Marco Polo (1982)

Wonderful miniseries. The soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful! I searched for it for years and years. Several months back,I read the post regarding it being available in Holland and recently purchased the DVD from Holland and plugged it into my computer, changed my Windows Media Player to Region 2 and I just enjoyed seeing the series after a 23 year wait. It was like finding an old friend once again. I wanted to share the information for others who may wish to own the Region 2 DVD and didn't know if they could play it here in the US. Thanks for the helpful comments and the trail that led to my finding this miniseries once again.To summarize: Region 2 DVD plus Computer plus DVDPlayer plus Windows Media set on Region 2 equals wonderful viewing! Oh, and a good set of speakers helps, too! Enjoy!!

This is without a doubt, one of the greatest mini-series ever filmed. The screenplay, direction and cinematography is absolutely brilliant. This mini series is simply unforgettable and is intensely moving. This is a film that would never grow old and can be seen over a over again.It is an absolute must for any DVD collector to have this in his collection. The DVD is available in the Netherlands, but can freely be obtained from hub.ebay.com. The acting of most of the main cast members is excellent. Ken Marshal fits in very well in the title role. The lush landscapes and the exotic locales, make viewing this movie a memorable experience. The screenplay is very historically authentic and I would recommend this mini series to be seen by any school-going kid. RAI did an excellent job in this production and have made history come alive.

I can't forget this miniseries. I can't believe it's 20yrs since I saw it on TV. It was said enough by others here, I just had to add my voice.

Soon after finding out what IMDb was, only about a year ago, one of the first things I did was to look up Marco Polo in an attempt to find out something about this series on video. How surprised I was to find various contributors bemoaning the fact that they had not been able to track down any version of this magnificent production. For this is what Marco Polo – beware! 1982 version – is. A wondrous work of art; a beautiful piece of story-telling based on this medieval traveller's experiences as he followed the silk route caravans deep into Persia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and reaching China. Although nearly twenty years old and with no way of seeing it again since then, memorable scenes from this tremendous production still come to my mind, accompanied by that glorious music – one of Ennio Morricone's crowning achievements. Haunting, exciting scenes, so beautifully filmed by Pasqualino de Santis you could almost smell the thronged streets and cooking turms, the obstinate camels and ragged beggars, and through it all one of the best scores to have ever been written for any TV series.Oh, how I wish I had had VHS back in those days!Superb directing by Giuliano Montaldo, who for me is a complete unknown, such that the acting is of the best to be seen anywhere. And what a surprise to see further down the list names such as Anne Bancroft, Sir John Gielgud, Burt Lancaster, Leonard Nimoy and even F. Murray Abraham, could you ever believe that?Marco Polo in this production was a gigantic production by the Italian RAI. This superb work should be repeated, like any other great work of art; it should be made available on VHS and DVD; it should be shown in cinemas; this fine epic is not like Kleenex – to be used once and thrown away.Some paltry excuse of copyright would seem to be the problem. But I argue that if other TV mini-series are repeated, why not this one? The only other magnificent TV mini comparable to Marco Polo that I can recall was 'Nostromo' (1996), another European co-production, based on Joseph Conrad's exquisite novel of the same name.At last, now in 2005 I have managed to get this wonderful series on DVD: more than twenty years waiting for it!