Trancers
Trancers
PG-13 | 06 May 1985 (USA)
Trancers Trailers

Angel City trooper Jack Deth is sent back in time from 2247 to 1985 L.A. to inhabit the body of his ancestor. Deth's assignment is to find his archenemy, Whistler, who turns people into zombies, before the fiend is able to kill all the ancestors of the future's governing council.

Reviews
Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Frank Markland 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 movie never lets up and much of the action is well staged and suspenseful. 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. Trancers then is a sci-fi gem that thankfully found an audience. * * *1/2 out of 4-(Very Good)
MARIO GAUCI This sci-fi entry comes across as a charmingly trashy amalgam of BLADE RUNNER (1982) and THE TERMINATOR (1984) – not as good as either, sure, but arguably more entertaining. 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. The film is also refreshingly tongue-in-cheek – with the funniest bits being the hard-boiled hero lighting a match against his own teeth and when, on entering a discotheque frequented by punk rockers, he deadpans "It looks like a room full of Trancers to me". 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). I, for one, wouldn't be averse to a more exhaustively packaged and properly framed re-issue...
burbs82 Jack Deth is a Trancer hunter from the future, chasing arch-enemy and trancer guru cult leader Martin Whistler through time, but not in your ordinary time machine. Time travel(in the original film) is only possible by sending a person's consciousness into a D.N.A. relative/ancestor. 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 is one of those cult classics which I would say is representative of the b-movie/low budget style of some of the best stuff in sci-fi/horror/fantasy th 80's had to offer. It's got a cool, far-fetched storyline and despite it's lower budget, it does wonders with its effects. Truly good stuff from director Charles Band, who not too much later formed his Full Moon Entertainment, which released the entertaining Trancers sequels.
José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) 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