Trancers 4: Jack of Swords | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Nutter |
Written by | Peter David |
Produced by | Oana Paunescu Vlad Paunescu |
Starring | Tim Thomerson Stacie Randall Ty Miller Terri Ivens Mark Arnold Clabe Hartley Alan Oppenheimer Lochlyn Munro Jeff Moldovan Stephen Macht |
Cinematography | Adolfo Bartoli |
Edited by | Lisa Bromwell |
Music by | Gary Fry |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures Full Moon Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Trancers 4: Jack of Swords is a 1994 American sci-fi fantasy adventure film starring Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth. The film also features Stephen Macht and Stacie Randall. It was filmed back-to-back with Trancers 5: Sudden Deth in and around a castle in Romania that was also used in another Full Moon Entertainment produced film series called Subspecies .
The film has been released on DVD through the Trancers boxset.
Following his adventures in the Los Angeles of the 1980s, Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) has returned to his own time, the 23rd century. 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, a kingdom of the technological level of medieval Europe. 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) 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 Diamond in the Castle of Unrelenting Terror, an item which Lord Caliban is also hunting. The movie ends on a cliffhanger. [1]
Entertainment Weekly found the film a bore and stated that fans of the first three Trancers movies would be disappointed. [2] However, Creature Feature gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, rating it higher than the first three movies. [3] TV Guide 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". [4] Peter David'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. [5]
Full Moon Entertainment moved its studios to Romania as post-Soviet 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. [6]
Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991, Greenaway intended the film “as an homage to the actor and to his 'mastery of illusion.' In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare, and having rehearsed the action inside his head, speaking the lines of all the other characters, he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest.”
Joseph Timothy Thomerson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series, his work in numerous low-budget features, and his comedic television roles. He appeared in the films Uncommon Valor, Air America, Volunteers, Who's Harry Crumb?, Iron Eagle, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
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Trancers II is a 1991 American direct-to-video science fiction action film directed by Charles Band. It is a sequel to Trancers and is set six years after the events of the first.
The Tempest is a 1979 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Directed by Derek Jarman, produced by Don Boyd, with Heathcote Williams as Prospero, it also stars Toyah Willcox, Jack Birkett, Karl Johnson and Helen Wellington-Lloyd from Jarman's previous feature, Jubilee (1977).
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The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where Prospero, a wizard, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants: Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-a-play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.
Zone Troopers is a 1985 American World War II science fiction film directed by Danny Bilson and starring Tim Thomerson. It was filmed in Italy by Empire Pictures with Charles Band as executive producer. The original music score was composed by Richard Band.
Trancers 5: Sudden Deth is a 1994 American sci-fi fantasy adventure film written by Peter David, directed by David Nutter, and starring Tim Thomerson as the time-traveling "trancer hunter" Jack Deth. It marked, to date, Thomerson's last appearance as Jack Deth, excluding his cameo in Evil Bong.
Con Express is a 2002 direct-to-video action film with a political edge, starring by Arnold Vosloo, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Tim Thomerson. It was written by Paul A. Birkett and Terry Cunningham and directed by Cunningham. The movie uses film footage from Runaway Train (1985) and Cliffhanger (1993).
Trancers: City of Lost Angels is a short science fiction film that was released on DVD in 2013 and later a bonus addition for other releases of the original Trancers on Blu-ray. It consists of approximately 20 minutes of footage lifted from the unreleased 1988 anthology film, Pulse Pounders, which also featured two other segments. It stars Tim Thomerson who reprises his role as the time journeying cop, Jack Deth, from 1985's Trancers. The film is marketed as a digitally restored lost sequel. The film takes place between Trancers and Trancers II.
Trancers is an American action-science fiction film series started in 1984 by Empire Pictures, and continued by Full Moon Features. All but the most recent film star Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth, with the latest using stock footage from previous films.
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Suckers is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Roger Nygard, who co-wrote the story with Joe Yanetty. It is about the car sales business in the United States, and stars Joe Yannetty, Jake Johannsen, Daniel Benzali, Michael D. Roberts, Louis Mandylor and Lori Loughlin.
The Tempest is a 1908 British-made silent film directed by film pioneer Percy Stow who specialised in trick photography.