|
DVD Reviews
 |
Marco Polo: The Complete First Season
Review by Suzanne Lanoue
12/10/15 |
I really enjoyed this DVD, and a lot more than I thought
I would. I enjoy historical miniseries. I grew up watching
them on TV back in the 70's. They were not nearly as good
back then because production values, story-telling etc. have
changed greatly in the past 40 years. Now audiences expect
more realism in their movies and shows, and faster stories,
and better special effects, and more authentic costuming
etc. They were enjoyable for us at the time, and
that's all that mattered. Anyway, the point is that I've
never really cared all that much about learning real
history, but I do love a good fictional historical TV show
or novel.
This one is done very well. The acting, directing, and
writing is all very good. The martial arts and special
effects are really good. It's a highly entertaining story,
and a lot of it is based on real life events and people. The
actor who plays Marco (Lorenzo Richelmy) is very handsome
and also a really good actor. The entire cast does a great
job, but of particular note is Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan,
and Chin Han as Chancellor Sidao. Both of these characters
are awful, terrible people, but their portrayers let you see
all sides of them.
What is really striking to me is that the writing gets
you rooting for the side of the mongols (led by Khan), even
though they are the invading force. Khan is trying to rule
the world, and he wants to take over the rest of China,
starting with his walled city ruled by the last of the Song
Dynasty. Even though Sidao is also a terrible person,
he is in the right here in defending the city (even though
the Emperor, before he died, really just wanted peace--Sidao
is a bit of a warmonger).
Anyway, don't think too deeply about it, but just sit
back and enjoy it because it's a very fun and entertaining
story. It does have nudity and sex, so it's not for kids.
I wish they would release a version on broadcast TV that
cuts that stuff out because I know the teenaged me back in
the 70's would have loved to have watched it. I think anyone
of any age would enjoy it if they took out the nudity and
sex. I have nothing against those things, but it does limit
the audience to adults. There's some violence they should
cut out as well.
If you're an adult, you should really enjoy it. I liked
it so much that I binged-watched it in two days and even
watched all of the features (and there are SO MANY!). I
found that "The Marco Polo Documentary" is very educational
and enjoyable as well. All of the many features are great,
but that's the one I appreciated the most. It tells you
about the story and how it went in real life.
I think most Americans don't pay that closely to history,
so that we think that Marco Polo is just some explorer that
brought pasta from China to Italy (or worse, we just think
of the children's water game). He was so much more
than that. Or we hear the name "Xanadu" and only think of
the Olivia Newton-John song. This story is not just
about the explorer but about this particular time and place
back in the 1200's with the grandson of Genghis Khan. It's
fascinating.
I can't wait for the second season. It returns in July of
2016. That seems so far away. Make sure you buy this DVD or
watch it on Netflix!
MORE INFO:
MARCO
POLO
Complete First Season Available on Blu-ray™,
DVD and Digital HD December 15
BEVERLY
HILLS, CA –
Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company are
proud to announce the season one home entertainment
release of the gripping Netflix drama,
MARCO POLO.
Featuring over an hour of never-before-seen special
features including The Marco
Polo Documentary, Deleted
Scenes, Gag Reel, Fight Scene Rehearsals and more,
MARCO POLO
will be available on Blu-ray™ and DVD from Anchor Bay
and Digital HD from Starz Digital on December 15, 2015.
This epic adventure follows a young
Marco Polo, who finds
himself in the court of the great Kublai Khan and must
navigate a world of greed, betrayal and sexual
intrigue as the Mongol leader wages a bloody campaign to
become Emperor of the World.
Re-creating the legendary explorer’s 13th century
exploits in the Far East, this historical drama
chronicles the intrigues, duplicity and greed running
rampant in the court of the Mongolian ruler Khan.
The complete first season of
MARCO POLO has a
running time of 547 minutes, is not rated, and stars
Lorenzo Richelmy (Sotto Una Buona, La Terra e Il
Vento), Benedict Wong (The Martian, Prometheus),
Zhu Zhu (Cloud Atlas, The Man with the Iron Fist),
Remy Hii (Kiss, Treading Water) Olivia Cheng (Assault
on Wall Street) and Joan Chen (Lust, Caution)
from creator John Fusco (The Forbidden Kingdom,
Hidalgo).
ABOUT ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading independent home
entertainment company celebrating its 20th anniversary
in 2015. Anchor Bay acquires and releases a wide array
of filmed entertainment in the theatrical and home
entertainment markets, including STARZ Original series,
children's entertainment, fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness),
sports and specialty films on Blu-ray™ and DVD formats.
The company has long-term distribution agreements in
place for select programming with The Weinstein Company,
AMC Networks and RADiUS, among others. Headquartered in
Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com)
is a full service distributor in the North American
market. Anchor Bay Entertainment is a Starz (NASDAQ:
STRZA, STRZB) business,
www.starz.com.
ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production
and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob
and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax
Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the
genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein. During
Harvey and Bob’s tenure at Miramax and TWC, they have
received 341 Oscar nominations and won 81 Academy
Awards.
Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such
films as VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER;
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; SCRE4M; SPY KIDS: THE KING’S
SPEECH; UNDEFEATED; THE ARTIST; THE MASTER; SILVER
LININGS PLAYBOOK; DJANGO UNCHAINED; SCARY MOVIE 5; LEE
DANIELS' THE BUTLER; PHILOMENA; THE IMITATION GAME;
PADDINGTON; WOMAN IN GOLD and SOUTHPAW. Upcoming
releases include BURNT, CAROL and THE HATEFUL EIGHT.
TWC boasts an active television production division
which garnered twelve Emmy nominations in 2015. TWC
Television produces the reality powerhouse Project
Runway, with its spin-off series Project Runway
All Stars, Under The Gunn, and Threads. Scripted
series include John Fusco's Marco
Polo with Netflix, going
into its second season. Other recent TWC television
productions include Mob Wives, Million Dollar
Shoppers, Rodeo Girls, Cement Heads and Trailer
Park: Welcome to Myrtle Manor. Scripted projects in
development include War & Peace, Ten Commandments and
Daniel Stashower’s The Hour Of Peril. TWC also
developed Nanny Diaries and produced The
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Proofread and Edited by
Brenda
We need more episode guide recap writers, article
writers, MS FrontPage and Web Expression users, graphics designers, and more, so
please email us
if you can help out! More volunteers always
needed! Thanks!
Page updated 1/9/16
Back to the Main Primetime TV Page
    
|
