Marco Polo (2007)

The series follows the adventures and discoveries of the Venetian, Marco Polo.

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writer:

Ron Hutchinson

Stars:

Ian Somerhalder, BD Wong, Desiree Siahaan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Somerhalder	...	Marco Polo
BD Wong	...	Pedro
Desiree Siahaan	...	Temulun / Kensai
Brian Dennehy	...	Kublai Khan
Kay Tong Lim	...	Lord Chenchu
Christian Lee	...	Cogatai
Luo Yan	...	Chabi
Michael Man-Kin Chow	...	Chi (as Michael Chow)
Mark Jax	...	Niccolo Polo
Alan Shearman	...	Maffeo Polo
Michael O'Hagan	...	Old Marco Polo
Ramin Razaghi Sefati	...	Persian Physician (as Rumin Razagh)
Jiaolong Sun	...	Chonggu (as Sun Jiao Long)
Zi Ge Fang	...	Achmath (as Fang Ge)
Rodger Bumpass	...	Rustigielo

Storyline

Assigned to accompany two priests on a mission to convert the court of Kublai Khan to Christianity, Marco Polo is abandoned in the mountains when the priests, doubting the very existence of China, turn back. Polo eventually pushes bravely forth alone toward the fabled country where he is accepted as an envoy into Khan's court. Marooned on the far side of the world, Polo, accompanied by his servant, Pedro, advances as a Mongol grandee for twenty extraordinary years. What he eventually brings back with him to the West is a chronicle that changed history forever.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | kublai khan character | marco polo character | one word title | 13th century | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian Dennehy portrays Kublai Khan. In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), a caricature of Brian Dennehy appears and gets told off to leave during the musical number, "What Would Brian Boitano Do?". Later in the song, Cartman mentions Brian Boitano fighting Kublai Khan.

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Goofs

Marco handles a bar of gold in his father's market in Venice. The bar is about the size of a 400 troy ounce bar, ie 27 lbs. Marco handles it as easily as a block of wood. One does not handle such weight so easily.

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Connections

Featured in Marco Polo - Entdecker oder Lügner? (2015)

User Reviews

Dennehy is a Mongol - yeah right!

What hope is there when even the films buyer/screener doesn't know the plot as the Plot Summary indicates - "Marco Polo is abandoned in the mountains when the priests, doubting the very existence of China, turn back. Polo eventually pushes bravely forth alone toward the fabled count - Written by Hallmark Channel". It seems they didn't even bother to watch the first 10-15 minutes to know that his father and uncle still accompanied him after the two priests (possibly the worst actors in the whole show) turned back.

Like others I agree the script, acting and casting was pretty atrocious for the European and 'name stars' and were mismatched to the possibly great movie that could have been if the production locations and costuming were better matched. I thought the era of trying to pass off Europeans (Dennehy) as Orientals had ceased and it was obvious the Asian actors were far better than the so called stars. At least back in the 50's and 60's all the actors and extras looked fake when playing foreigners of a different race. It is even more glaring when they are used alongside far better actors of genuine racial type.

However it did improve a lot after the first 30 minutes which had nearly made me switch it off.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Марко Поло

Filming Locations:

China

Company Credits

Production Co:

RHI Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min (Hallmark /RHI TV) 174 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1