Trancers

Plot synopsis:
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a police trooper in the year 2247 who has been hunting down Martin Whistler, a criminal mastermind who uses psychic powers to turn people into mindless "trancers" and carry out his orders. Deth can identify a tranced individual by scanning them with a special bracelet. All trancers appear as normal humans at first, but once triggered, they become savage killers with twisted features.
Before he can be caught, Whistler escapes back in time using a drug-induced time travelling technique. Whistler's consciousness leaves his body in 2247 and travels down his ancestral bloodline arriving in 1985 and taking over the body of an ancestor, a Los Angeles police detective named Weisling.
Once Deth discovers what Whistler has done, he destroys Whistler's body – effectively leaving him trapped in the past with no vessel to return to – and chases after him through time the same way. Deth ends up in the body of one of his ancestors; a journalist named Phil Dethton.
With the help of Phil's girlfriend - a punk rock girl named Leena (Helen Hunt) - Deth goes after Whistler, who has begun to "trance" other victims. Whistler plots to eliminate the future governing council members of Angel City (the future name of Los Angeles), who are being systematically wiped out of existence by Whistler's murder spree of their own ancestors. Deth arrives too late to prevent most of the murders and can only safeguard Hap Ashby (Biff Manard), a washed-up former pro baseball player, who is the ancestor of the last surviving council member, Chairman Ashe (Anne Seymour).
Deth is given some high-tech equipment, which is sent to him in the past: his sidearm, (which contains two hidden vials of time drugs to send him and Whistler back to the future), and a "long-second" wristwatch, which temporarily slows time, stretching one second to ten. The watch has only enough power for one use, but he later receives another watch to pull the same trick again.
During the end fight with Whistler, one of the drug vials in Jack's gun breaks, leaving only one vial to get home. Jack is forced to make a choice: kill the innocent Weisling (who is possessed by the evil Whistler), or use the vial to send Whistler back to 2247, which would strand Jack in the present. Jack chooses to inject Weisling with the vial, saving the lieutenant's life but condemning Whistler to an eternity without a body to return to. Jack then decides to remain with Leena in 1985, although observing him from the shadows is McNulty, his boss from the future, who has traveled down his own ancestral line, ending up in the body of a young girl.

Tags: neo noir, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, sci-fi

Review:
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a detective in the future who's sent back to 1985 to stop a madman who's decided to kill the ancestors of the city council of Deth's time.
With the help of Lena (a young Helen Hunt), Deth fights Trancers (who have fallen under the control of the madman) and his own culture shock.It's a short movie (76 minutes), and things move pretty quickly; plot isn't so much of a focus as a annoying gnat that appears from time to time.
But for being so short, the characters are pretty well developed - and one huge bonus is that Deth isn't an no necked, shoot-first idiot, as renegade cops are often portrayed.Trancers is original, often-funny sci-fi cheese.
The time travel plot and "fish-out-of-water" aspects make it similar to the first "Terminator," but try to imagine that classic film with an infinitely lower budget and a more highly developed sense of humor.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
Cult Sci-Fi. 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.
For as long as i can remember, this movie like so many made by Charles Band, be they made under the banner of Empire Pictures, Full Moon Pictures or even his latest venture Shadow Entertainment, the majority of his output has mostly been looked down upon as poor low brow fare, why even from those persons unknown, masquerading as fans.For me my first introduction to the work of Charles Band was infact "Ghoulies" directed by sometime actor, sometime director Luca Bercovici, being of that teen-age, the memories of that movie, like that of their sequels still lingers.
The Movie itself also brought Tim Thomerson out of the shadows of character acting, allowing him to bring to life the hard boiled character of Jack Deth, Presented much better here than in any of the other sequels, of which, I must give mention to part three, which was the better of all the sequels.As for the man behind the movie, Charles Band, i think perhaps, he cuts it better as a producer rather than a director, but hey if he runs the company then he's entitled to pick up that megaphone.
Perhaps the Glory Days might be gone, time rolls on, that shining light that once shone so bright for Charles Band will shine again, of that i have no doubt, he has left a legacy and for me my maiden voyage truly began with a man named Deth, how many film fans can say that and live to tell the tale..
This underrated movie opens to a Los Angeles of the future with Tomerson playing the role of a bounty hunter/cop who is facing the likes of which would probably make any real officer quit and take a safer job.
This is the classic B movie dramatizing the never ending battle between good and evil; good being Jack Deth (Thomerson) attempting to stop the antagonistic subtle evil criminal who is even able to travel through time.
His Empire May Have Crumbled And the Full Moon might have slightly dipped behind the shadows, but Charles's Band's Legacy of Classics will always begin and end with this vision of Jack Deth, a rogue cop fighting for his right to live and breath in the city of angels in the year 2247.My first introduction to the cinema of Charles Band began with the Low Budget riff on Gremlins in the shape of Ghoulies, nothing that great, just a slight distraction for eighty odd minutes, now this being the 1980's the video shops were littered with all sorts of mindless dreck cluttering up the shelves, and being of an age, with an enquiring mind, in short and even still to this day, a sucker for a good looking cover i stumbled upon Trancers, not really knowing that it was made by the same producer.Now Comparisons have been made down through the years, that Band was lurking in the shadows of Roger Corman as the pretender to the thrown as King of the B Picture, Alas my own take on that notion, is that Corman was from another time and age, that while he still maintains a presence in the Low Budget Genre Market with all the Various Dinosaurs, Carnosaurs and bubble headed Muscleman pictures, Charles Band was the man with plan and so it was, and so it began with Trancers.Now everyone seems to think that this movie should be compared to the likes of The Terminator, However remember this being the 80's what film didn't compare just a little like something they had just watched.
I never thought about it back then, but as this arena of film-making has become Tim Thomerson's bread and Butter, does Helen Hunt still care to remember her early hike up the Hollywood Ladder by appearing in such a low budgeted but very high spirited movie.Back then ofcourse, who knew?
Then Again who was i to say that, when i was just a teenager, i would find myself hooked on low budget B movies or to be more precise, the low budget B Movie that rolled of the Charles Band Conveyor belt all those years ago and even still to this day, and it all began with the first adventure of a future cop called Jack Deth, he who said that dry hair was for squids.The many sequels that followed down through the years may not have surpassed the class and feel of the original, but they still had Jack Deth as the main protagonist, in his world rules were for jokers, he lived by his own rules.
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.
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) a future cop from the 21st century returns to 1985 to stop a killer from destroying the government head official's ancestors, not knowing the area (as he only knows L.A because he scuba dives there, and L.A is underwater) Deth is aided by punk rocker Lena (Helen Hunt) meanwhile Deth has his work cut out for him when said killer has taken the form of the chief of police in modern times L.A. Trancers is one of the best B.movies of the 80s, in that it is certainly a rip off of The Terminator and Blade Runner, but it also has a zany sense of humor and more importantly an ambitious script and a few good ideas of it's own.
The comedy works and Thomerson and Hunt make a fun hero and sidekick and the movie is low budget but always interesting to look at.
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a cop in 2247 with old Los Angeles now under water.
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.
Tim Thomerson plays trooper Jack Deth, a future cop who's occupation is to kill a dangerous breed of humans called Trancers.
Deth's mission is to travel back in time to stop Martin Whistler (Michael Stefani) from assassinating the future forefathers and peacekeepers of Angel City.
This film doesn't take itself too seriously and aside from some cheesy, but funny acting in certain places, this little cult gem is one of the most entertaining low budget movies you'll ever see..
B-movie icon Tim Thomerson is perfect as Jack Deth, and Helen Hunt (yes, THAT Helen Hunt) is fun to watch as well.
Trancers is a classic time travel-film/noir movie, with a gritty B-movie edge.
Helen Hunt - the only other 'normal' character in this film - is a delight to watch.With booms in shot, mopeds as getaway vehicles and matte paintings galore, it spells out low budget in capital letters, but who really cares?
Despite some plot holes and a distinctly low budget, "Trancers" (or "Future Cop" as it's known here) wins out thanks to a witty script, three-dimensional characters and first-rate performances.
This movie was completely original for a B movie it followed time travel theories pretty good most people won't like this film cause it's a B movie but those people will never know what they are missing Tim Thomerson was great in this film..
It gave comedian Tim Thomerson the role of a lifetime, as a detective of the future named Jack Deth.
Deth is sent back in time 300 years to inhabit the body of his ancestor, so he can find and apprehend a villain named Whistler (Michael Stefani).
Deths' faithful sidekick / love interest will be a young woman named Leena (Helen Hunt).Producer & director Charles Band makes the most out of the situation with this very amusing and entertaining story, concocted by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. The futuristic designs are nicely done, so much credit should go to production designer Jeff Staggs, art director Christopher Amy, and cinematographer Mac Ahlberg.
Representative movie of the 80's era,low budge and a primitive special effects but delightful and entertainment picture,a mature man played by Tim Thomerson and the young beauty Helen Hunt in great performance together with a clever plot made this trash Sci-fi one those memorable movies from the eighties!!!
Our hero Jack Deth (played to perfection by Tim Thomerson) is a detective from the future who kills mindless trancers (zombies) and he has to go back in time to stop Whistler, the man who is turning people into trancers and is also trying to kill the high councils (the leaders from the future) long lost relatives so the high councils never would of existed at all.
This marks the first movie staring Helen Hunt who plays the romantic lead opposite of Jack Deth.
You can't compare this movie to Terminator or Blade Runner because it was filmed with a very low budget, but it did succeed in being highly entertaining for what it is, a low budget sci fi movie..
There are some gaping plot holes (the bad guy's entire scheme, for instance), but even with that it's a fun ride if you're into cheesy Sci-Fi films.Jack Deth, a nearly-but-not-quite cookie cutter rogue cop, has to travel 300 years into the past to the year 1985.
Whistler has the ability to turn people into the titular Trancers, mindless killing machines.One of the charms of this movie is the fact that it at times pokes fun at itself, such as when people point out the main character's rather strange name.
The acting is pretty good across the board for a film of this caliber, and I'm a little surprised Helen Hunt is the only actor who went on to bigger and better things.If you're the kind of person who likes to sit back and chuckle at a well-made turkey, this film is right up your alley.
As long as you can set aside things like plot holes and low budgets, you should be in for a good time..
I am actually a big B-Movie fan, but this movie was just awful, and not in the good way.Whoever the guy who plays Jack Deth is has to be one of the worst actors ever.
This movie can be described simply as Tim Thomerson's and director Charles Band's conspiracy to make out with and expose as much of Helen Hunt as possible.
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a cop hunting and killing Trancers (futuristic zombies complete with crack-head lips and a light coat of clown makeup).
Crummy time travel thrillers proliferated like dandelions in the wake of The Terminator, but this one is at least tolerable, thanks to surprisingly good, straight action performances by comedian Tim Thomerson and a very young Helen Hunt who managed to produce good chemistry from a rather pedestrian script.
~Spoiler~Trancers is a fun little B movie that mixes elements of sci-fi and film noir.
Deth is cop from the future who travels back in time to hunt the villainous Whistler and his army of Trancers.
Without Charles Band and Full Moon Features, there wouldn't be the Asylum, SyFy Channel, Anchor Bay, or any other independent genre companies giving us "Sharknado," "Mega Piranha," and "Metal Shifters."Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is an Angel City trooper sent back in time to the Los Angeles of 1985.
Deth hooks up with Leena (the lovely Helen Hunt in an early, hair-dyed-blue role), and together they hunt for the ancestors of two future council members, who if killed by Whistler, will destroy the future.I love this movie.
This movie takes place in the distant future in which a cop by the name of "Jack Deth" (Tim Thomerson) has been on a mission to destroy a cult created by a madman named "Whistler" (Michael Stefani).
So armed with only a .38 revolver, a pretty guide named "Leena" (Helen Hunt) and very little time, Jack has to somehow subdue Whistler before history is changed forever.
Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this 80's sci-fi film still manages to entertain despite the fact that it's over 30-years old.
Aside from its awesomely-named main character, Jack Deth (played by Tim Thomerson ...
Tim Thomerson hits it right out of the ballpark with his marvelously deadpan and sardonic portrayal of Jack Deth, a hard-boiled trooper from the future who travels back to 80's Los Angeles to prevent evil mastermind Whistler (a pleasingly slimy Michael Stefani) and his zombie-like minions called trancers from killing the ancestors of his enemies.
Wonderfully cheeseball 80s scifi flick, about Jack Deth, an ex-cop, (or bounty hunter, something like that) begins in the 23rd century, with Deth being sent back in time to 1985 LA, to sort of retroactively eliminate trancers: mindless zombies controlled by a guy called Whistler, who uses them to do his evil bidding.
Tim Thomerson is a blast as Jack Deth, clad in a trenchcoat, cigarette dangling from one side of his mouth, often times illuminated by neon lighting, he looks like a character straight out of a 1940s B-movie.