jlpicard1701E First of all: bad acting, bad acting, bad acting.Need I say more?OK then... let's see.A movie that lasts barely 90 minutes which has a 10 minutes title opening.Got the picture?Nothing mind shattering is happening during the opening. Just a lot of bla-bla delivered as badly as these actors (and actresses) ever could.The director must have had "Dune" in mind, since this picture opens with a female narrator and goes on and on about a story that those ho ever watched the original one well remember.It was probably done for those affected by Alzheimer's disease (poor sods...).The rest is not even close to a sequel. Just a lot of "macho" acting, some stupid giggling around for no reason and a story line (if one can call it that) that is as confused as the rest of this movie.I believe the writers of this homunculus of a movie must have sniffed too much cocaine, or meth, and have just read comics, instead of true literature.I am aware that there are some around here and elsewhere, who have praised the sequel as "solid". I don't know where they were while watching this, or what kind of other distraction may have confused their minds, but they apparently never really watched a truly well made movie, and I do not mean a blockbuster movie - just a well directed and acted one - there are some low budget movies that have astonished me in my own lifetime, but not this one.This is simply trash, despite the presence of Kevin Sorbo and Lee Horsley (who also starred in the original one).Sorry to disappoint you all with my own view, but if I had had the money, I would certainly have produced a much better and more inventive movie than this one.So, in short, if you want to watch it go on and do it. If you like it, the better for you.My copy landed in the trash bin and into oblivion as it should have been when produced...

Jan Strydom One thing about TALES OF AN ANCIENT EMPIRE it can now be placed alongside John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS as one of the films with the longest pre-credit sequences that stretches for about 12 minutes long. When it does get started it shows a lot of potential in terms of plot and the cast all give competent performances all around. The look of the film isn't bad in fact but it's major downfall is that it has a terrible execution especially during the third act.The first half of the film is watchable but once it passes the hour mark it's almost like the story was rushed just to get to the end. The whole plot from there became incredibly confusing and felt like the scriptwriter Cynthia Curnan just wanted to get it done as if she got tired of working on it.The one thing that could've helped this film be more entertaining would've been to give Olivier Gruner and Sasha Mitchell's characters both a much bigger role in this film. They only make brief appearances but in that short time their characters actually seemed likable and both had great on screen chemistry. The film would've been a whole lot better if it was written as a vehicle for them.Overall, It's a potentially good concept undone by a bad execution.

urmonk30 This is the first movie I have reviewed here, and I do so as a response to those who are praising this movie.I don't know how anyone can honestly praise this movie, it is a shear mess. Editing and pacing were terrible, production quality below most TV episodes. I'm sure the actors did the best they could with what they had but what they had wasn't much. This movie is in no way near as enjoyable as "The Sword and the Sorcerer", it is in no way nearly as coherent. This movie made little sense, even with the ham-fisted exposition. The trailer for this movie was better than the movie!Maybe this mess could be salvaged by throwing it into the category of "so bad it's good", and that's a big maybe.There are only two suggestions I have for watching this movie: either watch it inebriated or, simplest of all, not at all.

jake-lounger Saw this at the Louisville Frightnight Film Convention back in July. It wasn't ideal conditions and the dialogue was hard to hear. Think there was something wrong with the sound system as the music and effects were very loud. It was a midnight screening that started an hour late but there was still a good crowd. My friends and I hung around after the costume ball to see this. The picture was really great. Its really shoot nicely and the actors are attractive with Melissa Ordway being HOT as the princess trying to recruit her half brother (Sorbo from Hercules) and a bunch of hot looking half sisters to save kingdom from another hottie, the actress from Monsters who looks better here and is not annoying as she was in Monsters. She's actually excellent here as a super powerful vampire. The story is told in sort of flashback form. We meet the Princess as she enters a town after seeing the vampire being reborn. We don't know the connection until the Princess starts to recruit and tells the story of who she is and what happened. What I liked about that was how it made the fantasy more modern and compelling. I liked the mystery and having to put the story together. Usually these movies just spell it out and its not very interesting. The other thing I liked was how fast paced the movie was but without losing characterization. I wished the film had bigger scenes but I didn't miss them until after. The violence when it came was shocking and surprising and got a lot of reaction from the audience. In a way there's so much humor that its really gets the audience involved. It was a very loud audience, in a good way. The music was good and the worst part was the special effects which weren't special. The climax where the vampire is killed is too fast and not as well done as it should be by today's standards. Her change into some kind of snake was a bit goofy. I think the low budget is really what hurt this film the most. The actors were all good and better than I expected. It was cool to see familiar faces like Rolf Mueller and Michael Pare, Sasha Mitchell (!) and even Oliver Gruner from Nemesis. i think they were all in previous films for the director. Definitely a solid rent. Hopeully the dialogue can be heard better!