Trancers 3: Deth Lives (1992)

Jack Deth goes to the future, back to the past and then to 1992 to stop the Trancer program from ever taking off, meanwhile he fights to save his crumbling marriage to Lena (Helen Hunt) and to stop military program head Robinson from creating Trancers in the first place. Trancers III is a 3 star movie, but not in the traditional sense. I often liked Trancers III for it's ambition, ideas and out right wackiness then I did as Science Fiction or Action. Trancers III then starts out in the 90s, goes to 3 years from now of this writing, and back again to the 90s and so on, the program is vaguely explained and I'm not even sure if it's really explained how Trancers we're made, but the film works because we don't know where this film is going. Indeed, part of the fun is the surreal dream like nature of the film in which we have no idea what the hell is going on or what the filmmakers are trying to do. This can often kill a film, but because Trancers III is made with a weird energy, such low budget loopiness goes a long way, and we sort of just accept it. * * * Out of 4-(Good)

I'm a fan of what I've seen so far from the "Trancers" film series. Granted, the second was somewhat disappointing, but the premise is still fun here, and it's executed in fine B movie fashion. Tim Thomerson is once again hugely enjoyable as sarcastic, sardonic Trancer hunter Jack Deth. Some of his former co-stars have no more than extended cameos, but there are great contributions by some new cast members.Written and directed by C. Courtney Joyner, this sees Jack working as a low rent private eye in 1992, complete with a hilariously cheesy, inept commercial, who's abducted and taken down the line to the year 2352, where he finds out that the Trancers have taken over and made life miserable for the humans that are left. He's assigned by Harris (Stephen Macht) to go back in time to the year 2005, to try to destroy those damn Trancers at their source.This sequel is very short and sweet (even shorter than the first movie), with decent action, makeup effects by the KNB guys, and good production design for the low budget. As usual, there are some good laughs to be had. Only the conclusion fails to be truly satisfying, serving mainly to set up further sequels. What this movie does have is a great villain, played to the hilt by Andrew Robinson of "Dirty Harry" fame; the role was actually written with Robinson in mind. It's nice to see Helen Hunt, Megan Ward, and Telma Hopkins from the previous entries. R.A. Mihailoff is a hoot as towering alien Shark, whom Jack takes to calling "Godzilla". And the script does come up with an interesting explanation for how the Trancers came to exist in the first place.In the end, it's the wonderful Thomerson who makes the "Trancers" series what it is; it wouldn't be the same without him.Seven out of 10.

Although this is a step up from Part II, this is still a notch below the original, and this is only an average film at best. Some new characters helped to breathe some life into this entry, but even though they participate in several good scenes, the film was still a little flat overall. The action was better in this installment, but really, it was only okay, and even though the film also had a few good laughs, it still fell far short of the frequently amusing original. This is a good time-killer, but nothing more.

"Trancers III: Deth Lives" is the best of the "Trancer" sequels and in some ways even out does the original. This Time Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth has to fight an even tougher trancer. Far better then the next two "Trancer" entries.