Bullet Points: Trancers II
Full Moon Entertainment rose from the ashes of Empire International Pictures and not only did it give Charles Band a second chance at running a film studio, it opened the door for Full Moon to make sequels of movies originally released under the Empire banner. Case in point, 1991’s Trancers II…
- Six Years Later: Trancers II picks up six years after the events of Trancers. As the movie begins we see our hero Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson, Iron Eagle) and his wife Lena (Helen Hunt, Twister) are cruising around Los Angeles in Jack’s Corvette convertible unaware of the trouble that is brewing. Jack and Lena live with the off the sauce, former baseball great, Hap Ashby (Biff Manard, Zone Troopers), who has gotten into collecting firetrucks.
- 48 Hours: Meanwhile in the future, McNulty (Art LaFleur, Death Warrant) is called into action by Commander Raines (Telma Hopkins, The Matrix Resurrections). McNulty’s mission includes bringing Jack Deth back to the future so he can accept a seat on the council, stopping a new army of Trancers that is being created by Dr. Wardo (Richard Lynch, Invasion USA), the brother of Whistler (the villain from the first movie) and if possible find the first agent that they sent to do these things that has gone missing and McNulty has to do all of this in 48 hours. McNulty arrives back in 1991 (this time as a teenage girl) moments after Jack has to save his friend Hap from an attack by Trancers posing as gardeners. McNulty informs Jack of what is going on and why he is there and about the missing agent and just like that Jack is back in action!
- Put Two and Two Together: Jack begins his investigation at the most logical place, the landscaping business where the “gardeners” that came from… Jack finds more Trancers to kill, but fortunately Lena is putting her computer skills to good use and begins doing some research on the parent company of the landscapers, GreenWorld and its leader Dr. E.D. Wardo. GreenWorld’s mission is to clean up the world or so they say…
- Three’s a Crowd: In actuality GreenWorld is rounding up homeless people and turning them into Trancers! We learn that the agent from the future that preceded McNulty, Alice Stillwell (Megan Ward, Crash and Burn) is a
residentprisoner at the GreenWorld Hospital and she’s looking to get out and complete her mission. Alice is extra motivated to find Jack Deth because in the future Jack is her husband! Jack ends up finding Alice first, but now Jack has TWO wives!!! Lena has trouble wrapping her head around the Jack/Alice situation that has been sprung on her and eventually decides to leave the safe confines of Hap’s mansion which makes her easy pickings for Dr. Wardo. - The 11th Hour: GreenWorld uses Lena as bait to set up for an exciting final act where Jack Deth will not only have to attempt to stop Dr. Wardo and his Trancer farm, and if Jack can do that he still has the tough decision to either stay in 1991 with Lena or return to the future with Alice. Oh yeah… I was happy that Hap’s fire truck was for more than collecting by the end of the movie.
It had been years since I had watched any of the movies from the Trancers franchise and while I know the series falls off at some point, it sure as hell wasn’t in Trancers II. I am not sure Tim Thomerson gets the credit he deserves for his talents as a leading man, but they are on full display in Trancers II. Having Helen Hunt back was a big win, not to mention Biff Manard, Art LaFleur and Telma Hopkins. With all the key players returning for the sequel, Trancers II avoided feeling less than.
Last but not least, having Richard Lynch as the main villain was a huge addition for Trancers II. Lynch proved once again why he is the quintessential B movie villain.
Full Moon movies never wear out their welcome thanks to their less than 90 minute runtimes, hopefully I won’t wear out my welcome with these Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Trancers II is also known as Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth.
- Familiar Faces: Barbara Crampton of Chopping Mall fames played talk show host Sadie Brady. Sadie interviews Dr. Wardo and asks the tough questions… Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator and Cyclone, played a colleague of Dr. Wardo’s at GreenWorld, Dr. Pyle… BJ Davis, who is known more for his stunt work, played a GreenWorld security guard. I’ll always remember him from his brief appearance at the beginning of Avenging Force… I also couldn’t help but notice the legendary “Judo” Gene LeBell as one of the Trancers!
- If You Ever: …wanted to see an exploding ham, then Trancers II is the movie for you.
