The Sword and the Sorcerer was long counted as one of those movies that promised a sequel but never delivered. Even though a movie with (quite some) flaws, it was fun and entertaining to some demographic I personally am lucky to be part of. With that in mind, when I found out that a sequel was upcoming I was of course interested to see it.Not many sequels are in par with the quality of the original, and even fewer exceed it. Especially with so many years and movies in between the two. I should've seen it coming, but I was still shocked at what a stinker Tales of an Ancient Empire turned out to be.The story, even to those who can quote multiple lines from the original, was disjointed, and really seemed like it was thrown together from various unfinished ideas, like the lyrics for Nik Kershaw's The Riddle. While in the 80's it proved to be the makings of a hit song, it has never been successfully done in a movie. Especially with too little acting skill and too much blue/green-screen (for comparison, SWIII comes to mind). Yet, hats of to mr. Sorbo and mr. Horsley for being shiny beacons of professionalism and skill in this hapless jumble. And just when the story starts to make a bit of sense, the films ends abruptly.I do not understand how someone considers this movie (and especially the ending) "artsy". If this film is artsy with delightfully meandering and complex narrative, captivating scenery and top-notch acting, then drunken nightclub party rocking is interpretive dance and the youtube-videos of an animal playing the piano are the high point of western classical music. And that's not a world I want to live in.For me this movie was like opening a bottle of (cheap) white wine, yet finding out on the first taste that it's vinegar. The appropriate action is to spit it out, throw out the bottle, and go for something better. I, however, drank this movie to the very last drop.Avoid.

The story has great potential deriving story aspects from certain different genres including ancient history of both japan and Babylonian sources, mixed with Gothic themes. However the background is the only thing note worthy about this movie. Within the first scene it is obvious that at least a large part of the crew are amateurs. From sound to acting to lighting. The opening sequence is clearly done on a sound stage that sounds like a sound stage along with no lighting effects that give no effect on the actors emotions or environment. Most of the acting in those scenes are also difficult to watch. There are some camera effects that also are beyond cheesy. It is better to watch this movie not expecting a Hollywood production. The character Oda probably would be far more appropriate if the actor was Asian. Maybe Im wrong about this but he seems to take the image of a samurai but is given a common sword instead.

This is a hard film to rate. I can see what they were trying to do, but the money just wasn't there to transform this into an actual, watchable movie. I wanted to like it. I really did. The Sword and the Sorceror remains one of my favourite old B-movie fantasy films of the eighties. I wanted this sequel to live up to that. But....There are some really awful effects that just look terrible. So terrible that I think that is what they deliberately went for in the end. They had no money for real CGI or anything like it, so they hashed something together on someone's PC.It all plays like a quickly mocked up 'interest' piece. As if someone put this together as a teaser for studio execs to watch as part of a pitch for a movie.If they had had more money, then I could see this maybe being an okay film. IF. But they didn't and what we are left with is a poorly lit, poorly dressed and sometimes horribly acted movie that invites ridicule. It looks like a bad TV show. Really bad.This is a shame, as I say, because there is potential here, with the right backing.Oh, and they need to lose the music score they went with, too. It's just badly put together and totally out of character for the genre. And whilst I'm dispensing advice...lose the over-sized vampire teeth. Between the brash, over-loud music and the lisping attempts of the actress to talk around her teeth, I could hardly understand a word the vampire queen said.Quite how they cajoled Kevin Sorbo into this I'll never know. I expect he owed someone a favour.Oh, and when the title says "Tales" I was expecting several different, but connected stories. What you get aren't "Tales". They are simply chapters of the same tale. But I guess "Chapters of an Ancient Empire" doesn't sound so good, eh? All in all not really worth your time and effort. They hint at a follow-on at the end, God help us! I just hope they throw a bit more money at it next time around.Best avoided if you have fond memories of the original.

I watched this movie because I'm a fan of Kevin Sorbo and I love fantasy type movies. Why Kevin why did you do this film? I have now seen the worst movie ever made...seriously. If you would have told me this was a high school theater project, I would have believed it. The acting was the worst, except for Kevin, who tried with what little he had. The backdrops looked like paintings in some places...paintings!! Don't waste your time here, I could have made a better looking and more coherent story with my sonycam. I don't know what's with the paid shills giving this movie good reviews, but trust me, it's the worst, dare I call it a movie, ever made, without a doubt.