Marco Polo (1982)
The life and experiences of the 13th-century explorer, who sought to connect the civilizations of China and Europe through trade.
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Reviews
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
I originally saw it in Europe in the early 1980s. It was longer. There was a whole episode just about the plague in Hormuz which was mostly cut out in the American version.But it's still a great series. Very realistic and authentic compared to most series produced in these days.
It's the only decent telling of the tale of Marco Polo. Incredible cast! You can find it in DVD on Amazon for about $40. I just got one. It's about 8 hours long.I returned from a trip to Venice and wanted to know more about this history of Venice. This DVD is great at painting a picture of the way Venice looked in the 1200s, centuries before the style of Venetian Gothic we now associate with Venice was born.The series has an all star cast - Burt Lancaster, John Gielgud, John Houseman, Anne Bancroft - the true greats - sprinkled in with lesser known but very good actors, like Ken Marshall in the title role.The opening scenes are riveting - you'll find yourself wondering if this could possibly be true and then going to wikipedia to check the historical facts and finding out everything, pretty much, comes from real historical sources.Not available on Netflix, so you might visit Amazon and grab one of the rare copies that surfaces there.
This is one of the most beautiful mini-series ever filmed. The script was good, the casting was beautiful, the music was wonderful. When TV is good, it is very, very good! This is a jewel, savor it, play it again, and marvel at the wondrous world of Marco Polo.
It is a pity that after a great number of years this masterpiece has not been released (DVD-VHS)to be enjoyed by others. It is an extraordinary tell in regard of human nature, different cultures, traveling, adventure, friendship, love, loyalty. It should be taken into consideration for educational/historical purposes. It would be a real shame not to take additional advantage of this magnificent work.