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Marco Polo - A tale of power, adventure, betrayal & lust - Netflix - spoilers for S1

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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus


Marco Polo is a Netflix original drama series, created by John Fusco (The Forbidden Kingdom) and produced by The Weinstein Company. Originally developed at Starz, the initial production ground to a halt due to the difficulties of filming in China - escalating costs and battles with censors over the series' violent and sexual content. After being dropped by Starz, the series was picked up by Netflix and was filmed at the new Pinewood Studios in Malaysia. At $90 million dollars, it is one of the most expensive television series ever made. Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon Tiki Helmers) directed the series' first two episodes.

All 10 episodes of the first season will be available at 12:01 AM PT on December 12, 2014.

Since all the episodes are going up at once, we'll follow the rules set in the previous Netflix original series threads and spoiler tag (and label) all spoilers for the first two weeks, until December 26. Please spoiler tag any discussion and label which episode you're talking about outside of the tags: e.g. Ep 5:
Marco Polo dies in the year 1324

"Marco Polo" is an epic adventure that follows the early years of the famous explorer as he travels the exotic Silk Road to the great Kublai Khan’s court. But Marco soon finds that navigating the Khan’s world of greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry will be his greatest challenge yet, even as he becomes a trusted companion to the Khan in his violent quest to become the Emperor of the World.
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Cast




  • Lorenzo Richelmy as Marco Polo
  • Zhu Zhu as Kokachin
  • Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan
  • Tom Wu as Hundred Eyes
  • Remy Hii as Jingim
  • Rick Yune as Kaidu

Videos and Articles




Promo Photos

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If you're new to Netflix, you can get a free month by clicking here!
 
C

CitizenVectron

Member
I'm not expecting it to be historically accurate, and I I won't be surprised if there's gratuitous sex scenes...but I'll watch it. Netflix has done pretty well so far on their original series, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
S

Sober

Member
Cornballer said:
I'm in for a few episodes. Not quite sure what to expect here.

Thanks for putting the thread together, Ratsky.
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Yeah, the reviews you posted back in the other thread didn't really seem like it was anything special, perhaps other than the period and the setting and even then it didn't seem to win anyone over as much.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Cornballer said:
Not quite sure what to expect here.
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Martial arts battles and naked concubines filmed against a beautiful Chinese Malaysian backdrop! :D

Sober said:
Yeah, the reviews you posted back in the other thread didn't really seem like it was anything special, perhaps other than the period and the setting and even then it didn't seem to win anyone over as much.
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I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. A lot of period genre shows start out rough but eventually turn into something fun - Spartacus, Da Vinci's Demons, and Black Sails were all slammed by critics initially.
 
H

Hamlet

Member
I'll definitely be giving it a watch. Always a sucker for these type of shows and it looks very pretty from the footage released so far.
 
S

Sober

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. A lot of period genre shows start out rough but eventually turn into something fun - Spartacus, Da Vinci's Demons, and Black Sails were all slammed by critics initially.
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Same but I get the feeling the critics said it felt too 'paint-by-numbers' for Netflix, which I don't entirely understand, but if it's something like House of Cards (which people also called it that) then I can see myself finishing the first season but then giving up - which in fact I did for House of Cards as well, or at least, I wasn't really tempted to continue to season 2.

But either way, yeah, I'll give it a shake, see how it goes.
 
T

the black pearl

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
Martial arts battles and naked concubines filmed against a beautiful Chinese Malaysian backdrop! :D



I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. A lot of period genre shows start out rough but eventually turn into something fun - Spartacus, Da Vinci's Demons, and Black Sails were all slammed by critics initially.
Click to expand...

How much does Black Sails improve?

Kind of felt like Spartacus was consistent beginning to end. Just trashy fun, with some decent characters. Never watched the other seasons though, looked awful.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I remember watching a series called Marco Polo when I was a kid. (Google says it aired in 1982.)
 
B

berzeli

Banned
Looks pretty stupid, and ... well pretty, might be a nice diversion but I don't have any real hopes for it.

Have there been any reviews posted?
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
GK86 said:
I hope this turns out to be a success for Netflix.
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Me too!

TCRS said:
looks like cheap melodramatic shit. a shame, I would have liked something more accurate.
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Historical accuracy (which it might be. ish. who knows?) would have prevented it from being cheap melodramatic shit?

berzeli said:
Have there been any reviews posted?
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Only a couple so far. I'll start posting them when more begin rolling out.
 
B

BuckRobotron

Member
A trailer popped up for this after I watched a Bond flick on Netflix. Certainly looks good, see how it actually plays out though. Added it to the list.
 
D

diggmcbadass

Member
Reviews seen meh, but I have watched worse. Hope there are some interesting characters to catch my attention though. I often find that those are more important than a well written story (Frank Underwood, Batiatus, etc).

I'll give it a fair chance at least. Netflix originals has earned a lot of goodwill from me by this point. They're no late 90's HBO, but then again nobody else are at this point either.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
I had hoped this was about a bunch of people playing the pool game. Imagine THAT marco polo as a story of power, adventure, betrayal, and lust.
 
C

ctothej

Member
I read a couple of non-reviews from people who saw the first six episodes and loved it (I expect their official reviews will come out soon). I'm keeping my expectations modest, but I think the show won't be as critically panned as the Grantland review suggests.
 
C

CrocMother

Banned
TheGreatPotato said:
I'm not expecting it to be historically accurate, and I I won't be surprised if there's gratuitous sex scenes...but I'll watch it. Netflix has done pretty well so far on their original series, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
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The thing about Marco Polo is that we're not sure anything he wrote is accurate. He could have made the whole thing up (although it's unlikely), so I think that a TV adaptation can take some liberties.

The actual account was written by a fiction writer Polo met in prison.
 
M

mdubs

Banned
The trailer hit all the right notes with me so I'm hyped . I'm keeping my expectations reasonable though, I'm not expecting Game of Thrones but I think it will be a good time with some interesting political intrigue, Zhu Zhu (hellooooo!) and good action.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Has anyone seen advertising for this around? It's been a quiet rollout from Netflix so far, in my experience. The only time I've seen marketing is when I'm actually on Netflix - I watched a movie tonight and they immediately started rolling the Marco Polo trailer once it was finished.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Cornballer said:
Has anyone seen advertising for this around? It's been a quiet rollout from Netflix so far, in my experience. The only time I've seen marketing is when I'm actually on Netflix - I watched a movie tonight and they immediately started rolling the Marco Polo trailer once it was finished.
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Nope, not a once.
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
Cornballer said:
Has anyone seen advertising for this around? It's been a quiet rollout from Netflix so far, in my experience. The only time I've seen marketing is when I'm actually on Netflix - I watched a movie tonight and they immediately started rolling the Marco Polo trailer once it was finished.
Click to expand...

Not one billboard in LA. I even saw a Derek billboard.

Given the timing of its release in the depths of December (though not as bad as Mozart in the Jungle), I'd say they either are burying it or just don't care about it's North American launch and are focusing internationally.
 
D

Draconian

Member
ivysaur12 said:
Not one billboard in LA. I even saw a Derek billboard.

Given the timing of its release in the depths of December (though not as bad as Mozart in the Jungle), I'd say they either are burying it or just don't care about it's North American launch and are focusing internationally.
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Yeah, they spent $90 million on this show. There's no way they're burying it.

I'm excited. Always up for these historical shows.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
ivysaur12 said:
Not one billboard in LA. I even saw a Derek billboard.

Given the timing of its release in the depths of December (though not as bad as Mozart in the Jungle), I'd say they either are burying it or just don't care about it's North American launch and are focusing internationally.
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I should drive around my area. It's usually covered in bus stop ads for Netflix shows. My new commute keeps me on the highways so I may just have been missing them, but haven't seen anything yet.
 
L

Lumpy Onion

Member
Looking forward to this. He's a historical figure that I am fairly ignorant about. Hell, I think all I know about him was that he was an explorer and that "Marco? Polo!" Game as a kid. Always love seeing a historical show/movie about stuff that I'm not familiar with because it feels fresh.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
GrumpyAlien said:
Looking forward to this. He's a historical figure that I am fairly ignorant about. Hell, I think all I know about him was that he was an explorer and that "Marco? Polo!" Game as a kid. Always love seeing a historical show/movie about stuff that I'm not familiar with because it feels fresh.
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Yeah I don't know much about him either (shamefully so since I was a History minor) which is nice because the inaccuracies won't bother me. I'm just accepting this show for what it is, a period based drama. In the same vein as something like Da Vinci's Demons. That show is about as loose with its adherence to history as possible, and it's still a blast. I'd rather a show have fun with its setting and characters rather than be shackled down by being historically accurate. When/If I want real details, I'll pick up the book or watch a documentary.

I'm in for a few episodes. I'm terrible at the whole binge watching thing on Netflix. I watched six episodes of The Affair on my DVR, but still haven't finished the second season of OITNB even though I watched the first episode the second it was added. Really hoping this show is a winner, all my faves are going to be gone for winter break.
 
B

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
It looks kind of lame.

I also feel that the series should be about Genghis Khan. Who cares about Marco Polo when you have the most powerful barbarian in history.
 
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