''Trancers II'' (also released as ''Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth'') is a 1991 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Charles Band Charles Robert Band (born December 27, 1951) is an American film producer and director, known for his work on horror comedy movies. Career Band entered film production in the 1970s with Charles Band Productions. Dissatisfied with distributo ...

. It is a sequel to ''

Trancers ''Trancers'' (also released as ''Future Cop'') is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by Charles Band and starring Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt, and Art LaFleur. It is the first film in the ''Trancers'' series. Thomerson plays Jac ...

'' and is set six years after the events of the first.

Plot

Los Angeles, 1991. Jack Deth (

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 ...

) has gotten used to life with his wife Lena (

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...

) in the six years since they killed Whistler. Hap Ashby (

Biff Manard Biff Manard (c. 1943 – May 19, 2014) was an American actor. Background Born in either 1939 or 1943 according to certain sources, Manard appeared in numerous movies and making guest spots on popular TV shows for many decades, such as Officer Mi ...

) has made a fortune investing and has moved from the streets to a palatial estate, sharing it with Jack and Lena. But life is about to get difficult for Jack. Whistler's brother, E.D. Wardo (

Richard Lynch Richard Lynch (February 12, 1940 – June 19, 2012) was an American actor best known for portraying villains in films and television. His film credits included ''The Sword and the Sorcerer'', '' Invasion USA'', ''The Seven-Ups'', ''Scarecr ...

), has gone back in time and created a "Trancer farm" under the guise of an environmental organization. GreenWorld claims it strives to 'clean up the world', but actually they kidnap homeless people and mental patients to enslave in a Trancer army. Once again, Hap is under attack, useful to Wardo as the ancestor of future Angel City Council Member Ashe. Jack is ready to singe some Trancers in the name of the law, but he does not expect his dead wife Alice (

Megan Ward Megan Marie Ward (born September 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her numerous credits in science fiction and horror movies and television series. In 2007, she joined the cast of the American daytime drama ''General Hospi ...

) to show up—and neither does Lena. Alice has been saved from death by the City Council and sent back to 1991 to help Jack stop Wardo. The tension mounts as Lena becomes fearful of losing Jack to his future wife, Hap returns to drinking alcohol to deal with the stress, and Jack realizes that when Alice returns to the future, she will die again. Somehow, Jack must find a way to save more than just the future.

Cast

as Jack Deth *

as Lena Deth *

as Alice Stilwell Deth *

as Hap Ashby *

Martine Beswick Martine Beswick (born 26 September 1941) is Jamaica-born British actress and model perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, '' From Russia with Love'' (1963) and '' Thunderball'' (1965), who went on to appear in several other n ...

as Nurse Trotter *

Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fra ...

as Dr. Pyle *

as Dr. E.D. Wardo *

Alyson Croft Alyson Croft (born June 5, 1975) is an American actress. She has been nominated for best Young Artist Award three times, winning it twice during the late 1980s. Notable film appearances include the role of McNulty's ancestor in '' Trancers'' an ...

as McNulty *

Art LaFleur Art LaFleur (September 9, 1943 – November 17, 2021) was an American character actor and acting coach. Life and career LaFleur was born in Gary, Indiana. He played football in 1962 as a redshirt at the University of Kentucky under Coach Char ...

as Old McNulty *

Telma Hopkins Telma Louise Hopkins (born October 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Hopkins rose to prominence as a member of the 1970s pop music group Tony Orlando and Dawn, which had several number-one songs. She also performed on the CBS variety ...

as Commander Raines *

Barbara Crampton Barbara Crampton (born December 27, 1958) is an American actress and producer. She began her career in the 1980s in television soap operas before starring in horror and thriller films—both paths would define her continued accolade-winning care ...

as Sadie Brady * Sonny Carl Davis as "

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

" * Michael Secora as Ramon * Willy Parsons as Curly *

Dani Klein Danielle Schoovaerts (born 1 January 1953), known professionally as Dani Klein, is a Belgian singer, songwriter, band leader and producer, and consistently the center and driving force of the band Vaya Con Dios (1986-1996, 2004-2014 and 2022-). ...

as Pearl * Rhino Michaels as Shovel Man * Albert Henderson as Wino #3

Release

''Trancers II'' was first released on VHS, and has since then been released on DVD through the ''Trancers'' box-set or as a single DVD in Europe.

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 ...

strongly preferred the first movie, giving the sequel a "D".

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 ...

found the performance of Thomerson a plus, but found the rest of the movie goes off the rails. Moira gave the movie 2.5 stars, stating that while it wasn't as good as the first one, it was competent and better that the sequels that follow. Reuniting Deth with his dead wife via time travel was seen as intriguing. Likewise, ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' found the subplot of Deth having with his current wife and (from his perspective) dead wife together in Deth's past interesting. Creature Feature gave the movie two stars, finding it unnecessarily convoluted.Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition

References

External links

* {{Charles Band 1991 independent films 1991 films 1990s science fiction action films American independent films American science fiction action films 1990s English-language films Films about time travel Films directed by Charles Band Direct-to-video sequel films Films set in 1991 Films set in Los Angeles Trancers (film series) 1990s American films