Trancers (aka Future Cop)

1985 / Director. Charles Band.

Ah Trancers. Another classic 80s sic-fi... and the type of movie that fuels my love of cinema. Yet another Charles Band film, it's one of his best. Aesthetically its one of his most impressive with a great production value and well staged action. The story borrows a lot from Terminator with a cop (Jack Death) being sent into the past, to 1985, to hunt down a killer and protect the man he's trying to muder. Time travel is possible with a drug, which when injected, allows the person's mind to possess an ancestor. The concept is pretty cool with a great retro synth-pop soundtrack and Tim Thomerson is great as Jack Death. He is made for this type of role... the hardened cop with attitude and a loose trigger finger. A few years later he played a similar role in Dollman and he has an upcoming documentary that I am very keen to see. Helen Hunt plays heroine in a very early role. She's quite good too and seems to take the role seriously. She returned for two more sequels alongside Thomerson who carried on for four sequels. It's a great franchise that went right up to part 6 and so long as the b-movie core is maintained, I'll happily indulge in more. Just good fun.

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