiana Jones-esque films in the wake of what remains the greatest adventure movie of all time. Many of these copies faded into obscurity, and for the most part that’s where they should stay. But “High Road to China” remains an interesting example that manages to diverge from Indy. For one thing, Tom Selleck plays a drunk who doesn’t actually fight anyone…
“High Road to China” is set in the 1920s and loosely based on Jon Cleary’s 1977 novel of the same name. Selleck plays biplane pilot and World War I vet Patrick O’Malley, who’s hired by heiress Eve “Evie” Tozer (Bess Armstrong) after her father Bradley Tozer (Wilford Brimley) goes missing somewhere in Asia. It seems Eve will lose her inheritance if her father is declared dead — something his shady business partner Bentik (Robert Morley) is all too eager to see happen. So, Eve hires O’Malley to accompany her on a trip to find and rescue her old man. Turns out Eve is a pilot herself, and really only needs one of O’Malley’s biplanes. Nevertheless, the pair set out together on a journey that takes them through multiple countries before finally finding the elder Tozer in China, where he’s helping a Tibetan town fight off Afghan warlord Suleman Khan (Brian Blessed).
Things culminate in a battle where Eve and O’Malley put their flying skills to good use. In all of this, Selleck’s hero doesn’t really engage in much Indiana Jones style action, leaving most of the physical combat to other characters and only engaging enemies via his plane. But that actually helps make “High Road to China” notably different from “Raiders” and its many clones.
High Road to China is nowhere near as bad as critics claimed
Brian G. Hutton directed “High Road to China,” replacing original directors, John Huston and Sidney J. Furie. Despite behind-the-scenes strife that cost the movie two filmmakers, “High Road to China” fared well commercially, making $28.4 million at the domestic box office on a $15 million budget (global figures aren’t available). As such, it’s not all that surprising that Tom Selleck remains proud of the film. During an interview with the AV Club, the star said he was “very fond” of Patrick O’Malley, adding, “It’s a good movie. It holds up.”
Roger Ebert wasn’t as positive. The critic described “High Road to China” as an an “unconvincing, harmless action movie” that “at its best moments is a pale echo of ‘Raiders.'” Ouch! Vincent Canby of the New York Times felt similarly, writing, “Everybody and everything — and thus the film itself — seem to have been spun off from other, better films, particularly Steven Spielberg’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.'”
Still, Ebert saw fit to give the film two stars, even if the best praise he could muster was “‘High Road to China’ is not a terrible movie.” He’s right. In fact, it’s actually pretty fun, and it’s great to see Selleck being given the chance to play an intrepid adventurer, even if it isn’t the one the entire world fell in love with. At the time, it must have been exhausting to see Hollywood pounce so enthusiastically on the “Raiders” trend. But viewed in retrospect, “High Road” isn’t as bad as it must have seemed in 1983. After all, “Raiders” is the best Indiana Jones film and the greatest adventure movie ever made. Nothing was going to live up to that.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.