Araxen
Golden Baronet of the Realm
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Netflix original series show which starts on December 12th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(TV_series)
Marco Polo
- Thread starter Araxen
- Start date
I really hope this show is more about the utter contempt for human life held by the mongols and the medievil Asians in general.
Valishar
Molten Core Raider
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I'm only four episodes in (had to go to work) but it's pretty awesome, especially Khublai Khan. My major complaint is that they might as well haven given the Song Chancellor a mustache for all the evil twirlling he's doing. I guess if you want the audience to root for the Mongols the bad guy has to be pretty despicable.
Lithose
Buzzfeed Editor
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Gask
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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This was a good popcorn series filled with petty intrigue and overly choreographed fight sequences that are one step away from having actors flying through the sky. It could have been so much more if the writing and budget had been there though.
Those complaints aside I still watched it all and did enjoy it for what it was but I probably won't ever re watch it and that's a shame.
I was hoping for the story of an explorer experiencing the diverse sights, peoples, systems and cultures of the era but instead got a rather bland tale of a charming idiot in a foreign court who learns Kung Fu from the ancient equivalent of Morpheus when he isn't walking from brown shadowy room to brown shadowy room to talk to a fat man on a gold spray painted throne. Oh and skinny naked Asian women everywhere when they aren't performing extravagant combat feats or coming and going unchallenged from the inner sanctums of various palaces/fortresses with impunity... where did those assassin's come from?! Maybe they used the same doors that your princess and concubines do
.
Also did anyone else find it odd how they completely cut out the failed attack on the walls of Xianyang? I get that they had a low budget but that scene would have been pivotal to explaining just how things went so badly that the Mongols lost nearly their entire army. What sorcery did the chancellor conjure that took them so much by surprise beyond what was to be expected at such a choke point? Namely flaming oil, arrows from all directions, walls of fortifications beyond the breach and an army of men... which is just common sense yes? Marco reported that the wall was being worked on not that there was famine, pestilence and that the Song army was rife with desertion and ripe for the picking.
Also did anyone else find it odd how they completely cut out the failed attack on the walls of Xianyang? I get that they had a low budget but that scene would have been pivotal to explaining just how things went so badly that the Mongols lost nearly their entire army. What sorcery did the chancellor conjure that took them so much by surprise beyond what was to be expected at such a choke point? Namely flaming oil, arrows from all directions, walls of fortifications beyond the breach and an army of men... which is just common sense yes? Marco reported that the wall was being worked on not that there was famine, pestilence and that the Song army was rife with desertion and ripe for the picking.
Those complaints aside I still watched it all and did enjoy it for what it was but I probably won't ever re watch it and that's a shame.
Intrinsic
Person of Whiteness
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Lithose
Buzzfeed Editor
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Meh, some of the complaints are really overblown and a lot of them seem to stem from the notion of "lulz, GoT>This". The only 2 complaints I've agreed with from the bad reviews so far are how the show swaps pretty clumsily between realism and court politics--and kung fu movie action (Spartacus in China), and all the cliches that go in Kung Fu movies (Complete with blind master wisdom). It can, at times, be feel kind of off when swapping from somewhat realistic fights (Like there is a fight the Khan is involved in within the first 4 episodes) and then fights that are, as someone else said, crouching tiger/hidden dragon without the flying. I get that, but it doesn't bother me that much because I love Kung Fu movies so meh, I'm taking it for what it is; Spartacus action mixed with Game of Thrones.
The other flaw that I agree with is that Marco Polo himself is just bland, he literally is just a fish out of water so white people who are watching can be explained things that seem odd. Show is not about him at all but it still, at times, tries toremindeveryone he's the "protagonist", and is still important (When every other character is FAR more interesting). But his stories just fall flat and by at least the midpoint of the Season he's essentially just like the family arc in Homeland, or Margaret in Boardwalk Empire--not terrible, but fuck you just want to get back to the awesome characters. They should stick to using him purely as a narrative reason to explain what's going on, and then ignore him.
Those two complaints I get. But overall, it's very enjoyable. Kublai Khan isamazing, hopefully if there is a Season 2, they just made Polo a side character and focus exclusively on him. It certainly doesn't deserve some of the reviews it's getting which are essentially trashing it. Anyway, if you want to watch for Kublai; his character does not disappoint.
Harfle
Lord Nagafen Raider
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I think the only mongolian actor was the khabani khan(sp). but all my mongolian friends were hella stoked for the show and liked it.
