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.
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.