Trancers III: Deth Lives (1992)

Of all of the Trancers films that I've seen so far, Trancers 3: Deth Lives is the best directed. I noticed that the camera was a little more free moving this time around, and actually responded to what was happening on screen. Plus with the film's elaborate set designs, writer/director C. Courtney Joyner follows our cast of characters and their environments with a watchful eye that made this third entry a little livelier than the previous two installments. Also, this was the first time I was actually impressed with Tim Thomerson as main character Jack Deth. Deth Lives gives Jack Deth a little more room to stretch his arms. And Thomerson finally feels comfortable in the role, and like the film really comes to life on screen. He was perfect with his sarcastic manner, and created a lot of great laughs in the film. Sadly, this is the first Trancers film I wasn't won over with. The story is interesting, to say the least. The trancing technology is now being used by a small sector of the U.S. military to create super soldiers, with deadly results. Jack has been pulled back to the year 2247, only to be sent back to 2005 and try to put an end to Col. Daddy Muthuh's (Andrew Robinson) plans. It's the mixing of this story and Jack Deth's continuing journey that doesn't work so well, and the end result feels like a film that Jack Deth was added to at the last second. The movie is a little more open minded, and added some new science fiction elements to the story. There is a robot that looks like something from a creature-feature that assists Deth on his mission. Shark (R.A. Mihailoff), as it is affectionately referred to, was a neat idea but one that was underused. You don't get to see a lot of him in action, which was a pity. This film continues Deth's trend of mindlessly shooting people, but at least it as a little more fun this time around. Trancers 3: Deth Lives opens up decently, and has a pretty good ending. But the middle sinks badly, and drags on. While I did admire some of the elements that went into making this film, ultimately Deth Lives felt like a filler entry in this series. Pity this one didn't turn out too well, since the series has been rather fun up until this point.