MARCO POLO gets off to a good start (as one might well expect, this being a Chang Cheh epic), with several martial arts bouts conducted for the amusement of the Italian explorer. Among the fighters is Gordon Liu, wielding a pair of swords. What's unusual about this is that Liu is playing one of the bad guys. The festivities are interrupted by a pair of "assassins" who include Carter Wong. The interruption proves short-lived, as Harrison as Polo leads the government goons after Wong and family. Wong and his young brother are killed. Enter our heroes, led by Alexander Fu Sheng and a baby-faced Kuo Chui (who's "introduced" in this film). Our four heroes (referred to throughout as "assassins") are sent off to train separately (Kuo Chui, as the new kid, gets the short end of the stick: he trains in a pit of feces). (For some reason, some of the fighters are referred to as "pugilists," although none of them practice traditional pugilism.) The direction is top-notch and the action brilliant throughout. Another ten.
Review of Marco Polo
