Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth
Once again someone from the future has come back to create an army of Trancers, human zombies who do what they're told without question or pause. Now officer Jack Deth, a cop from the future stranded in the past, must once again go forth to stop them. This sci-fi action sequel chronicles his courageous actions as he struggles to save the future. His difficulties are compounded when his boss sends his first wife back from the future to help Deth who has unfortunately, married a 20th-century girl.
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- Cast:
- Tim Thomerson , Helen Hunt , Megan Ward , Martine Beswick , Jeffrey Combs , Alyson Croft , Telma Hopkins
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Reviews
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Blistering performances.
If you have seen the original and liked it and said to yourself Hey, there are a bunch more of them. sweet. I'm pretty sure they are going to be as good as the original. Nah. You can tell that this sequel even has less money then the original because most of it was shot in and outside of some mansion and "The Future" looks like an empty warehouse. But anyways, this time around Jack Deth has to stop Whistlers ?brother? from making trancer soldiers and taking over the world. The only redeeming factor in this one is that Jack Deth's long lost dead wife returns (played by a very attractive Megan Ward) and that causes problems with Jack and his current wife (played by Helen Hunt). The love triangle is funny and Tim Thomerson was a stand up comedian in his early days and you can tell because he has good comedic timing. The ending is kind of ridiculous but you do not hold it against them because the type of movie it is. It is a low budget B movie straight to video sequel from a low budget b movie film. For what it is, it is a solid B film with a solid B cast (even though Helen Hunt is about to get huge). Good action, simple story, enjoyable time, what more could you ask for.For more information you can visit my Youtube page Logan Toxic at: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtYHmNjwzVt9E0KUTrELbtA and visit my blog: http://logantoxic.blogspot.com
Frequently exceptional script for Trancers 2 so kudos to Jackson Barr. This sequel to Trancers is indeed 'ham'my but far from a turkey and (excuse the minute spoiler) never a bomb! The cast here is excellent with most of the original team repeating their roles and with Jack Deth's future wife played by Megan Ward an exceptional addition as is Richard Lynch as a troublesome environmentalist. Several cameos from Charles Band's father (Albert), mother (Jackie), mother-in-law (then wife Debra Dion's mother) and Helen Hunt's brother and Richard Lynch's son (Christopher) and Tim Thomerson's father and brother.Re-Animator team Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton also have small roles.Possibly better than the enjoyable first film this is a great sequel to - what at this point - looked like a fantastic film series.
Since the 70s, writer/producer/director Charles Band has been responsible for literally hundreds of science-fiction, fantasy and horror B-movies. Some of them are wonderful examples of how to use a tiny budget to maximum effect; many of them are pretty bad. Trancers (1985) was one of those rare gems.A Terminator style tale of time-travel and action, Trancers saw Tim Thomerson playing Jack Deth, a future cop given the task of tracking down bad-guy Whistler, who travels into the past by inhabiting the body of an ancestor. Whistler is capable of controlling other humans with his psychic powers, converting them into obedient zombies (the 'trancers' of the title), and attempts to alter the course of history by killing off the ancestors of the leaders of the future. Jack follows him to 1985, determined to stop him.In this 1991 sequel, Jack is still living in 1985. Having destroyed Whistler, he has settled down and married Leena (Helen Hunt), the young woman who helped him succeed in the first movie. But, for Jack, things don't stay calm for long, and trouble appears in the form of Whistler's brother, E.D. Wardo, who is trying to build a trancer army.Trancers II lacks the charm and simplicity of the original and is a huge disappointment considering how good the original was. The story is difficult to pick up if you haven't seen the first film (or at least not for a long while), and there is loads of unimpressive action and a few poor special effects. Gone is the inventiveness and wit that made Trancers so much fun; instead we get some cheesy one-liners and a script that feels like it was written on-the-fly.About the only reason I can give for recommending this film to fans of the genre is the cast, which boasts many names that will be familiar to followers of sci-fi and horror movies: Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Richard Lynch, Martine Beswicke. Unfortunately, most of them seemed to be having an 'off day' whilst filming Trancers II, and performances are mediocre at best.The Trancers series obviously has its fans; four further sequels have since been churned out. Unless the quality has taken up massive upward swing, I can't imagine them being any good.
I'm extremely wary of sequels as they invariably disappoint. (okay there are a handful of exceptions: e.g. Mad Max, The Godfather, Cleopatra Jones). 'Trancers 2' (known as 'Future Cop 2' here in Australia) follows this trend - it's a pretty lame follow up to the silly but fun original. The one thing that saves it from complete dismissal is the outstanding supporting cast which includes Martine Beswick ('One Million Years BC'), b-grade horror legend Jeffrey Combs ('Re-Animator'), Combs' occasional co-star Barbara Crampton ('Space Truckers'), and the hugely underrated Richard Lynch ('Open Season', 'God Told Me To', 'Scanner Cop'). The extremely likable Tim Thomerson returns as Jack Deth and he is always good no matter how weak the material he has to work with. Thomerson is joined by several faces from the original movie, such as Helen Hunt, and his comedian buddies Biff Manard and Art LeFleur. The plot this time concerns the brother of Whistler (the baddie from the first movie), played by Lynch, who using the cover of an environmental group tries to take over with his "trancer" army. Jack Deth must stop his evil plans while trying to rescue his resurrected first wife (cutie Megan Ward - 'Joe's Apartment'), stop his jealous current wife (Hunt) from leaving, and make sure former ball star and future of the world Hap Ashby (Manard) doesn't a)get drunk, and b)get murdered. Yes, it's a hard job being a time traveling cop, but it's nothing some hair gel and a few wise-cracks can't help you deal with. There's no way I can disguise the overall naffness of this movie, but it's some dumb fun for a boring afternoon at least. Check out the original 'Trancers' though, it's much better than this.