dani_rise I find Ian Somerhalder's performance in Marco Polo very refreshing. It's by far his best performance in a movie.The story line is very interesting written, we are following Marco Polo in his quest and the story it's actually accounted to his cell mate in prison.Each scene is filled with all very relevant historical details and Kevin Connor has the full credit for it. The dialogues are sometimes funny, sometimes filled with meaning but most of the time they are filled with history.All in all Marco Polo It's a good movie that can teach you a lesson or two from the world history.Ian can be the guy next door ready to play whatever - from the sexy vampire to the old full of wisdom scientist or adventurer like Indiana Jones or even Jesus of Nazareth.

darrell9 by Brian Dennehy? You've got to be kidding me... Worst casting than the actor that played Charlie Chan... Don't get me wrong, I think Brian is a great actor, just the wrong guy for this movie.As others have said, beautiful locations, costuming, good camera work... The casting was about the worst ever. Is then no Chinese or even an Asian actor that could not have been cast for Khan?BD Wong was okay for his part.I wished they'd show more of the culture, the food, the dance, music the art. It would be a lot cheaper to produce than big war scenes. Marco's lady is beguiling and more of a romance developed would certainly have been an improvement to the movie as well.As a Chinese American I was hoping to see more historically interesting facts, weaponry, food, scenery, art and culture. Oh well...Such as shameful waste...

artwk Given the fact that the makers had access to plenty of money, good costuming, and even to the locations (or convincing computer-generated substitutes), this could have been a very good historical movie.Alas,the derogatory comments on this site regarding script, acting, and casting are perfectly valid. Who on earth cast Brian Dennehy as an oriental? There are established oriental actors who look the part — John Lone would be an obvious choice.The real Marco Polo could speak Italian and French, and on his way to meet Kublai Khan may well have learned Turki, the language Kublai sometimes used in his written communications. But the ridiculous scene where they meet bears not the slightest resemblance to Marco Polo's real-life account, in which the great ruler was the soul of courtesy. Dennehy's grumpiness was pure fiction, like so much else in this tedious production.The question that begs to be asked is: if one wants to make a historical epic, why present bad fiction instead of interesting fact?

Paolo B What is that blue eyed surfer doing playing Marco Polo ? Simple, another Hollywood cheap production directed by budget director Kevin Connor. The actor playing Polo is badly miscast (he looks like Alice Silverstone brother), he's devoid of any appeal and subtlety, Brian Denneny is just laughable has a Chinese ruler. Connor's poor direction doesn't help, set pieces are uninteresting, acting is generally poor and the whole thing is uneventful and lacks passion. Music is by numbers and boring too. If you want to watch the best Marco Polo film available then I recommend you watch Giuliano Montaldo's version starring Ken Marshall, a RAI/BBC production with a great score by legend Ennio Morricone.