Lena (Helen Hunt) is getting divorced from Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson). He is pulled back to 2352. The future is under constant Trancer attacks. All they know is that reporter Lena has information on the source of the attacks in 2005. There is a secret government program developing Trancers run by Col. Daddy Muthuh and R.J. is Lena's inside source.

From a fish robot to a time traveling booth, the franchise keeps adding strange artifacts. It's turning more and more into camp. The movie is basically trolling any critical review by naming the villain Daddy Mother. At 75 minutes, it barely has enough material to call this a movie. I'm surprised that both Hunt and Ward returned for this one albeit for short scenes. This franchise is going down a weird side road.

A marked improvement over the strictly so-so first sequel, with a much darker tone, more (often grisly) violence, yet still retaining a nice line in frequently amusing sarcastic wit, and topped off by a spot on savage critique of military megalomania run dangerously amok, this third entry in the series finds rough'n'tumble ace trancer hunter Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson in splendidly sardonic form) traveling to 2005 to stop the fanatical Col. Daddy Muthuh (deliciously essayed with lip-smacking fiendish relish by Andrew Robinson) from succeeding with his trancer experiments on trainee soldiers. Writer/director C. Courtney Joyner largely downplays the light tongue-in-cheek sensibility of the prior pictures in favor of more gritty and hard-around-the-edges pulpy noir attitude (for example, Jack at the start of the film is eking out a living as a private detective). Moreover, Joyner keeps the pace snappy and nonstop throughout, stages the plentiful action set pieces with real flair, delivers a few startling outbursts of brutal violence, and concludes everything with a funny open ending that leaves room for more sequels. The sturdy acting from a capable cast helps matters a whole lot, with especially praiseworthy work by Melanie Smith as tough, perky deserter R.J., Tony Pierce as oily trouble shooter Jason, Megan Ward as the feisty Alice Stillwell, Dawn Ann Billings as Muthuh's fierce prize subject Jana, Stephen Macht as Jack's hard-bitten superior Harris, R.A. Mihailoff as hulking and intimidating robot Shark, and, in a regrettably minor role, Helen Hunt as Jack's fed-up wife Lena. Adolfo Bartoli's sharp cinematography makes neat occasional use of strenuous slow motion. The moody pulsating score by Phil Davies, Mark Ryder, and Richard Band likewise hits the spot. A worthy follow-up to the terrific original.

Jack Deth has the worst luck. Just when he gets one last chance to save his marriage to Lena (Helen Hunt),he gets pulled into time just in time to save Angel City from a Trancer war, but loses thirteen years of his life and loses the love of his life.

I mean, Jack has more than one love of his life. Just go with it, you know?

Now, the U. S. government is creating their own Trancers, which means that Jack is going to have to get in and shut it down along with help from a soldier that has escaped the program named R. J. (Melanie Smith, Jerry's girlfriend Rachel),a camp escapee and an android named Shark (R. A. Mihailoff, who was Leatherface in the third film and is part of a paranormal group with Kane Hodde and Rick McCullum named the Hollywood Ghost Hunters).