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Also known as Trancers this is another low budget flick from the house of Charles
Band. This time around we have a strange sort of Terminator knock off but with more
humour and a rogue cop named Jack Deth who thinks he’s some futuristic noir Sam
Spade. In the 23rd Century Deth played by Tim Thomerson is hunting down trancers,
zombiefied/mind controlled losers who the bad guy Whistler (Michael Stefani) has
taken control of. The movie starts with Jack notifying us via voice over that he has
killed Whistler only it turns out he hasn’t and Whistler has gone back to December 1985
to kill off the ancestors of the ruling council thus eliminating his foes in the future.
Sound familiar? Difference is neither Stefani or Thomerson are Schwarznegger types
so instead we get more of a bad Mel Gibson or something. (much more something than
Mel actually) Armed with his wit, charm and a watch that can freeze time, Deth has to
bring the bad guy back before he eliminates the remaining two council members.
But when Deth is sent back he discovers a young Helen Hunt in his bed! Tough life
hey? With Helen by his side though, Deth tracks down Whistler, who is by the way a
policeman in 1985 thus making it kind of tough to get to him, and uses the time freeze
watch.... but not to grab Whistler, oh no, instead he saves Helen from a bullet. Damn
him! He had the power to prevent Mad About You and he didn’t!! Instead of course,
he’s fallen for the girl and has to keep her alive as well as the last remaining council
ancestor (he already screwed up once) and fit in some punk rock grooving as well.
That’s right I said punk rock! Well, the b-grade, clean and shiny Hollywood version of
punk rock – I mean if Helen Hunt is in a punk rock club you can be sure it’s a ‘nice’
place can’t you?
Thomerson plays Jack Deth as a wisecracking b-grade defective detective with the
lines, the charm and a decent right hook while Helen, well she plays Helen. Stefani
isn’t truly slimy enough to make a decent bad guy but hell, it’s a Charles Band movie,
you know what you’re getting. I mean, scooters outrunning cop cars, a drunken former
baseball star who gets some great lines, Deth doing the zootsuit gumshoe routine,
punks who wash… and in a little time twist, Jack Deth becoming his own ancestor!
Not sure what that would do to the gene pool but it’s sure to make it murky.
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A good, clean transfer – still looks like a video - hell you can even see the boom mike!
Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on your b-grade sensibilities.
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Future Cop is presented in a 2.0 Dolby Digital surround sound. Sometimes the audio is a
little muffled and cutting in and out. Clearly not much work has gone into cleaning up
the audio quality.
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A pretty basic selection, nothing fancy or even needed to be honest. Bloopers Reel –
although they are from the sequel!, filmography for Thomerson and Hunt; audio
commentary from Charles Band and Film Threat’s Chris Gore.
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A late night, half drunk, six pack and big bag of doritos type of film you couldn’t call
this an essential movie but it is still a pretty decent effort. There were a lot worse
being made and with lots more money being spent. And Tim Thomerson does a pretty
good job as Jack Deth.
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