TRANCERS 4: JACK OF SWORDS (1994) **

Future Cop Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) has finally fulfilled his mission of wiping the Trancers out.  He now acts as sort of a variation on Jean Claude Van-Damme’s role in Timecop, going through time and making sure no one alters history.  When an alien sabotages his transporter, Deth winds up in Medieval times (the age, not the restaurant) and must do battle with a new batch of Trancers.

Written by Peter David (most famous for his spectacular run on The Incredible Hulk comic) and directed by David Nutter (who went on to helm Disturbing Behavior), Trancers 4:  Jack of Swords is at its best during its futuristic segments.  I liked the scenes with the sexy Q-like Lyra (Stacie Randall) who gives Jack his new gadgets, and the part where he makes a lamp out of his former android partner is good for a laugh.  The barroom scene is the best part of the whole movie and really gives Thomerson an opportunity to shine.  When the bartender asks how he wants his Scotch, he says, “Intravenously!”  

Once things switch over to Medieval times, it becomes a ho-hum variation on Army of Darkness.  It doesn’t help that this new batch of vampire-like Trancers feel like holdovers from a Subspecies movie.  The bland performance by Clabe Hartley as the weak villain further hampers things.  The abrupt anti-climactic ending, which is mostly just there to set up the sequel (which was filmed back-to-back with this), is unsatisfying too.

I was also a bit perplexed by how the Trancers went from zombies in the first movie to brain dead soldiers in the last one to vampire-type creatures with British accents in this entry.

If anything, Tracers 4 offers us Thomerson’s best performance as Jack Deth since the first one.  The bit where his “Long Second” watch malfunctions and makes him go in slow motion gives us a taste of Thomerson’s comedic gifts.  Unfortunately, even Thomerson’s game performance is unable to salvage this uneven entry.

AKA:  Future Cop 4:  Jack of Swords.  AKA:  Trancers 4:  Angel of Deth.  AKA:  Trancers 4:  Journeys Through the Darkzone.