Guardianes del futuro (Trancers)

This sci-fi entry comes across as a charmingly trashy amalgam of BLADE RUNNER (1982) and THE TERMINATOR (1984) – not as good as either, sure, but arguably more entertaining. It involves an unshaven, raincoat-clad police detective from the 23rd century (the film, in fact, was re-issued as FUTURE COP) chasing the leader of a group of Trancers (gullible "squibs" who turn vicious and expire fluorescently in a pile of ashes) back to the present day, where the latter intends to exterminate the ancestors of the three council members who brought about his downfall.

Except for a young Helen Hunt, I was unfamiliar with the main cast – though craggy-faced lead Tim Thomerson evokes the perfect blend of machismo, world-weariness and bewilderment the role requires. The film is also refreshingly tongue-in-cheek – with the funniest bits being the hard-boiled hero lighting a match against his own teeth and when, on entering a discotheque frequented by punk rockers, he deadpans "It looks like a room full of Trancers to me". As a matter of fact, the sharply-written script has a fair amount of amusing one-liners: when Thomerson complains about the implausibility of a name like Peter Gunn upon catching an episode of the vintage series on TV, Hunt quips, "What kind of a name is Jack Deth?" (i.e. the character played by Thomerson himself).

While the special effects afforded by the modest budget could best be described as quaint, the action sequences are adequate enough – including a couple in which the hero manages to halt time (via a James Bond-like gadget wrist-watch) in order to flee the presence of Trancers who have him cornered and, then, to save the heroine from certain death. Though perhaps too low-key for its own good and somewhat under-developed at 76 minutes, the film seems to be deserving of a cult reputation (for what it's worth, it was followed by two sequels also featuring Thomerson) – but, alas, hasn't been served at all well by the DVD format so far (this viewing came by way of the no-frills fullscreen R2 edition from a budget label). I, for one, wouldn't be averse to a more exhaustively packaged and properly framed re-issue...

Trancers is a breathtaking film. Made on a minute budget, the sets clearly suffer from costings yet despite this the film is consistently humorous and riveting. Tim Thomerson blasts his way through many bad Trancers dude in his sarcastic and wry style - the scene where he tells a well toned body-builder (Michael McGrady) that his tan suits Christmas well is brilliant as are many of the daft remarks. Featuring a pre-fame Helen Hunt as Leena and a great range of supporting actors we also have to be grateful to the writers, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo (later to concentrate on computer games understandably) who tone the film in ways that Charles Band (as director) could never have done alone.

Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a cop in 2247 with old Los Angeles now under water. He is hunting down the last of Martin Whistler (Michael Stefani)'s people after he singe Whistler. Whistler's psychic power turns people into psycho killers under Trance. Trancers can seem normal until they're scanned or activated. Then the council calls in Jack Deth telling him that Whistler had actually escaped down-the-line into the body of his ancestor Police Detective Weisling in 1985. Whistler intends to kill every member of the council by killing their ancestors. They send Jack Deth into the past into the body of Phil Deth with two vials to send both him and Whistler into the present. He's also given a watch that stretch a long second into ten. Leena (Helen Hunt) is Phil's one-night stand from the previous night. This is packed full of great sci-fi ideas. It may be one too many but it's all easily understandable. I love the hard-boiled Jack Deth character. It's a relatively low-budget affair. With a few more bucks and some imagination, this would be a great sci-fi classic. Instead it's a campy cult classic.

When one thinks of a B-Movie, one thinks of low-budget, awfully SFX, bad actors, and plots that border idiocy. Well, this little underrated gem surely will erase any preconception you have about it as soon as it starts.

Starring Helen Hunt in one of her first roles, this movie has turned into one of the most popular cult movies, and helped to establish Charles Band as a figure in the genre.

The story is quite simple: 300 years in the future, in Los Angeles(now called Angel City), Trancers are people who were controlled by a terrorist named Whistler. He developed a mind-controlling technique that allowed him to turn people with weak minds into mindless zombies. A detective, Jack Deth, apparently killed him, but in fact Whistler traveled to the past using a machine that allows him to inhabit the body of one of his ancestors. His purpose? To kill the ancestors of the government of Angel City.

As you can imagine, Jack Deth is sent to the past inhabiting the body of his ancestor too, who happens to be a reporter. What makes things interesting is that Whistler's ancestor is the chief of the police department of Los Angeles.

Even with it's striking similitude with Cameron's "The Terminator", the movie manages to be very entertaining, at times it even is more enjoyable that "Terminator".

This is possible thanks to the very good performances of Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth, and Helent Hunt as Lena, Deth ancestor's girlfriend. They have a very good chemistry and the way Thomerson developed the character puts Deth in the same league as beloved B-Movie heroes like "Evil Dead"'s Ash.

The movie is for the most part very well developed, an achievement considering the budget it had. Even when the script has many plot holes, the whole thing is so entertaining that one ends up ignoring them. Now, that is what good movies must do.

Obviously, the SFX is not the best, but the movie's lack of pretensions makes it charming, and very rewarding. In the end this is definitely not your typical b-movie and surely will give you 77 minutes of joy. My only complain is that it is definitely very short. Very recommended.

8/10

'Trancers' (known under the dull title 'Future Cop' here in Australia, don't ask me why) still holds up all these years later as a lot of fun. It's cheap, sure, and suspiciously second hand (time travel schtick ripped off 'The Terminator', hard boiled Bogartish main character probably via 'Blade Runner', neither idea original anyway), but it knows its limitations, and is entertaining in a trashy way. The main reason it succeeds is because of the always reliable Tim Thomerson ('Near Dark', 'Cherry 2000') who was made to play Jack Deth. He's always enjoyable to watch. And as much as Helen Hunt irritates me now that she is a "serious artiste", she is fine as Deth's feisty side-kick. Also keep a look out for Thomerson's comedian buddies and frequent co-stars Art LaFleur and Biff Manard, and Richard Herd, a familiar face to 'Seinfeld' fans. I was also impressed by Michael Stefani as Deth's nemesis Whistler, king of the trancers. He seems to have disappeared from our screens since this movie, which is a pity.

'Trancers', a favourite guilty pleasure.