Marco Polo
His personal journey changed the European understanding of the world forever. This is the absorbing true story of Venetian explorer Marco Polo’s arduous trek to the East—and beyond. Literally, it’s the adventure of a lifetime.
Format
Series 2 x 120'
Genre
Action, Adventure, Drama
Original Air Date
2006
Studio
Hallmark
Starring
- Ian Somerhalder
- Brian Dennehy
- Desiree Siahaan
- BD Wong
- Luo Yan
- Lim Kay Tong
13th century Venetian trader Marco Polo (Ian Somerhalder, Lost) is enlisted to accompany a pair of priests to the court of Kublai Khan (Golden Globe winner Brian Dennehy, Death of a Salesman), Mongol conqueror of the East. The mission is to convert the most populous and wealthiest nation in the world to Christianity. Yet the priests aren’t even convinced that the sophisticated nation of China even exists. After all, God put Europe as the center of the world. How could there be anything but barbarism beyond? Not willing to risk their lives in the increasingly precipitous and treacherous Pamir Mountains, the priests retreat, leaving Marco, his father Niccolo (Mark Jax, Merlin), and his Uncle Maffeo (Alan Shearman, John Tucker Must Die) to push ahead through blinding blizzards and across the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. Set upon by murderous bandits, ravaged by hunger, thirst, and the blazing sun, they push forth toward the unknown of Khan’s fabled heartland.
