Marco Polo - The Complete First Season

The 10-part Netflix TV series "Marco Polo" might have been called "Kublai Khan" since so much is set in his Chinese court.

In the year 1270, young Venetian adventurer Marco Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) and his father set out from Italy for a grueling, three-year march east. They eventually crawl into the presence of the great, cocky and porcine Mongol horde leader Khan (Benedict Wong), who, while didactic, does permit Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam in his court, and allows dad leave junior as a placeholder since the priests he requested died on the journey.

Marco is a polymath -- able to speak Uyghur among other tongues from the Silk Road -- yet is tortured/ taught to be indoctrinated into the ways of Mongol culture.

Episodes include "The Wayfarer," "The Wolf and the Deer," "Feast," "The Fourth Step," "Hashshashin," "White Moon," "The Scholar's Pen," "Rendering," "Prisoners" and "The Heavenly and the Primal."

Special Blu-ray features include deleted scenes, a gag reel, fight scene rehearsals, a Marco Polo documentary, plus galleries of visual effects, concept art and costumes.

"The Martial Arts of Marco Polo" featurette interviews buff series creator John Fusco about the Wu (martial) Shen (hero) type of fighting used throughout the series. He calls it deeper than combat, rather a code of honor and valor, the "iron way" that is the undercurrent of the episodes.

"It's the art of avoiding conflict," adds Fusco, who became interested as a kid, and rode the Silk Roads to prepare for this project. "This form provides self-awareness, character development, and spiritual cultivation. It's the deeper precepts of the martial arts."

He wanted to avoid the cheesey, Westernized "Hong Kong Phooey" and "Chopsocky" types of moves as to not to debase the art, to use them respectfully and organically as a part of this time and place in history, not something simply grafted onto the narrative.

Stunt coordinator and fight choreographer Brett Chou calls this movement "respectful, but with an edge" (one female character fights in the nude), and uses "pre-viz," pre-visual effects to see how the fight will progress into its final form. His fight team comes from 15 countries, and all the martial arts used are deeply researched and practiced.

"Marco Polo: Season 1"
Blu-ray set
$24.99
https://www.netflix.com/title/70305883