Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010)

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...

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.

I'll maintain a benefit of the doubt view here. Because someone might actually like, what I would say is a "B,C, or possibly even a Z Rated" film.The first thing I sort of did not like, was how fast the readable frames were flashing, you could not read them.I only gave it a look because I sort of like Kevin Sorbo as an actor. Which he does not even, appear in the film until about 34 minutes into it.I did manage to see a couple of interesting special effects. And the story line was alright, but there was a lot of frame splicing, and screen switching, it almost sort of makes you feel dizzy.I personally could not get into it. But someone else might enjoy it. I'd recommend googling "B, C, Z rated" films if you don't already know what this means. To get an idea if this is something you might be interested in.The last thing, I guess I could through in, is that it is a Vampire Based story line. So, if you like Vampire story's you might like it. But, It did appear to me to be very low budget. So, keep that in mind.

This type of production should be illegal. It's a waste of money, that could have fed many starving children somewhere in the world. It has no entertainment value. Mostly it seems like a group of former porn film actors had decided to make a non-porn film, but failed miserably. Sure you get to see some tits(which is probably the reason why some praise the movie), but even the tits are as bad in quality as the movie itself.Val Kilmer? Where? The Val Kilmer I remember was an actual actor! Not a wanna-be porn star.What I liked about the film, was that it was on DVD, so I could speed it up to finish it sooner. Breathtakingly bad movie.