Future cop 5

Filmed back-to-back with the equally bad "Trancers 4: Jack of Sword" on cheap Romanic filming locations, this final entry in the Trancers series (unless you count a cameo by Thomerson in Evil Bong) is more than a disappointment. Tim Thomerson once again plays Jack Deth and this time has to find some mythical MacGuffin to stop an evil Trancer king. Chases through castles and forests ensue. The original film was a lot of fun because it was as if someone from the Blade Runner universe stepped into modern day Los Angeles. I'm not sure seeing Rick Deckard in a Romanian castle nearly as interesting. Stick with the first film to leave on a high note and maybe part 2 and 3 if you're in a forgiving mood, but skip part 4 and 5. Dullsville.

Jack Deth (Thomerson) returns to the Medieval alternate fantasy where Trancers are vampire like and joins force with The Vampire king's son and the Tunnel Rat rebels to save the world from Vampire Trancer rule. Trancers 5 is really, really pushing it in terms of nostalgia and fandom from the earlier movies. The film is aimless and has no real zip to make the story move forward. Action is mediocre per the budget and the only thing this tired sequel has going for it is Tim Thomerson. It's hard to believe that the director of this is currently one of the best directors on TV. I guess that's one good thing to come out of this misbegotten mediocrity. Also the same problem as 4 is that the sword and sorcery era is not nearly as interesting as the Blade Runner inspired first couple and the movie develops no real momentum. This is the type of movie that is best described as "For die hard fans only" which is something part 6 doesn't even get right.

* * out of 4(-Mediocre)

Our hero Jack Deth is still stuck in the other dimension playing dungeons and dragons, but this time he is trying to find a way home. throughout the movie he is on a quest to retrieve a jewel to help him get back home. This film plays better than the previous one because they do not have to set up the story of Jack going to the Dark Ages and fighting noble Trancers with swords and magic. This one was more of an adventure film because they are on a quest whereas the one before they are just trying to fight Trancers. This movie is bad, do not get confused with that, but it is more entertaining and the story did not drag as much. This is the last Jack Deth Trancers movie and instead of going away with a roar he goes away with a whimper. Do not even bother watching the 6th Trancers movie because Jack Deth isn't even in it. Indstead his daughter is hunting Trancers. That movie is awful to the point of unwatchable, but as least you can watch Trancers 5 and not feel so bad for yourself because it is just a little waste of your life, unlike the 6th one. Avoid this movie.

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During this period, Full Moon took to making films back-to-back: Subspecies II & III, Trancers IV & V, etc. Some reviewers think that these paired-off entries are ultimately too similar to one another to count as separate movies. And they complain. Bitterly. But hey, major studios have started using the same technique - "Kill Bill" has been bisected, and "Lord of the Rings," which was filmed all in one go, was subsequently turned into three very similar movies (Here come the Orcs - run! Wait...here come our guys! ATTACK!).

So, I don't mind that this film is, in some ways, a retread of its predecessor. In fact, the effects and acting are significantly better than they were in Trancers IV - maybe it took a while for all concerned to find their stride - and so it has a different feel to it. There's also a more focused, quest-style plot, as Jack Deth toddles off to the Castle of Unrelenting Terror to obtain a jewel called the Tiamond ("sounds like Diamond" - oh Peter David, your dialogue is just too much!).

Bizarrely, several plot elements are plundered from "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix," including a siren-like seduction scene (in both cases, the spell is broken because the hero becomes hungry) and a scene in which ghosts are dispelled simply by being yelled at. Ah Peter David, I know where you get your ideas! I don't mind, though - a good sequence is worth repeating.

All this praise aside, Trancers V does not stand up terribly well on its own, and the ending feels rushed and cliffhanger-like. Jack Deth impregnated someone? He's dying? He's going back to his own time? Wha??? Since the series never continued...not with this actor, or in this vein anyway...the final feeling is one of acute disappointment.

So ends Jack Deth's final, oddball adventure in sword-and-sorcery land. Shame that he didn't get to appear in one more detective-style movie, but I still like the fish-out-of-water quality of his final battle against the nefarious Trancers.

Seeing that "Trancers 5: Sudden Deth" is a direct continuation of "Trancers 4: Jack of Swords" and thus carrying on in the medieval setting, I have to say that the movie wasn't off to a great start for me. I preferred the three first movies more than the fourth, so this fifth movie is most likely not going to impress me.

And that is odd, because I do enjoy medieval fantasy more than sci-fi, usually. But the medieval fantasy setting just didn't do it for me in the fourth movie.

Well, I will say that the storyline in this fifth movie was better than the previous movie. And I suppose that because Charles Band returned to the writing tasks. Writers Charles Band, Danny Bilson, Peter David and Paul De Meo put together a fair enough script. But I have to admit that the fantasy setting for the "Trancers" movie just still didn't win me over.

The acting performances in the movie were fair. And something that spoke well in favor of the movie was the fact that cast members from the previous movie returned to reprise their characters in this fifth movie, so that gave something in sense of continuity.

Visually then "Trancers 5: Sudden Deth" was okay. The effects were fair.

Watchable for what it was, but "Trancers 5: Sudden Deth" was hardly an outstanding movie in the franchise. They sort of derailed the franchise after the third movie.

My rating of director David Nutter's 1994 movie "Trancers 5: Sudden Deth" lands on a four out of ten stars.