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:

priest | marco polo | mongol | kublai khan | christianity | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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

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

A missed opportunity

Given the fact that the makers had access to plenty of money, good costuming, and even to the locations (or convincing computer-generated substitutes), this could have been a very good historical movie.

Alas,the derogatory comments on this site regarding script, acting, and casting are perfectly valid. Who on earth cast Brian Dennehy as an oriental? There are established oriental actors who look the part — John Lone would be an obvious choice.

The real Marco Polo could speak Italian and French, and on his way to meet Kublai Khan may well have learned Turki, the language Kublai sometimes used in his written communications. But the ridiculous scene where they meet bears not the slightest resemblance to Marco Polo's real-life account, in which the great ruler was the soul of courtesy. Dennehy's grumpiness was pure fiction, like so much else in this tedious production.

The question that begs to be asked is: if one wants to make a historical epic, why present bad fiction instead of interesting fact?