Marco the Magnificent results to be a mediocre adventure movie about the legendary traveller Marco Polo : Horst Buchold , dealing with his feats throughout a long and dangerous journey to China. Marco is an Italian philander who enjoys loves and amusement until he undertakes the risked mission . He along with his father : Massimo Girotti and uncle go to hand over a Christan Pope's peace message to Emperor Kublai Khan : Anthony Quinn. West is where he finds the Cave of Assassins , listen the bell that drives men mad ... feels the whip girl's lash. But East is where he defeats armies....conquers women... runs into moving belly dancers ...and plays with inscrutable beauties than are hotter than gunpowder !. It's adventure at its highest with the star-studded cast of the year !
A lavish but middling effort with plenty of adventures , emotion , noisy action , battles , romance , colorful cinematography and stirring musical score by Georges Garvarentz . This is an exciting story of savagery , endurance and heroism. The pic mingles far eastern adventures and medieval scenario. The movie turns out to be an inferior remake to classy Hollywood "Adventures of Marco Polo" by Archie Mayo starred Gary Cooper as the title role . As this " La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo" is similar to "Marco Polo" 1962 starred by Rory Calhoun , an European co-production with a plethora of stars and disjointed events. Stars Horst Buchold as a sympathetic and stubborn Marco Polo who will stop at nothing to get his purports . Being supported by an excellent cast with full of stars as Anthony Quinn as Kublai , Akim Tamiroff as the Old Man of the Mountain , Elsa Martínelli as the woman with the whip, Omar Sharif as an Emir , Bruno Cremer , Gregoire Aslan , Folco Lulli, Massimo Girotti , and the great Orson Welles as Marco Polo's tutor. Shot on location by cameraman Armand Thirard in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan , appearing the famous Bamiyan's Buddhas that were destroyed by the Talibans . The motion picture was highly budgeted by Raoul Levy and regularly directed by Dennis Patelliere and direction assistant by Noel Howard .
Other films based on this legendary character are the following ones : Classic version "Adventures of Marco Polo" by Archie Mayo with Gary Cooper , Basil Rathbone , Alan Hale . "Marco Polo" 1963 by Hugo Fregonese with Rory Calhoun , Yoko Tani , Robert Hundar , Pierre Cressoy . "Marco" 1973 by Seymour Robbie with Desi Arnaz Jr , Zero Mostel . "The incredible adventures of Marco Polo on his journeys to the ends of the Earth" 1998 with Don Diamond , Jack Palance , Oliver Reed . "Marco Polo" 2007 by Kevin Connor with Ian Somerhalder , BD Wong , Brian Dennehy . The best turns out to be the excellent series "Marco Polo 1982" by Giuliano Montalvo with Ken Marshall , David Warner , F Murray Abraham , Leonardo Nimoy . And "Marco Polo TV series 2014" by John Fusco with Lorenzo Richelmy , Benedict Wong , Joan Chen , Michelle Yeoh , among others .
