Good start, but then it gets ruined

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

this movie might have been OK if it were done by the people that make the scorpion king movies but with such a low budget I would not have even bothered.most of the movie is done with the characters standing in front of green screens relying on cheap cgi effects..The fight scenes are mostly done with pictures and a woman telling the story of how the fight happened and who won.. no actual fighting occurs.the acting is what is excepted in a B rated movie..However the only bright spot of the film is that it has a lot of beautiful women to look at in it.hell the first 20 minutes is so boring I kept fast forwarding till actual movie footage was present and not the cheesy way they present the story...

As soon as I saw that this was out, I rented it. Wow, what a piece of crap. It had none of the fun of the original and really didn't even tell a story at all. Lee Horsley Does appear but only for a minute and it is disappointing. Some of the plot devices from the original are used but wasted and the whole thing appears to be shot on video. The Tri-Sword appears off camera but is used very poorly. Michael Pare takes the place as the hero/ betrayer of the Sorceress vampire Whatever. Every episode of Hercules is better than this piece of junk. If you want a movie worth of the original, try "season of the Witch" or Solomon Kane.

In the empire of Abelar, things are a total mess. The vampires have taken over, and Princess Tanis has been tasked with seeking out her real father. No, not the king, but a mercenary, Oda (?) (Michael Pare), who boasts that his sword is ever poised for a new adventure -- an unsubtle euphemism to mean he'll sow his seed in whatever furrow allows him to plough it. It seems Oda is the only man with the steel enough to stand up to the vampires and drive them out single-handedly.Well, not single-handedly, but once he's found he'll be joined by no less than five of his bastard children, each a half-sibling to the others. All of them are comely wenches, save for Kevin Sorbo's characterwho's not above coming on to Princess Tanis despite their familial bond.This travesty from Albert Pyun -- the same director who gave us a less-than-super "Captain America" -- is a sequence of medieval sets that have very little connecting them. Fortunately, we have several interruptions where a vampiress soliliquizes about what will happen between the scenes that we witness. And we have more scenes where Michael Pare discourses with two other mercenaries against a cloudy background to give even more backstory -- which allows for the presumption that there's a story at all.If you want to see badly pantomimed action scenes, the occasional glimpse of breasts, trick- or-treat quality vampire attacks, and a set with the budget of Star Trek -- the original series, not the film -- then "Tales of an Ancient Empire" may be for you. Maybe the both of you can enjoy it together. It's all green screen done so poorly you expect a toaster to fly by.The bonus features on this release include the original trailer for the film, and a forty-minute compilation of cast interviews, with questions posed by someone who was obviously struck when interviewing the females of the cast, many of whom were seen topless in the film.After a dismal "Captain America" and a laughable "The Sword and the Sorcerer," maybe it's time for Albert Pyun to hang up the camera. From beyond, Ed Wood cheers him on.

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!