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Tales of an Ancient Empire

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Tales of an Ancient Empire
TalesOfAnAncientEmpire2010Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlbert Pyun
Written byCynthia Curnan
Produced by
  • Nicholas Celozzi
  • Cynthia Curnan
  • Sazzy Lee Calhoun
Starring
CinematographyPhilip Alan Waters
Edited byDavid Lamb
Music byAnthony Riparetti
Production
company
New Tales
Distributed byKIPPJK
Release date
  • 2010 (2010)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tales of an Ancient Empire is a 2010 American fantasy-sword and sorcery film directed by Albert Pyun and starring Kevin Sorbo, Michael Paré, Whitney Able, Melissa Ordway, Ralf Moeller, Lee Horsley, and Victoria Maurette. It is a sequel to Pyun's directorial debut, The Sword and the Sorcerer.

Discover more about Tales of an Ancient Empire related topics

Fantasy film

Fantasy film

Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Prevalent elements include fairies, angels, mermaids, witches, centaurs, monsters, wizards, unicorns, dragons, talking animals, ogres, elves, trolls, white magic, gnomes, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, dwarves, giants, goblins, anthropomorphic or magical objects, prehistoric creatures, familiars, curses and other enchantments, worlds involving magic, and the Middle Ages.

Albert Pyun

Albert Pyun

Albert Pyun was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films.

Kevin Sorbo

Kevin Sorbo

Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and as Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda. Sorbo is also known for acting in Christian films such as God's Not Dead and Let There Be Light.

Michael Paré

Michael Paré

Michael Kevin Paré is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Streets of Fire (1984), and The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), and on the series Starhunter (2000–2004).

Whitney Able

Whitney Able

Whitney Nees Able is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) and Monsters (2010), and has been featured in Maxim magazine.

Melissa Ordway

Melissa Ordway

Melissa Pam Gaston is an American actress and model. She has been featured in campaigns by a number of major brands including Skechers, Old Navy, David's Bridal, Anchor Blue and Tillys. She is best known for portraying Abby Newman on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. In May 2022, she was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama for her portrayal of Abby Newman on The Young and the Restless.

Ralf Moeller

Ralf Moeller

Ralf Rudolf Moeller is a German actor and former competitive bodybuilder. He is known for his roles of Brick Bardo in Cyborg, Kjartan in The Viking Sagas, the title character in the television show Conan the Adventurer, Hagen in Gladiator, Thorak in The Scorpion King, and Ulfar in Pathfinder.

Lee Horsley

Lee Horsley

Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series Nero Wolfe (1981), Matt Houston (1982–1985), and Paradise (1988–1991). He starred in the 1982 film The Sword and the Sorcerer and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove.

Victoria Maurette

Victoria Maurette

Victoria Maurette, also known by her pseudonym Vicko, is an Argentine actress, musician, singer, songwriter and composer. She is probably best known for her performance as Victoria "Vico" Paz in the Cris Morena Group series Rebelde Way, and for her roles in Albert Pyun's films Left for Dead, Bulletface and Tales of an Ancient Empire.

Sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work.

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 American sword and sorcery fantasy film co-written and directed by Albert Pyun, and starring Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll. The plot concerns a mercenary with a three-bladed projectile sword who rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant, and a powerful, devil-like sorcerer, in conquering the land.

Synopsis

Queen Ma’at finds her kingdom of Abelar under attack when treasure seekers accidentally open the tomb of vampire queen Xia. The Queen sends her half-sister, Princess Tanis, to the outlaw city of Douras to find her real father so he can save the kingdom.

Meanwhile, servant girl Kara who shares the same father as Tanis, but her mother is Xia and discovers she (Xia) is really a vampire and begins hunting Tanis. Once in Douras, the Princess finds her half-brother Aedan and convinces him to help her. Together they locate half-sister Malia, another half-sister Rajan and her daughter Alana. With this small group they plan to thwart vampire queen Xia.

Cast

Discover more about Cast related topics

Kevin Sorbo

Kevin Sorbo

Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and as Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda. Sorbo is also known for acting in Christian films such as God's Not Dead and Let There Be Light.

Michael Paré

Michael Paré

Michael Kevin Paré is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Streets of Fire (1984), and The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), and on the series Starhunter (2000–2004).

Whitney Able

Whitney Able

Whitney Nees Able is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) and Monsters (2010), and has been featured in Maxim magazine.

Melissa Ordway

Melissa Ordway

Melissa Pam Gaston is an American actress and model. She has been featured in campaigns by a number of major brands including Skechers, Old Navy, David's Bridal, Anchor Blue and Tillys. She is best known for portraying Abby Newman on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. In May 2022, she was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama for her portrayal of Abby Newman on The Young and the Restless.

Inbar Lavi

Inbar Lavi

Inbar Lavi is an actress. She is known for portraying Raviva on the 2012 MTV series Underemployed, Vee on the 2014 Fox television series Gang Related, and Sheba on the Fox series Prison Break. Lavi starred in the 2017–2018 Bravo television series Imposters, and played Eve in the final three seasons of the Netflix series Lucifer.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

Jennifer Lynn Siebel Newsom is an American documentary filmmaker and actress who is the current first partner of California as the wife of Governor Gavin Newsom. She is the director, writer, and producer of the film Miss Representation, which premiered in the documentary competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The film examines how the media has underrepresented women in positions of power. The Mask You Live In, her second film which she wrote, produced and directed, scrutinizes American society's definition of masculinity.

Ralf Moeller

Ralf Moeller

Ralf Rudolf Moeller is a German actor and former competitive bodybuilder. He is known for his roles of Brick Bardo in Cyborg, Kjartan in The Viking Sagas, the title character in the television show Conan the Adventurer, Hagen in Gladiator, Thorak in The Scorpion King, and Ulfar in Pathfinder.

Victoria Maurette

Victoria Maurette

Victoria Maurette, also known by her pseudonym Vicko, is an Argentine actress, musician, singer, songwriter and composer. She is probably best known for her performance as Victoria "Vico" Paz in the Cris Morena Group series Rebelde Way, and for her roles in Albert Pyun's films Left for Dead, Bulletface and Tales of an Ancient Empire.

Lee Horsley

Lee Horsley

Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series Nero Wolfe (1981), Matt Houston (1982–1985), and Paradise (1988–1991). He starred in the 1982 film The Sword and the Sorcerer and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove.

Sasha Mitchell

Sasha Mitchell

Sasha Mitchell is an American actor best known for his television roles as James Beaumont on Dallas and Cody Lambert on Step by Step as well as playing David Sloane in three installments of the original Kickboxer franchise. Mitchell has a black belt in taekwondo.

Production

The sequel was first announced in 1982, in the end credits of The Sword and the Sorcerer. Production itself officially began with scriptwriting in November 2007, followed by principal photography in California the following year.[1] According to Pyun, actors considered for the film included Yancy Butler, Kari Wuhrer, Mark Dacascos, Val Kilmer, Steven Seagal, Olivier Gruner, and Christopher Lambert.[1]

Discover more about Production related topics

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 American sword and sorcery fantasy film co-written and directed by Albert Pyun, and starring Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll. The plot concerns a mercenary with a three-bladed projectile sword who rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant, and a powerful, devil-like sorcerer, in conquering the land.

Screenwriting

Screenwriting

Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.

California

California

California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and it has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Yancy Butler

Yancy Butler

Yancy Victoria Butler is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 film Hard Target, Jess Crossman in Drop Zone, and Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama series Witchblade.

Kari Wuhrer

Kari Wuhrer

Kari Samantha Wuhrer is an American actress, model, and singer. Wuhrer began her career as a teenager, and is best known for her time as a cast member on MTV's Remote Control, her roles as Maggie Beckett in the television series Sliders, and as Sheriff Samantha Parker in the horror comedy film Eight Legged Freaks.

Mark Dacascos

Mark Dacascos

Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is known for his roles as Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-0, Louis Stevens in Only the Strong, Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf, Toby Wong in Drive, Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave, the titular role in Crying Freeman and as Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer

Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), as well as the military action film Top Gun (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988).

Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal

Steven Frederic Seagal is an American and naturalized Russian actor, screenwriter, and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-law's dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films.

Olivier Gruner

Olivier Gruner

Olivier Gruner, is a French former naval commando, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and pilot. Born in Paris, France, he moved to the United States in 1988. His career in the film industry began in 1987 when he first appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Christopher Lambert

Christopher Lambert

Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). For his performance in the film Subway (1985), he received the César Award for Best Actor. His most famous role is Connor MacLeod in the adventure-fantasy film Highlander (1986) and the subsequent franchise of the same name.

Release

The film's North American premiere was at the Fright Night Film Fest of July 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky.[2] The film was released in the United States by Lionsgate in January 2012.[3]

Reception

Bob Calhoun of Salon.com wrote that Sorbo "sinks to sad new lows" after starring in the film.[4]

Scott Weinberg of Twitch Film called it "one of the worst films I've ever seen". Weinberg said that it is "the sort of movie that makes you reconsider Uwe Boll's status as the reigning king of movie crap".[5]

eFilm critic Jack Sommersby rated the film one star and said: "What's infuriating is that Pyun has oodles of talent and can be a first-rate director when he allows himself to be guided by ratiocination rather than egregious grandeur. The Sword and the Sorcerer didn't exactly have the sturdiest of scripts, which resulted in a lumpy middle section, but it was all of a piece, a consistent vision—for my money, far better than John Boorman's clunky Excalibur from the year before".[6] Nick Hartel of DVD Talk rated it 0/5 stars and also called Pyun worse than Boll, whom he called merely lazy rather than incompetent like Pyun.[7]

Scott Pyle of Fulvue Drive-In.com writes: "Empire tries very hard to follow the happy-go-lucky spirit of its predecessor, and it manages to succeed at this on some level, but it lacks the innocence and pure fun of Sorcerer".[8] David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote that the film's only redeeming quality is that it is "laughably short".[9]

Giving the film one star, Jason Rugart said: "I fear it will end up on my worst of list next December ... Pyun has an excellent eye for the visually intriguing and his love for the craft palpable. That's the thing that makes Tales such a frustrating viewing experience is that elements of a good movie or at least a watchable one are swimming about in this murky haphazard concoction".[10]

Discover more about Reception related topics

Salon.com

Salon.com

Salon is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.

Uwe Boll

Uwe Boll

Uwe Boll is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises. While these films were released theatrically, they generally received negative critical reception and underperformed commercially. Among them, the 2005 adaptation of Alone in the Dark is considered one of the worst films ever made. Boll's films during the 2010s, comprising mostly original projects and independent movies, received home media releases to better, although still mostly negative reviews. After retiring in 2016 to become a restaurateur, Boll announced his return to filmmaking in 2020 and eventually returned to filmmaking in 2023. His films are financed through his production companies Boll KG and Event Film Productions.

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 American sword and sorcery fantasy film co-written and directed by Albert Pyun, and starring Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll. The plot concerns a mercenary with a three-bladed projectile sword who rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant, and a powerful, devil-like sorcerer, in conquering the land.

DVD Talk

DVD Talk

DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.

DVD Verdict

DVD Verdict

DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews were quoted by sources such as CBS Marketwatch, and were praised by such writers as Anthony Augustine of Uptown.

Source: "Tales of an Ancient Empire", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 31st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_an_Ancient_Empire.

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References
  1. ^ a b "The Tale behind the making of Tales of an Ancient Empire". pyun.com. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  2. ^ "Tales of an Ancient Empire to Debut at Fright Night Film Fest". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  3. ^ Moore, Debi (2011-12-12). "Watch the First 18 Minutes of Tales of an Ancient Empire". Dread Central. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  4. ^ Calhoun, Bob (2012-01-22). "The tragedy of Kevin Sorbo". Salon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  5. ^ Weinberg, Scott (2011-07-18). "Weinberg Reviews TALES OF AN ANCIENT EMPIRE". Twitch Film. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  6. ^ "Movie Review - Tales of an Ancient Empire - eFilmCritic". www.efilmcritic.com.
  7. ^ Hartel, Nick (2012-02-14). "Tales of an Ancient Empire". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  8. ^ "Tales Of An Ancient Empire (2011/Lionsgate DVD)". www.fulvuedrive-in.com.
  9. ^ Johnson, David (2012-01-09). "Tales of an Ancient Empire". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  10. ^ Rugaard, Jason (January 25, 2012). "Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010) – Review".

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