Future Cop

I remember renting this superb Sci-Fi movie back in the late 80s. I'd only had a VCR for about a year and this renting video titles lark was still very exciting for me. Trancers was one of my favorites at the time and still is to this day. It stood the test of time. Speaking of time, that's what this movie is all about. Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson in great form) travels back in time to stop Whistler who created the kill-crazy 'Trancers.' A terrific sci-fi action movie that, despite being low-budget, never fails to thrill. I haven't been able to find it on DVD as yet but I'm ever alert. I hope to get it and its 5 sequels in a box-set. If not I'd happily settle for 'Trancers' on its own...

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 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.

'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.

In the Twentieth-Third Century, in Angel City, the trooper Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) hunts down the criminal Martin Whistler (Michael Stefani) that killed his wife and turns weak-minded people into Trancers to follow his command. Jack is assigned by the government to travel to 1985 to chase Whistler that has fled to the past to kill their ancestors and assume the government. The way to travel in time is injecting a drug that makes the consciousness of the user traveling through ancestors. Jack learns that Whistler left his body in the Twentieth-Third Century and took over his ancestor, L.A. Police Detective Weisling. Before traveling to the past, Jack destroys Whistler's body to trap him in the past. Jack awakes in the body of the journalist Phil Dethton that had one night stand with the sexy photographer Leena (Helen Hunt). Jack teams up with Leena to look for the the ancestors of the member of the government, but Whistler has the power of the police. Will they succeed?

"Trancers" is a cult sci-fi film directed by Charles Band in a film- noir style. The idea of traveling in time through ancestors is unique and the story has action and humor in right doses. Helen Hunt is very cute and shows great chemistry with Tim Thomerson). My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Trancers – O Exterminador do Século XXIII" ("Trancers – The Terminator from the Twentieth-Third Century")