Best movie of this year hands down!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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.

I hope it has been made as a joke. Its shear awfulness makes it good for a few laughs, but I do wonder how Ralf Möller, that icon of manly muscle came to accept a role? I expect that he has lent his name to it for a few measly $, without reading the manuscript.The story in itself is not much worse than many other Hollywood plots (which does not say much), but the filming, the acting, the not-so-special-effects, the fighting, in short, everything else make this the worst movie I have ever seen. I am struggling to find enough to say here for having this review accepted, but as a service to the rest of you who as me might be tempted by 'Ralf Möller' and 'sequel to the Sword and the Sorcerer' I persevere. Just avoid it. Go to the dentist in stead.

For those that are looking forward to a sequel to the movie The Sword And The Sorcerer, let me warn you that this isn't it. Other than scripting the father of all the children in the movie "Talon" from the original Sword And Sorcerer, the two movies have very little at all in common. That being said, what you do have is a rather bizarre vampire movie with costumes left over from some renaissance fair, an out of place and overly loud heavy metal score and dialog that by using phrases such as "do we have a quarrel sir" is trying hard to sound lofty but coming off as superficial. The CGI clearly reflects the budget constraints as do the settings and props. The largest allotment of monies must have been paid to Kevin Sorbo so they could put his name on the billing, however that must have only covered about 20 minutes worth of screen time. The producers were clearly looking to make a series but I can't imagine that will happen due to the poor product they ended up with. There's only one gratuitous shot of boobs, most likely due again to budget constraints, so you don't even bevies of naked hot chicks to take your mind off the disjointed plot. Being a fan of "B" movies, especially Sci-Fi and Fantasy, low budgets and some mediocre acting come with the territory but good results can still be obtained. This movie just can't be given a pass I'm sorry to say. Bad editing, bad dialog & script, and poor casting choices are all fixable and lay squarely at the feet of the director and producers. There are good low budget and independently made movies, this however is not one.

Would give it higher f that were possible. Got DVD as a gift and have to say its far superior to Clash of the Titans or Prince of Persia, even better than the higher budgeted Solomon Kane.What Ancient Empire had going for is that its a very unpredictable plot and story line where it starts as a story about a sorceress demon taking over a kingdom with vampires and then we understand that the vampire/sorcerer attack is merely a catalyst for characters to learn who they are and the rallying to defeat the sorceress (an superb Whitney Able), really is about a dysfunctional coming together to make peace with being abandoned by a mercenary warrior who fathered a lot kids as he adventured.The back story is deep and it takes a while to assimilate it.Kevin Sorbo gives a strong performance as hustling Aedan. Actually all the performances are at worst interesting. Melissa Ordway and Victoria Maurette really stand out as half sisters on opposite sides and Jessica Delgado as a slave girl turn vampire lackey.The pace overall was good though a bit fast in the beginning. You have to get use to the pace.The photography was lush and striking at times, though the DVD picture seemed to be blown up which caused scenes to be soft and overexposed. Music was excellent and captured the tone.The movie is more a family drama than action and magic. That only really bad moment is at the end where the film ends abruptly and announces a coming sequel called Red Moon, where I guess, all the story lines climax.This film was a wonderful surprise and I can't wait for the sequel and to watch this again. The scene with the tongue is memorable!