Marco Polo

It hasn't been mentioned yet but if you watch the IT Crowd and you're familiar with the Countdown episode Kublai Kahn is actually the Morpheus (Prime) character from that episode. I picked up on that the first episode and it almost ruined it, luckily Kublai Kahn was well done and I had completely forgotten by the second or third episode. I didn't go into this expecting a lot of historical accuracy and I wasn't disappointed at all, I found the rwhole thing really entertaining. The only thing it could have done without was the blind monk, it was just too cliche and he's was strong enough on his own to not need it.

the trebuchet thing is apparently relatively true as well.
Kublai Kahn introduced them to china from 2 persian engineers. later, added gunpowder from Iraq.

Agraza_sl said:

When I watched the pilot and saw that he met his father the first time at like 20 then immediately went on a trip across the silk road I was like "fo shizzle?" I went and looked it up. Shit is true.

Of course I think the wiki says they all came back together after spending like 20 years in Asia, but the other part is still fucking amazing.

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I didn't believe that part either. But I guess that the help was free and the father could be sure that his kid wasn't going to steal from him. Because hell if he did that was just his cut anyway.

I actually thought the 1v1 end battle was pretty bad ass. Then again, the monk was my favorite character so I am biased.

I thought it was OK. I think it's really lazy at times. Like how the season ended. Why would Ahmad all the sudden want to kill Kublai? Was Mei Lin's little statement about Kubali killing his blood family light the bulb in his head. "Oh yeah! I guess he DID kill my family?" A lot of plot points in the show are like that. Just moving way too fast. Maybe they're trying to juggle too many story arcs.

Alex_sl said:

I thought it was OK. I think it's really lazy at times. Like how the season ended. Why would Ahmad all the sudden want to kill Kublai? Was Mei Lin's little statement about Kubali killing his blood family light the bulb in his head. "Oh yeah! I guess he DID kill my family?" A lot of plot points in the show are like that. Just moving way too fast. Maybe they're trying to juggle too many story arcs.

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I think the point was that Ahmed has been trying to kill him already. He is the traitor inside the court who hired the assassins.

chaos_sl said:

I think the point was that Ahmed has been trying to kill him already. He is the traitor inside the court who hired the assassins.

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Yeah that is how I saw it as well. Ahmed was not suddenly convinced to turn on Kublai, rather he has been planning on this for awhile now.

Iannis_sl said:

Ulysses was also a real person and Eric Clapton met him once in 1967 in a greyhound bus station, not in the main terminal though but in the white room with black curtains.

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It wasn't Clapton who met him. It was Baker.

haha yeah. Also either the painter is dead, or he did it himself?

I watched the entire season over the last week and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The sets and filming locations were well chosen and the sets were well done with both providing excellent atmosphere. And despite being relative unknowns the casting was top notch. There were a few wooden performances, but most of the cast did a great job. The weakest part for me was the story. Some of the story lines like the blue princess were boring and just padding. And things like Jia Sidao's cruelty was needlessly over the top and made him seem like more of a cruel madman than a calculating leader trying to save his people, but that was probably the point.

Since I watched this right after Daredevil the blind monk character really stood out. Clearly influenced by Daredevil, this show could be set in the same comic book universe given the monks abilities and some of the wirefu combat.

This is probably one of the best historical fiction period pieces I've watched since Rome(2005). While I didn't enjoy it as much as Rome it definitely has potential.

sukik_sl said:

This is probably one of the best historical fiction period pieces I've watched since Rome(2005). While I didn't enjoy it as much as Rome it definitely has potential.

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Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire

Alex_sl said:

Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire

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Yeah. I'm guessing he meant "Ancient"--which is a type of historical fiction I really, really enjoy but it's rarely done. Been pretty lucky though with Vikings and GoT (Though yes, this isn't historical--it's close enough to be fun ). But nothing has come close to Rome...I'd kill for Rome to come back .

This, imo, is about as good story and acting wise as Vikings, but it seems to have a far larger budget and far better/more intricate sets. Which is really nice. It's cheese factor is really up there with the Kung Fu elements, but I love Kung Fu movies---so it works for me.

Rome really was great.

"You didn't hurt her enough. CUT HER FACE OFF, JEW."

Lithose_sl said:

Yeah. I'm guessing he meant "Ancient"--which is a type of historical fiction I really, really enjoy but it's rarely done

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This is what I meant. I should've been more specific. I tend to lump anything pre industrial revolution into the same category. Most shows like this have crappy sets, bad acting and horrible stories.

Liked - Rome(2005), The Tudors(2007).
Meh - Spartacus(2010), Vikings(2013), Borgias(2011), Merlin(2008)
Didn't like(One episode or less watched) - The Musketeers(2013), Da Vinci's Demons(2013), Sinbad(2012), Camelot(2011), Outlander(2014)

How is Spartacus Meh? for historical? sure...for awesomeness? what?!

Also- if you like historical fiction I would recommend for some short watches- Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and Ironclad.