Trancers III

• Also released as Trancers 3: Deth Lives!
• Directed by C. Courtney Joyner
• October 14, 1992

A cop from the 23^rd century is sent to finish his battle against trancers with the help of his wife and an AWOL soldier.

The Trancers series of films has never been too strong on following logic or causality. More of its focus is having fun with the concept and telling a story with mild humor. Trancers III (also released as Trancers 3: Deth Lives!) is no different but this sequel loses some of the hallmarks that made the first two films unique in favor of making it a little more of a straightforward time travel film. They reference ‘the line’ but gone is the injection to travel to the past in favor of a plexiglass variant of the Doctor Who callbox or even the derivative phonebooth from the Bill & Ted films. Trancers II built on a unique (and cheap) concept of time travel. This just dumps it.

Some of the characters return with those that don’t getting an honorable mention. Obviously Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) returns as does his now estranged wife Lena (Helen Hunt) in her final actual Trancers appearance though there could be some archival footage later. Then there’s Jack’s first wife Alice (Megan Ward) still inhabiting the body of her mental patient ancestor she hijacked in Trancers II.

Hunt’s time on screen feels almost superfluous. It does stretch the movie out into something that can pass as a film but her appearance as Lena-now a responsible adult-is more of a way to say goodbye to the films and her character than it is anything else. This movie came out the same year she started Mad About You which made her a star. I have heard she remained close with those involved and volunteered to come back one more time when she heard producers thought she would not do it. Cheers to her if true.

Jack is a little less hardboiled this time around. He is more affable than tough. Don’t think too much about how Jack is not only fighting to somehow maintain a relationship with Lena but also with his future wife or current wife depending on how you look at it. It’s actually very confusing. Might have worked better if they framed it as him keeping both in reserve or just trying to sort it out. Both are presented on an equal footing with no confusion or uncertainty by Jack.

Trancers are now organized though no leader is stated or indicated. Do they have a hive mind? Are they producing themselves now? Don’t know and neither will you. Jack though needs to travel to the point of origin of trancers and prevent them from ever existing. That would effectively undo the future. Then again, as I stated before…

Seems they were begun through a super soldier program begun in the early 21^st US century by Colonel Daddy Muthuh (Andrew Robinson). I guess it just never quite went away. Robinson is basically Garak but creepier. Robinson really chews up the dialogue. His facial expressions are really exaggerated to the point he appears to be straining. I guess in a Hellraiser reference Robinson uses his “Come to Daddy!” line.

This might be taking a bit of a swipe at the military as perceived by the writer. The early attempts at trancers give the subjects a level of self-control that they use to activate their trancer abilities making them unstoppable killing machines. It’s implied that often an individual needs to be killed because they simply can’t stop themselves. The military keeps funding it anyway because they to stay ahead of the competition. 

For a little budgeted film this looks as good as many presentations. The shark guy Shark (R. A. Mihailoff) is a great bit of prosthetic make up. The music is excellent. Band and the group he assembled often knew how to get maximum mileage out of little budget. It’s similar to what Roger Corman was known to do. Band and friends did their fair share of schlock but there was a level of quality that they were aiming for. They wanted to make something good and not something that just made back its money and then some.

While entertaining, this lacks too much of that aforementioned skill. The characters stumble from leg to leg of the story with the finale feeling a little anti-climactic. The threat is ended quickly and in my opinion very easily. A few punches and bullets and it is over. Then again the film is more about setting up indefinite time travel adventures for Jack. What it does right is capture the pure entertainment value of the original films. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.

What makes this movie ultimately watchable (and I dare say the Trancers movies up to this point) is that we have no idea where it’s going with what it’s doing. These might be examples of films where the people made it up as they went along. It’s not unusual for low budgeted films to rewrite on the fly. That can harm a movie depending on what they’re trying to do but so far not here. 

It’s just fun. Tim Thomerson’s performance helps to sell that the careening nature of the story here. Thomerson presents himself like he should’ve been the lead in some old Hollywood film. I guess that’s why he gained a strong following Cult following. He knows how to look at the camera and come right up to the fourth wall without necessarily breaking it to include the audience, but not to directly address them or give the one-liners a little extra punch.

Trancers III (also released as Trancers 3: Deth Lives!) is not a bad sequel. It’s certainly not a great cinematic achievement but it is entertaining. It just dumps a little too much that made the concept special but rises a bit based on Thomerson.