Trancers 5: Sudden Deth (1994)

not as good as all the hype

Disturbing yet enthralling

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Filmed back-to-back with the equally bad "Trancers 4: Jack of Sword" on cheap Romanic filming locations, this final entry in the Trancers series (unless you count a cameo by Thomerson in Evil Bong) is more than a disappointment. Tim Thomerson once again plays Jack Deth and this time has to find some mythical MacGuffin to stop an evil Trancer king. Chases through castles and forests ensue. The original film was a lot of fun because it was as if someone from the Blade Runner universe stepped into modern day Los Angeles. I'm not sure seeing Rick Deckard in a Romanian castle nearly as interesting. Stick with the first film to leave on a high note and maybe part 2 and 3 if you're in a forgiving mood, but skip part 4 and 5. Dullsville.

SPOILERS This movie was pretty weak. The first 15-20 minutes is all a recap of part 4. There isn't much substance going forward and it just looked like everyone involved (actors, writers, crew) were exhausted. Being that there isn't much to this movie, I don't know why they didn't just tack it on to the end of part 4. There was some potential such as when Jack Deth kind of fights himself. But that just turned into a few weak slaps. The end is also rushed. It was like what little money they did have had run out and they just said, "everyone gather round so we can just film a nice "bow" scene to end this misery." Not the worst movie ever. Just felt like it didn't have much gas from the beginning. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth a view. Just don't go in with high expectations.

David Nutter directs this TV style fifth movie directly after his own fourth instalment. Seems Charles Band and Full Moon handed over the responsibility to a load of people unfamiliar with the series and told them to make a movie (well, two actually). Cast try their best, script is lifeless and the wooden, dull and additive Deth is here simply too drained to really work. Like the fourth movie this is a strange hybrid of Robin Hood (seems to be set in Sherwood Forest at times), Shakespeare plays and The Three Musketeers (though of course this is The One Musketeer!). This (and Trancers 4) were filmed at Charles Band's family castle in Romania and though an exceptionally striking place and one used to fabulous results in other films, here is is merely an option for cheapness. Unbelievably Trancers 6 (made several years later and virtually unrelated - something about a daughter) is even more obscure than the fourth and fifth instalments combined - and, Yes, they probably should be.

During this period, Full Moon took to making films back-to-back: Subspecies II & III, Trancers IV & V, etc. Some reviewers think that these paired-off entries are ultimately too similar to one another to count as separate movies. And they complain. Bitterly. But hey, major studios have started using the same technique - "Kill Bill" has been bisected, and "Lord of the Rings," which was filmed all in one go, was subsequently turned into three very similar movies (Here come the Orcs - run! Wait...here come our guys! ATTACK!).So, I don't mind that this film is, in some ways, a retread of its predecessor. In fact, the effects and acting are significantly better than they were in Trancers IV - maybe it took a while for all concerned to find their stride - and so it has a different feel to it. There's also a more focused, quest-style plot, as Jack Deth toddles off to the Castle of Unrelenting Terror to obtain a jewel called the Tiamond ("sounds like Diamond" - oh Peter David, your dialogue is just too much!).Bizarrely, several plot elements are plundered from "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix," including a siren-like seduction scene (in both cases, the spell is broken because the hero becomes hungry) and a scene in which ghosts are dispelled simply by being yelled at. Ah Peter David, I know where you get your ideas! I don't mind, though - a good sequence is worth repeating.All this praise aside, Trancers V does not stand up terribly well on its own, and the ending feels rushed and cliffhanger-like. Jack Deth impregnated someone? He's dying? He's going back to his own time? Wha??? Since the series never continued...not with this actor, or in this vein anyway...the final feeling is one of acute disappointment.So ends Jack Deth's final, oddball adventure in sword-and-sorcery land. Shame that he didn't get to appear in one more detective-style movie, but I still like the fish-out-of-water quality of his final battle against the nefarious Trancers.