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)

ersinkdotcom In the early 1990s, my Friday and Saturday nights were spent at home watching movie after movie of whatever I could find in my local video store. I would first scour the shelves for the newest horror, sci-fi, or action flicks and then move on to older or lesser known titles. Thus, my love affair with Full Moon Features and straight-to-video fare began. I would literally scoop up anything with a Full Moon logo on it and spend hours in the dark of my living room devouring "Subspecies," "Puppet Master," "Demonic Toys," "Robot Jox," and anything else I could get my hands on. The "Trancers" movies were among those B-movie gems I would pick up.Let's face it. 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. He is assigned to inhabit the body of his ancestor in order to find his arch-enemy, Whistler (Michael Stefani), who turns people into zombies. Deth must stop him before is able to kill all the ancestors of the members of the future governing council. "Trancers" is a perfect example of everything Full Moon and Charles Band was creating in the early and mid-1980s. It's obvious they saw blockbuster films and wanted to make their own low-budget versions of them for genre fans to enjoy. After all, once you saw "Blade Runner," "The Terminator," and "Total Recall," where could you get more of those types of entertainment to enjoy? Band and his army of filmmakers filled that niche perfectly.You don't get any more 1980s than "Trancers." As the director and producer of the movie, Charles Band injected it with as much noir flavor as he could wring out of "Blade Runner" without being sued for plagiarism. You've got the long trench coats with the added flare of shoulder pads. Couple that with weird bolos, shirt collars, and ties and you have a futuristic beat cop ready to take down any zombie or android he comes up against in the past. Let's not forget Helen Hunt's crazy puffed-up hair and her fixation with punk rock. Just like Kyle Reese in James Cameron's "The Terminator," Jack Deth somehow makes his way into a nightclub to enjoy some tunes from a bygone era as he pursues his murderous target. Like they say, "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery." "Trancers" is unrated, but would be worthy of a PG-13 if put before the MPAA. There are some adult situations with no nudity. The language and violence is what you would expect from any genre movie these days.All in all, enthusiasts of 1980s B-movies will love "Trancers" The film is filled with fun practical effects, film noir overtones, and plenty of action for everyone to enjoy. It's an essential item for any sci-fi devotee's home entertainment library.

Nathaniel Scott Davis Sure "Out of Africa" is a good enough movie, I guess, but "Trancers" was hands down the greatest film to come out of 1985! It was bloodier then "Rambo: First Blood part II", it was more violent then "Cocoon", it was more intense then "The Goonies", and had a more grounded realistic approach to time travel then "Back to the Future". Tim Thomperson as Jack Deth is classic, the man brings the character to life and gives him gravity. After watching this movie I wept, openly for I knew I would never see a movie more beautiful again in my lifetime.Simply said, watch it!!! Watch it now!!!

logantoxic Trancers was a pretty decent go around for Charles Band, the director of the film. It has action, chemistry between the leads and a decent enough sci fi idea that could be seen as original. 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. Sounds like a ripoff from the Terminator right? Right, but it is effective and highly entertaining. This marks the first movie staring Helen Hunt who plays the romantic lead opposite of Jack Deth. She plays a punkish girl who works as an elf for a mall Santa. The Science part of this fictional story is a little fuzzy but you overlook it because the acting is good and you believe in the characters and root for them to win. This movie produced 4 successful direct to video sequels with each one getting steadily worst. 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.