It was only a month or two ago when I took a look at Full Moon Entertainment’s 4K release of their sci-fi classic Trancers. Well, guess what? I’m back yet again to jump into the TCL chamber with their latest releases. It would be more appropriate for me to say remastered since the time has come for Full Moon to give us a double remastered dose of Trancers films. This time, it’s Trancers 4: Jack of Swords and Trancers 5: Sudden Deth, both originally released in 1994.
Both movies were directed by David Nutter (who would later win an Emmy in 2015 for his work on Game of Thrones) and shot on location in Romania. Charles Band knew there would be tax breaks and that money would go much further, so he purchased a massive castle (for a good price) and filmed several projects there In addition to these two films, he also shot the Subspecies films there.
In Trancers 4: Jack of Swords, Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) returns to the 23rd century after saving the day in the ’80s, only to find out his other wife had left him for Harris (Stephen Macht). As aggravated as he may be, he still agrees to take on another assignment from the past. A stowaway creature in the TCL chamber from the previous assignment causes the equipment to malfunction, and Jack finds himself in a new dimension, which is reminiscent of medieval Europe.
RELATED: ‘TRANCERS’ 4K REVIEW: A CLASSIC MOVIE WITH A LACKLUSTER 4K RELEASE
There’s a new breed of Trancer, called the Nobles, that he will have to face while assisting a group of rebels to take down the evil Lord Caliban (Clabe Hartley) before they can help him to return to his own world and time.
In Trancers 5: Sudden Deth, Jack continues his quest to find his way back home from the world where the Trancers rule. There’s a mythical diamond he’s trying to find, which would help him, but the surprise return of Caliban, who was thought to be dead, proves he’s the King of Trancers, and Jack’s final fight will determine whether or not he makes it home.
RELATED: BLU-RAY REVIEW: ‘THE KINDRED’ (1987) REMAINS ONE OF THE DECADE’S BEST MONSTER MOVIES
I never personally felt these two sequels really lived up to the fun and excitement of the original trilogy. The acting in them is subpar to what was witnessed in the other films as well. While none of the films had particularly large budgets, these two seemed to suffer the most. The story was weaker (it really felt a lot like Army of Darkness in many ways), and the acting was pretty strained for the most part.
The real highlight of both of these films is, of course, Tim Thomerson. He’s mastered the character of Jack Deth and can effortlessly step into his skin. Thomerson has never been given proper credit as a comedian, and with this character, he’s able to switch from badass to physical comedian without even trying.
These two discs have both been remastered and contain the original Videozone episodes and the trailers. I don’t really have a frame of reference as far as picture quality goes since the last time I watched these two was on their original DVD releases, and from what I can tell, they have definitely improved.
If you don’t have them, I absolutely think they should be added to the collection. I would certainly choose these over the DVD versions. If you keep your expectations in check, Trancers 4 and 5 are entertaining, short enough to have a good time and make you laugh a little.
