Marco Polo - a Netflix original

Thought there would be a thread about this already, Netflix's most ambitious new programme yet - Marco Polo. A very, very loose depiction of the famous merchant's early years with Kublai Khan, during the latter's war against the Chinese Song dynasty.

Sold by his father to Kublai, Marco's poetic language and lack of political ties make him an intriguing asset to a royal court full of schemers all out for their own interests, if he can live long enough to prove himself of any worth. Intrigue abounds in the Chinese side as well - their empire is crumbling and the emperor dying, but their last holdouts have proven impenetrable for decades and they still believe it's a war they can ultimately win.

Basically, this is Game Of Thrones in the latter stages of the Mongolian Empire, and I'd have definitely believed the show made by HBO had I not known otherwise. There's lots of violence, lots of sex, lots of brutality generally, and theatrical language.

Personally, I loved it and have watched it twice already, and I reckon GOT fans will find a lot to enjoy here. If you really didn't like the latter, you might not be so keen. The trope page is in progress but I reckon there's far more to be added yet, so help appreciated with it!

I'm a massive Game of Thrones fan, and I enjoyed it immensely. It's about as historic as Showtime's The Tudors, but once you get that out of the way, it's very enjoyable. Some things are a bit weird; the duel between Ariq and Kublai is NOT brilliant, but the martial arts are well choreographed and shot, and it has a lot of very fun, very interesting characters.

I binge watched it over an evening and a morning, and I don't regret it.

I watched five episodes this week, I am loving it. I wasn't sold on the first episode, but towards the end of that second episode was where the magic really happened for me.

Bumping this to say there's a new special episode of this out now - a 30 minute origin story for Hundred Eyes. If you thought he was badass when blind, imagine how he might be with sight! Interesting episode that shows how he came to get that nickname. Worth a watch for fans of the show.

I also suspect relevance to series two - particularly the fact that it shows a young Prince Jingim training under Hundred Eyes; I suspect the former may be shown to be a badass in his own right next series.

Just finished watching the first season.

I really enjoyed it.

I was a little irritated at how high Marco Polor rose but apparently that's in his embellished story where he looks like some badass bureaucrat so okay.

Byamba, Kaidu, Kublai Khan, Sifu, Amad, Yusuf, Marco Polo, Mei Lin, Jiao Sidao, the Blue Princess and Prince Jingim are all super intriguing characters.

edited 9th Oct '16 12:09:35 PM by MadSkillz

The second series is actually better. More annoying cliches but the plot has less of a Foregone Conclusion and extends beyond "Which of Kublai and Sidao will kill each other in a big battle at the end of the last episode?".

This show has been cancelled, unfortunately. It's been reported to be a Box Office Bomb.

Predictable but a shame. It was a decent show that deserved better, and the viewers seemed to appreciate it more than the critics. Still, it was basically just GOT with Mongols, and it had no chance whatsoever of getting the ratings or acclaim of the former.