-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Marco Polo - A tale of power, adventure, betrayal & lust - Netflix - spoilers for S1
- Thread starter RatskyWatsky
- Start date
- Status
Mgoblue201
Won't stop picking the right nation
The show starts from the perspective of Marco Polo, but he's also absent from long stretches of the first two episodes. For instance, the scenes involving the Song dynasty have little to do with him at all. I think the problem is that the show lacks a clear direction. The court scenes are all meant to be serious and dramatic, and display a degree of tasteful opulence, but then there are a few moments of sheer excess and craziness, plus a lot of cliches. I have no problem with that if the show really wants to commit to it and do it well. But most of the time it's trying to be a more serious show like Shogun instead.
Agreed. Love how Kublai is portrayed in the show so far. It definitely feels like the show is about Kublai, and that Marco Polo is more like an observer who gives the viewers access to the intrigues that surrounds him.
Episode 3 ending spoiler:
That final scene got me really good. I expected a snake when he started to dig through the rubble, but the final seconds still made jump in my seat!
Also, for those who wonders how the show compares to others of similar genres; I have enjoyed this more than Black Flag, The Borgias, Spartacus post Gods of the Arena, Game of Thrones post season 1, Da Vincis Demons and Vikings season 1. Still got ways to go until it passes the BBC Marco Polo or Shogun mini series' from the 80's though.
JoeyJungle
Banned
I just finished watching episode 2 and I really like it so far. It seems like it's taking more inspiration from Asian cinema than American cinema, and I think that turned off some of the reviewers (AV Club makes fun of a scene that seems like something you would see in any awesome in any Hong Kong film). Superficially it looks similar to Game of Thrones with all but one of the white people swapped out for asians, but it's really more like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets The Last Empreror. I'm digging it.
http://gifyoutube.com/gif/y4ZpjL
Gonna check this show out today
Gonna check this show out today
ComputerMKII
Banned
It looks too modern and glamourized for me.
The Illiterati
Member
Show FULL of non-Caucasian actors being ravaged on the internet, with seemingly not a note towards its diversity. Meanwhile, all anyone cares about it how white Moses is at the movies.
I personally thought the pilot deftly introduced a dozen characters pretty clearly and succinctly set up the conflicts for the season, in a realm of history I know nothing about. But those damn producers put an orgy at the end, thus trying to convince me that Asian women are alluring and exotic to Marco Polo! Feigned outrage!
I personally thought the pilot deftly introduced a dozen characters pretty clearly and succinctly set up the conflicts for the season, in a realm of history I know nothing about. But those damn producers put an orgy at the end, thus trying to convince me that Asian women are alluring and exotic to Marco Polo! Feigned outrage!
Hari Seldon
Member
Yeah forgot about this show being out. Will definitely poopsock some this weekend. The clips of reviews people are posting all sound like positive traits to me lol.
Hari Seldon
Member
Lol seriously. Why would anyone deduct points for having an orgy in a show unless they were like reviewing it for a religious newspaper?
I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm gonna stop at 6 since I have to work, but it's kept me engaged enough to keep watching. They should develop some of the side characters a bit more, but it's still fun.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
im gonna watch this when im done with Blue Bloods, hype!
Actually enjoyed the first episode. Not really sure where it's going, but it did a good job of introducing the characters and it looks gorgeous being shot in a bunch of different locations. I guess I just like seeing historical time periods and cultures depicted that rarely get the chance to, but I'll watch more of this regardless of what the reviews are saying.
Xplatformer
Member
Me too. I needed something to do tonight to get me to tomorrow's Warriors/Mavericks game and my Xmas party tomorrow night.
Coors Light and Marco Polo for the win. I'm seriously not expecting much. I read a review that downplayed the series because of the depiction of female characters. While that might have been of importance to that reviewer, it's not an issue to me.
It seems most people wanted the series to step outside the box. Be less "safe". Guess I'll find out tonight.
Crimson Clown
Member
First episode didn't blow me away but it wasn't the disaster I was expecting either (based on the reviews). I'll definitely check out another few.
It looks fantastic. The fights seem to be extremely well choreographed, hope there's more of that.
It looks fantastic. The fights seem to be extremely well choreographed, hope there's more of that.
I think I've heard more than enough to give this a try despite the negative reviews. I'll watch at least the first episode tonight.
To be honest, I think it's a bit of a mistake to compare every new show to the likes of Game of Thrones, The Wire, Breaking Bad and so on. Those are considered the cream of the crop, and really, a show doesn't necessarily need to reach those heights to be entertaining. I think with some more realistic expectations, people might be a little more willing to give a show like this a chance.
In any case, even if I don't like it, I'm still going to give it a try because I would love to see Netflix/Amazon and other networks tackle more period dramas like this.
To be honest, I think it's a bit of a mistake to compare every new show to the likes of Game of Thrones, The Wire, Breaking Bad and so on. Those are considered the cream of the crop, and really, a show doesn't necessarily need to reach those heights to be entertaining. I think with some more realistic expectations, people might be a little more willing to give a show like this a chance.
In any case, even if I don't like it, I'm still going to give it a try because I would love to see Netflix/Amazon and other networks tackle more period dramas like this.
Xplatformer
Member
Agree that it looks Amazeballs...and the acting is good (the script, pacing...not so much).
As someone old enough to remember the old SHOGUN miniseries...this show has a lot of work to do.
I'm trying to compare this to Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai" (love that film) and this comes up short there as well.
So after one episode...
Marco Polo < SHOGUN
Marco Polo << Last Samurai
Hopefully it improves. Beautifully shot though.
The English Conquistador
Member
Man, Olivia Cheng is great in this, and so damn gorgeous!
Xplatformer
Member
I wasn't sold on Spartacus until episode 4. You're going to want to give it more than one or two episodes.
Agents of Shield was another I hated until episode 7.
3 episodes in, I don't mind it. The setting is cool and I'm hoping the plot will come together, although I see where the "bad Game of Thrones" comparisons come from. The extra sex added in to the show seems like it is just checking off boxes but I'm not complaining, I enjoy it!
Also Zhu Zhu is gorgeous
Also Zhu Zhu is gorgeous
SteveWinwood
Member
I feel like the critics were REALLY harsh on this for some reason. It's not super amazing or anything, but certainly not trash. It looks gorgeous in the first few episodes I watched.
I will say I agree with the poster above me that sometimes the sex is just... there. There is no point to it, it's like oh did we hit the quota yet? No? Throw it in here this character was in the last scene. That'll work.
I will say I agree with the poster above me that sometimes the sex is just... there. There is no point to it, it's like oh did we hit the quota yet? No? Throw it in here this character was in the last scene. That'll work.
Xplatformer
Member
The Kung Fu training shouldn't be my favorite part. Unfortunately, after 2 episodes it is.
Cornballer
Member
Xplatformer
Member
curlyfriski
Banned
Yeah this is pretty trash. Maybe if it fully embraced the campy aspects it would be sort of fun, but as is it's boring.
djcatskratch
Member
Also wanted to note this show is broadcast in 4K and looks INCREDIBLE. Wife and I watched first episode, and she's chinese so I get nice anecdotes about the real history going on. But we still need to finish True Detective now that we have HBO GO!
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
What does she think of the show's depiction of women?
How is Netflix 4K quality?
Well I finished it. Enjoyed it all, despite the story sort of fizzling out towards the end of the season.
Was anyone else sort of annoyed that the martial arts skills of Jia Sidao and Mei Lin made zero sense given their back story? I could have bought it if they actually showed us a scene of them training as children, but what they gave us actually made it a tougher sell than no background info at all.
Also, the engineer from Damascus having zero knowledge of trebuchet's kinda bothered me. I could have sworn that these siege engines were used in the crusades in the middle east. A siege engineer from Damascus would without a doubt have knowledge of them.
Also, the engineer from Damascus having zero knowledge of trebuchet's kinda bothered me. I could have sworn that these siege engines were used in the crusades in the middle east. A siege engineer from Damascus would without a doubt have knowledge of them.
djcatskratch
Member
She's fine with it, she knows how the culture was back then and that things like the harems and concubines were pretty much the norm. She likes the actresses and one of them is from Singapore (where my wife is from) so she likes that a lot. We've only seen the first episode though. so more to come on opinions.
It's amazing, I just got a Vizio 60in 4K from a nice Sam's Club deal before Black Friday and I am in love with it. Amazon Streaming is about to add 4K movies pretty soon too. Netflix doesn't have a whole lot right now, but it has a few shows I would like to watch in 4K that I haven't seen yet - House of Cards and Blacklist.
Skinny Pete
Banned
The title should of been:
Marco Polo | A story of love, deception, greed, lust, and unbridled enthusiasm.
Marco Polo | A story of love, deception, greed, lust, and unbridled enthusiasm.
Dead Prince
Banned
ahh. told myself to watch today. guess i'll have to stop enjoying XIII to watch now.
Xplatformer
Member
It's how i feel about the depiction of women as well. I kinda feel the sex is useless...but I don't mind it.
I also don't mind realistic depictions of slavery in films either (ROOTS miniseries). They are period pieces and I am mature enough to understand that. But it would make more sense for the production team to shoot the pieces more carefully, make the sex less a part of the story because it doesn't really advance anything. imo
The shows is starting to grow on me. It took to episode 5 for that to happen though. I'm still not "liking it", but the setting is more interesting to me than the one in Game of Thrones so I'm likely to continue watching.
Game of Thrones has too many characters imo for me to become truly vested in any of them.
Vicetrailia
Member
Episode like 8...its a decent show.
More_Badass
Member
Finished the first episode.
Enjoying it so far, but one thing I dislike is that they just skipped over what seemed like a pretty major detail regarding Polo. In the space of like 10 minutes outside of flashbacks, we go from Polo imprisoned to Polo training and learning the customs. We never saw that moment when he kind of accepts his fate and decides to learn, train, etc. The show just sped right through that. Idk, I felt that would have been important to see
The Artful Dodger
Member
Six Episodes in.
It's good.
It's good.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked