''Trancers 4: Jack of Swords'' is a 1994 American sci-fi fantasy adventure film starring

Tim Thomerson Joseph Timothy "Tim" Thomerson (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the ''Trancers'' film series and for his work in numerous low-budget features and for his comedic television r ...

Jack Deth Jack Deth is the main protagonist in the ''Trancers'' films, which were originally produced by Charles Band of Empire Pictures, and later Full Moon Entertainment, from 1984 to 2013. Jack Deth is a wisecracking police detective in Angel City ( ...

. The film also features Stephen Macht and

Stacie Randall Stacie Randall (born January 5, 1962) is an American actress, best known for her roles in ''Puppet Master 4 ''Puppet Master 4'' is a 1993 direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band among others, and directed by Jeff Burr. It is the fourt ...

. It was filmed back-to-back with '' Trancers 5: Sudden Deth'' in and around a castle in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

that was also used in another

Full Moon Entertainment Full Moon Features is an American Film, motion picture production and distribution company headed by B movie, B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series ''Puppet Master (franchise), Puppet Master'', ''Trancers (fran ...

produced film series called ''

Subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''. The film has been released on DVD through the ''Trancers'' boxset.

Synopsis

Following his adventures in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

of the 1980s, Jack Deth (

) has returned to his own time, the

23rd century In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is ...

. Having lost his first wife Lena, and finding out that he's lost his other wife Alice to none other than Harris, Deth agrees to another assignment in the past. While heading out for another assignment, something (a Solonoid from a previous assignment) hiding in the time portal causes the TCL chamber to go awry. Jack finds himself in a whole new

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a Space (mathematics), mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any Point (geometry), point within it. Thus, a Line (geometry), lin ...

, a

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

of the technological level of

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The physics of this world render most of Deth's technological devices nonfunctional. Here, he meets a parallel to Trancers called Nobles, who subsist on the life force of the mortals indigenous to this world. Jack assists a rebel group known as the Tunnel Rats, who desire to overthrow the villainous Lord Caliban (Clabe Hartley). The leaders of the Nobles' son, Prospero (

Ty Miller Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...

) rebels against the other aristocrats. To stop the Trancers of this world, and return himself to his own dimension, Jack must quest to find the

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

in the

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

of Unrelenting Terror, an item which Lord Caliban is also hunting. The movie ends on a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

Cast

Reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

found the film a bore and stated that fans of the first three ''Trancers'' movies would be disappointed. However, ''Creature Feature'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, rating it higher than the first three movies. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' gave the movie two stars, saying the sequel does as well as can be imagined and praised Thomerson's acting, calling him an "underappreciated physical comedian".

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

's Silver gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars when judged on the B-Movie scale and 2 out of 5 stars when judged on a general scale. They noted that the movie was funnier than its predecessors, but that the acting outside of Thomerson's left much to be desired. It was recommended for fans of the series.

Production

moved its studios to Romania as post-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

film tax incentives were too great to resist. This benefit accounted for the change of setting. It was filmed at the same time as ''Trancers V''. The stunt work was noted as impressive, and obtained much cheaper by local talent than would cost in America. Also offered cheaper were sound stages, waivers of location fees and extras working very cheaply.

References

External links

* {{David Nutter 1994 films 1994 action films 1994 horror films 1994 science fiction films 1990s English-language films 1990s science fiction action films 1990s science fiction horror films American science fiction action films American science fiction horror films American sequel films Films directed by David Nutter Films shot in Romania Trancers (film series) 1990s American films