Really, who's idea was this? A retreat back to the bad old days of Hollywood when Caucasians played Chinese, Indians and every race under the sun because how can we entrust these roles to "inferior" races. Brian Dennehy as Kublai Khan is as laughable in the 21st century as Bruce Cabot was as Maqua in the Last Of The Mohicans in 1936. And then, in a stunning reversal of typecasting, Achmed, a Muslim Saracen, is played by a Chinese. You can't write this stuff. Or, maybe you can. Somebody did here. God, what a mess. Let's not forget the casual glossing over of the trip to the East, which took almost 4 years and zips by here in a few minutes. Do yourself a favor and seek out the 1982 mini-series which was a labor of love with an all star cast, location filming and fabulous music from the master, Ennio Morriconne. Will someone finally release that on DVD so we won't have to be subjected to these awful remakes!!
Review of Marco Polo
