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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 - discovers her true nature as 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, half-sister Rajan and her daughter Alana. With this small group they plan to stop the vampire queen Xia before it is too late.
Director: Albert Pyun
Writer: Cynthia Curnan
I put off talking about this one for a little while now. I'm not really sure what to say about this or even how I feel about it. To be honest, I was kind of confused watching this movie. I'm not 100% on the whole plot of this film. I know The Sword and The Sorcerer had a fairly complex plot as well, so I guess it's just a part of the series. That being said, I didn't hate this movie or even think it was bad. Well, of course it's "bad", but in my little circle it's not. In fact, besides being a little confused as to what's going on, I kinda enjoyed this and hope there will actually be a third movie.
As most of you know Abelar, or as it's just called "Tales of the Ancient Empire", is a sequel to 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer. Yes, 30 years later we finally get the sequel. I'm not completely sure what this has to do with the original besides having a quick cameo from Lee Horsley as Talon, but there it is.
Tales is one of those movies that's going to get ripped apart by the general public is being shitty. Yes, the budget is low, but I think they do a pretty good job with it. It is weird to me, however that in 1982 they could make the sets look more "real" than they do now.
You're probably going to read that the acting is horrible, and that Kevin Sorbo couldn't even save it. I think the acting was just fine for the most part. Some are better than others, but I didn't think anyone was terrible. To be honest I thought the worst actor here was Michael Paré who didn't even seem to be trying. And of course these girls are unbelievably HOT! And, I am officially in love with Victoria Maurette.
The action here is decent, the women are beautiful, and it's a fantasy film. I'm not going to complain about much. If I have any complaints, it's that I didn't enjoy the "artsy" parts of the movie. I didn't like the lengthy beginning way they told the story, and the artsy end just confused the hell out of me. When you see this, you'll See what I mean.
Verdict: Fairly recommended
The Cast
Kevin Sorbo ... Aedan
Melissa Ordway ... Princess Tanis
Whitney Able ... Xia
Michael Paré ... Oda
Victoria Maurette ... Kara
Lee Horsley ... Talon
Sarah Ann Schultz ... Malia
Cazzy Golomb ... Hekate
Inbar Lavi ... Alana
Janelle Giumarra ... Rajan
Jennifer Siebel Newsom ... Queen Ma'at
Matthew Willig ... Giant Iberian
Ralf Moeller ... General Hafez
Scott Paulin ... Tou-Bou Bardo
Xavier Declie ... Dernier
It sounds like you might have seen a more complete edit than the DVD I watched last year - that didn't so much have an ending as just stop, suddenly, with a promise of a continuation/conclusion in Red Moon, which is now being made a pure sci-fi movie instead!!!
ReplyDeleteYou also mention several characters in your run-down of cast that I have no recollection of at all (e.g. Tou-Bou Bardo).
Back to eBay then...
There's a very, VERY lengthy begining that is narated and pseudo-animated to introduce the movie. (You can see how it looks by my first screenshot). The ending ...*spoiler?*.... shows a girl laying in a desert-like area all alone and then another girl comes up to her and something happens. don't want to get too detailed. The Tou-Bou Bardo scene was god-awful. I think it was meant to be funny. It was just Oda asking him for help or something I don't remember. It was the only scene he appeared in. BTW, what do you mean "pure sci-fi" are they adding aliens and laser guns? God, I hope not.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, total sci-fi. I spoke to Albert (via Facebook & email) and he said basically after Conan studios weren't investing in fantasy, but sci-fi was hot so the whole thing was being repurposed as a a full-on science fiction! Have to admit I'm rather disappointed too :( Check his Facebook page for the details. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albert-Pyun-Movies/172106871258
DeleteGuess, I'm going to have to watch Tales again some time to see if it's the same one you saw as I'm not remembering it so well. It was many, many months ago ;)
And here's the YouTube link for the "rough" opening of Red Moon: http://youtu.be/umMZ358dleQ
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