Review of Trancers 5: Sudden Deth (1994) by Phil M — 27 Jan 2010

Trancers 5: Sudden Deth is a direct continuation of the story from part 4 (which were shot back-to-back) keeping with the exact same tone and feel, which is vastly different from the first 3 films. Now that the Trancer empire has fallen, the humans attempt to figure out how to send Jack back to his home.

Along with the dead Trancer king's son Prospero (who switched sides in part 4), Deth embarks on a journey to the Castle of Unrelenting Terror to fetch a jewel that is capable of sending him home. Aside from dealing with the unrelenting terrors (which are quite hilarious) the castle has to offer, they must also contend with the remaining Trancers whose king (returning Clabe Hartley) is resurrected and looking to get back at Deth.

This follows the same formula as the previous one. All sci-fi action has now been replaced with mostly sword and sorcery. The comedy is kicked up much higher in these ones, especially in part 5. The film does sport a nice conclusion that I wish was the final end of the Trancers franchise, but alas, there is a 6th one, which has no Jack Deth in it save for archive footage.

Anyone interested in seeing Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth again should check out his small, but cool cameo in Evil Bong. Overall, part 5 is a nice end piece to part 4, but still very different and a far cry from the first three films.

Not bad though.