An alcoholic bi-plane pilot is hired by a spoiled industrialist's daughter to search for her missing father through Asia.
But searching for her father eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord....
This obviously was Selleck trying to show Spielberg what he missed out on when Selleck couldn't take the part because of his obligation to Magnum.
So this is his Indiana Jones, and I bet Spielberg drew a big sigh of relief. Selleck is fine in the first act, when he is filled with booze and falling all over the place, but then we get into the second and third acts, and it turns into one of the most clock watching films I've seen in a very long time.
The first act is full of so much promise, some good humour, genuine banter between him and his token sidekick, fantastic aerial camera- work, and quite an intriguing plot.
But then it goes as dry as the desert when we bump into Brian Blessed as the very loud, sexist, whatever nationality he's supposed to be leader.
He hates the three of them at first, but as soon as Selleck slaps the female lead, he's his best friend!!
And then it plods along until we bump into Wilfred Brimmley who has the rest of the budget so the film can have some explosions in the final set piece.
Selleck is a good actor, but some of his output was just inexplicably bad in the eighties, because the scripts he received must have been Magnum in prison, Magnum and baby on the door step, and Magnum in WWII.
This is Magnum on autopilot.
But searching for her father eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord....
This obviously was Selleck trying to show Spielberg what he missed out on when Selleck couldn't take the part because of his obligation to Magnum.
So this is his Indiana Jones, and I bet Spielberg drew a big sigh of relief. Selleck is fine in the first act, when he is filled with booze and falling all over the place, but then we get into the second and third acts, and it turns into one of the most clock watching films I've seen in a very long time.
The first act is full of so much promise, some good humour, genuine banter between him and his token sidekick, fantastic aerial camera- work, and quite an intriguing plot.
But then it goes as dry as the desert when we bump into Brian Blessed as the very loud, sexist, whatever nationality he's supposed to be leader.
He hates the three of them at first, but as soon as Selleck slaps the female lead, he's his best friend!!
And then it plods along until we bump into Wilfred Brimmley who has the rest of the budget so the film can have some explosions in the final set piece.
Selleck is a good actor, but some of his output was just inexplicably bad in the eighties, because the scripts he received must have been Magnum in prison, Magnum and baby on the door step, and Magnum in WWII.
This is Magnum on autopilot.