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High Road to China, April 17 2012

post #1 of 14
2/12/12 at 2:02pm
Thread Starter 
I see High Road to China is due April 17.

This is a title that was never available on North American DVD, and the PAL import was 4:3 pan-and-scan.

It's from the post-Indiana Jones retro-adventure period, not as much comedy. It is by no means a great film but I have been wanting to see it again for a long time. I have come to appreciate Tom Selleck more as he has grown older.

EDIT:

Amazon has it for pre-order.

I'd forgotten John Barry did the score.

-Bill
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post #2 of 14
2/12/12 at 2:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wmcclain View Post

I have come to appreciate Tom Selleck more as he has grown older.

-Bill

Ditto on Tom Selleck. I was never a fan of Magnum but I've come to like him since them. I love QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER.

HIGH ROAD TO CHINA also has the painfully cute Bess Armstrong who had the best pixie/girl next door look of the 1980's.

Consider this pre-ordered!
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post #3 of 14
2/12/12 at 3:40pm
Holy cow! Talk about an unexpected surprise on Blu-ray.

I've been wanting to see this film for a long time now. Love Selleck, and love the romanticized atmosphere of these types of adventure films. I don't even mind if the movie isn't that great (apparently). I guess I'll find out!

A definite purchase from me.
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post #4 of 14
2/12/12 at 4:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex Robinson View Post

HIGH ROAD TO CHINA also has the painfully cute Bess Armstrong who had the best pixie/girl next door look of the 1980's

Yup!

Thanks for the heads up, Bill. Like you, I haven't seen this in forever. Ordered.
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post #5 of 14
2/13/12 at 7:54am
Damn, had such a crush on Bess Armstrong back in the day! Might have to get this one just to see her again.
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post #6 of 14
2/13/12 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
For anyone wondering about this film...

It's been so long that I only dimly remember the details. I'm buying it because it's been on my want list for a long time and I'm hoping my wife will like it. I don't see it at Netflix yet; the way their disc catalog is going chances are slim.

When I say it's not a great film I don't mean it's embarrassingly bad, not at all. Like a lot of movies it's a good concept, could have been better executed. Maybe it improves with age? I'll have a review and thumbnails in the 1980s thread after it ships.

Trekking his and her biplanes across Asia is an irresistibly romantic adventure plot. You can't have fun like that anymore.

I remember the Selleck character being an unreasonably sour hero, carrying the bad attitude for too long.

Recently I've been enjoying his Jesse Stone TV movies, mainly for his character and the autumnal tone. They're light on plot sometimes.



-Bill
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post #7 of 14
2/13/12 at 2:35pm
I remember this:

Quote:


Speak!

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post #8 of 14
4/7/12 at 9:31pm
Okay, so...

There is a "version" of this out there now. Those of you that are looking forward to having this relative rarity on Blu-ray, don't get your hopes up. The source is very obviously a DVD master, and result appears for all intents and purposes, a fair to middling DVD.

Better than nothing, if you are a fan, but certainly not HD by any measure.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I was looking forward to this one also.
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post #9 of 14
4/8/12 at 1:19pm
Thanks for the heads-up, seems everyone who has seen it says it's not HD. When even BD-com says it's awful, you know it's got to be bad.

As much as it pains me to do so, I'm canceling my preorder.
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post #10 of 14
4/8/12 at 2:25pm
I din't know if I would do that just yet DM2006RI. I read BD.com's review and he acknowledges the encode is taken DIRECTLY from the camera negative... Here's where the problem stems from. He says:

"Now before anyone runs off screaming "DNR" (a grossly abused and misused term on internet forums), let it be noted that film grain is visible and plentiful in this transfer. Indeed, the occasional night scenes (e.g., when Eve and Charlie first meet up with O'Malley and Struts) can be quite grainy. No, this appears to be a more fundamental issue with black levels and contrast settings, because it is hard not to notice just how bright everything in this image is at all times. There are no deep blacks or shadows..."

Well there's a reason the film looks that way.... because High Road to China is a very soft looking film to begin with. Ronnie Taylor was the DP on that film and use a high amount of indirect lighting as well as gauze filters to give the film a dream-like look... especially the CU of Bess Armstrong. It really has nothing to do with upping the brightness and reducing contrast, and has everything to do with the look Ronnie Taylor was trying to achieve.

I'm going to give this disc a whirl (as it's a sentimental favorite of mine).


Yancy
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post #11 of 14
4/9/12 at 8:29am
You're right, could be a contrast issue and not DNR, but I'm going to hold off until someone actually sees it here and gives the green light. It's a bit pricey and I'd rather know what I'm getting into first...as much as I like the film, if it is not better than DVD, than I can hold off.
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post #12 of 14
4/18/12 at 9:26am
Sooooo, anyone have any details on the shipping delay? A very few folks are claiming shipment has been made, many more have been told it's delayed and no one has it in stock.
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post #13 of 14
4/18/12 at 1:34pm
My copy just came in from Moviemars . com (had a coupon).

Had a quick look at it -- I'm pleasantly surprised considering my low expectations. There's definitely HD detail in evidence -- and I think what the Blu-Ray.com reviewer complained about was a result of the original cinematography being what it was, as gallandro mentioned.
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post #14 of 14
4/30/12 at 4:32am
Thread Starter 
I have a review and thumbnails here.

-Bill
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