Tales of an Ancient Empire

2010 1h 26m EN

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2.9

SKIP

★2.9TMDB · 30

AdventureFantasyHorrorActionThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

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A princess is on a quest to unite the five greatest warriors to save her kingdom from a demon sorceress.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Whitney Able
Xia
Kevin Sorbo
Aedan
Ralf Moeller
General Hafez
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Queen Ma'at
Michael Paré
Oda
Melissa Ordway
Princess Tanis
Matthew Willig
Giant Iberian
Sarah Ann Schultz
Malia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Albert Pyun
Writers: Cynthia Curnan
Languages: German, English
Countries: Argentina, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Argentina, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Sword and the Sorcerer Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Albert Pyun, shot by Philip Alan Waters. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Anthony Riparetti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Albert Pyun directs. Philip Alan Waters behind the camera. Anthony Riparetti scores. David Lamb cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Argentina, United States of America. Dialogue in German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Released 16 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.
5International production across 2 countries: Argentina, United States of America.
6Part of the "The Sword and the Sorcerer Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Albert Pyun, shot by Philip Alan Waters. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Anthony Riparetti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor David Lamb shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Whitney Able and Kevin Sorbo and Ralf Moeller carry the top of the cast.
11IMDB entry: tt1136688 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Only 30 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Philip Alan Waters
Original score: Anthony Riparetti
Editing: David Lamb
Production design: James Terry Welden
Costume design: Glenda Maddox
Makeup / hair: Heather Ford
VFX supervisor: Ikuo Saito
Stunt coordinator: Ilram Choi
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010)

Part of

The Sword and the Sorcerer Collection

'The Sword and the Sorcerer' and it's "sequel in spirit", 'Tales of an Ancient Empire'

Also by

Albert Pyun

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Bob2018-03-17
★ 5/10
This is a not as bad a movie as many people think. It is not a blockbuster nor an award winner. That said, the filmmaker does an excellent job of putting together a compelling story with a cast of characters, well performed I might add, that will keep you watching. However, it seems to end unexpectedly. My only hope is that a sequel will come along one day to finish the tale. I came across this movie as a Kevin Sorbo fan. He does Sci-Fi and Fantasy well and whenever I stumble across another movie with Sorbo in the cast, I give it a chance. His performance was typical of his style with action and humor rolled into the character. I found it to be a job well done on his part. The leading ladies in the film, and there are quite a few, provided quality performances along side Mr. Sorbo. The director's vision of vampires, however, was a little off in my opinion. There are many takes on the vampire tale and this one uses a variety of sources to create their creatures of the night... or day. Maybe I'm too wrapped up in the Universal Pictures version of the vampire to keep an open mind about those taking a different route with the film. The special effects were not bad for a movie that boasts a mere 1,000,000 dollar budget. The low cost may be a reason why the film seemed to end abruptly. In short, if you are looking for a decent movie, give it a try but don't expect too much. Go in understanding it is a low budget fantasy/sci-fi/monster flick that is meant to entertain. I hope that one day the writer and director get an opportunity to at least close out the story.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-10
★ 1/10
The problem here is the art... seriously... as in it takes itself seriously. Sorbo and Pare seem to understand what the audience wanted from their performances, and they seemed to understand what sort of movie they were in. The director, however, had an artistic vision for a sequel to a B grade Sword and Sorcery movie and that just doesn't worm. It takes itself far too seriously for what it is. And that takes away from the enjoyment of the film as a whole. At the end of the day, some of the cast understood that they needed to approach the film slightly tongue-in-cheek, slightly self aware of that they were making, but the director didn't. And the result was that everything that made the first film fun... not good, but FUN, was lost in an attempt to make the second film artistic and pretentious.