MovieChat Forums > Marco Polo (2014) Discussion > So bad it's almost good?

So bad it's almost good?

posted 10 years ago by Nemoinslumberland
81 replies | jump to latest

I don't know where to begin with this show. What a disaster for Netflix. The painfully stiff dialogue, countless asian stereotypes and cliches, a vast sea of gratuitous female nudity beyond anything the Tudors ever aspired to, zero attractive men outside of Marco, and some genuinely BAD acting.

Why, at a reported budget of 90 million dollars could Netflix not afford to funnel part of that into a decent writing team?

Still. The budget shows in the sets, costumes, and atmosphere. The general plot-line is at least mildly interesting despite its convoluted presentation. Should I keep watching?

[–] riccy35 10 years ago

Stop complaining or stop watching, make a choice.

[–] kernaler 10 years ago

WOW, can't disagree with you more. This is another great historical show

[–] sushiK999 10 years ago

This is a great show, sorry you are disappointed it is not GOT.

WTF?

[–] lrademac08 10 years ago

i agree... this series is quite bad... but for reasons unknown to me, I had to watch it and watch it I did. I finished the 10 episode season 1 in just two nights. Overall there were a lot of problems I had. For one thing - the language was awkward in may places. Why is Marco Polo and others in his group speaking with accents, yet the Mongols and Chinese and others in Kublai Khan's court speaking fairly regular English. I have no problem with subtitles. I was intrigued by some of the compacting of time frames in the series. Many events don't seem to follow what I've read about history wise.

I will watch the entire series again and when season 2 comes along I will watch it as well. I loved the sweeping vistas, sets, costumes.

[–] WorldWar1000 10 years ago

i agree... this series is quite bad... but for reasons unknown to me, I had to watch it and watch it I did. I finished the 10 episode season 1 in just two nights. Overall there were a lot of problems I had. For one thing - the language was awkward in may places. Why is Marco Polo and others in his group speaking with accents, yet the Mongols and Chinese and others in Kublai Khan's court speaking fairly regular English. I have no problem with subtitles. I was intrigued by some of the compacting of time frames in the series. Many events don't seem to follow what I've read about history wise.

It's a FICTIONAL story, it's not suppose to be a biopic. Also most people don't like having to read subtitles. just assume they are speaking in a different language with the director using English to translate it to us. I really don't feel like constantly taking my eyes away from the action to read words at the bottom of the screen. Also when it's in English, it's easier for me to immerse myself in what I'm watching.

{._.}
My eyes are watching you

[–] tiger86-2 10 years ago

Honestly, I will never understand people complaining about language like this. I am not from an English-speaking country, I have been reading subtitles all my life and I have no problems with that. In fact, I prefer watching my movies subbed rather than dubbed but... There have been hundreds upon hundreds of movies about ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt or any other ancient non-English-speaking nation and they have all been filmed in English.

As for the accents, I thought Lorenzo Richelmi's accent was one of the best things about his acting. It may be purely by accident but I noticed that his accent was ticker any time he was displaying stronger emotions, and that was great.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (52800787) 10 years ago

Yes, of course. All this whining about English is ridiculous. The vast majority of historical fiction movies uses English as the language spoken by the actors, and of course we know that it is only done so that the audience understands what the actors are saying without bothering with subtitles.

I have nothing against subtitles myself, but from a marketing standpoint, movies in English fare better for English-speaking audiences than subtitled movies, so it's a no-brainer business decision.

By the way, this series is dubbed in other countries - if you see the credits until the end, you'll see credits for the voice actors in other editions (French edition, Brazilian edition, etc.) and of course the audiences don't think that the Mongols spoke in English, French, or Portuguese, etc.

[–] tyrahel06 10 years ago

its really good ----- too much hate for no reasons ... yes it has flaws , but its a fun nice show ... probably one of the most interesting one as of late -

[–] ubernerd77 10 years ago

I know it's petty, but the only thing that really grinds my gears about this show is that big bodyguard dude who's obviously a Maori, speaking in a Kiwi accent. He doesn't even try to hide it, even though at a stretch he COULD pass as Mongol if he spoke with a more "neutral" accent. I'm seriously waiting for a 'chillybin' reference.

I know that's petty, but it just seems casting have done quite a lazy job.

[–] The_News 10 years ago

Is he supposed to be a Mongol? I got the impression his character is supposed to be an exotic foreigner of no specific race or culture.

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Fuzzy wuzzy was a woman? ~ Dave Lyons

[–] tiger86-2 10 years ago

We can thank HBO for the nudity. Thanks to shows like "Rome" or "Deadwood" it is now expected that any semi-serious pseudo-history show has to be filled to the top with nudity. Still, it is not nearly as gratuitous and pointless as it is in "Game of Thrones" or "Da Vinci's Demons", for example. The last two episodes have no nudity at all.

As for the acting, I think it is excellent. None of the actors is genuinely bad, and there are some truly great performances.

As for the attractiveness of the actors, if I wanted to watch attractive men, I would watch a fashion show. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if most women found the Khan's sons to be very attractive. The Hundred Eyes reeks of elegance. Kaidu is also a good looking man.

As for the stiff dialogue... Well, what did you expect? These are Mongol warriors, they are the last ones to utter witty remarks or to speak like Shakespeare characters. The dialogue in this show is serviceable. It moves the story forward and develops the character.

---
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[–] !!!deleted!!! (52800787) 10 years ago

As for the acting, I think it is excellent. None of the actors is genuinely bad

What? You don't think the actor in the title role is bad?

[–] mjaytee 10 years ago

For the first couple of episodes the show to me was classic "so bad it's almost good", which kept me watching. But it climbed its way up to the lower levels of good to me. It turned out to be worth the mini-binge.

[–] MonMothma 10 years ago

It's a well-known cliché of new series that they up the ante on nudity and sex scenes to lure in viewers and then taper off such scenes once they've sucked you in...so to speak. ;)

I don't know why there's so much negativity about this series. I find it thoroughly enjoyable and it does exactly what it says on the tin. The only thing historically accurate is the existence of the major named characters. Other than that, who cares? If you want historical accuracy, go read a book. This is entertainment, pure and simple.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] robbystoner 10 years ago

I just finished watching it. I agree on the nudity (but its something I aleady saw used in Game of Thrones so no real shocker there) and it makes little sense other than to attract a male audience. I wasnt even aware there was nudity when I started watching it.

After seeing all of it, they needed the nudity to attract an audience, The show started weak, then picked up quite well with good characters and storyline, and the it all just fell apart towards the end. It seemed they rushed through a lot of the story and a whole bunch of stuff didn't make sense why it happened. I gave it a 6/10. Most of it was for the good camera work, costumes, and good visuals.

"Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, to be stuck inside of mobile
with the memphis blues again"