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Amazon.co.uk Review
The story of Fortress takes place in drastically overpopulated America of the year 2017, where each woman is allowed only one pregnancy. John Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) flee to Mexico when she becomes pregnant after the death of their first child. They are captured by border police and sent to the Fortress, a subterranean high-security prison owned by the Men-Tel corporation and operated by "Zed-10", an omnipotent computer system, and a sadistic, genetically "enhanced" warden (Kurtwood Smith) who has nefarious plans involving Brennick's wife and unborn child. Along with his cellmates (including Jeffrey Combs, a favourite of director Stuart Gordon), Brennick plots a breakout and Fortress shifts into auto-pilot action mode.
After making his reputation with such audacious horror films as From Beyond and Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon graduated to a bigger budget with Fortress but his penchant for exploitation remains deliriously intact. While borrowing elements from a variety of better sci-fi movies, Fortress indulges every prison-flick cliché, but does it with such enjoyable B-movie vigour that it qualifies as a bona-fide guilty pleasure (indeed, it deserves to be ranked with James Cameron's original Terminator in terms of its budgetary ingenuity). Featuring such giddy (and gory) devices as "intestinators" (deadly obedience devices implanted in prisoners' bodies) and a torturous "Mind Wipe Chamber", this is really just a drive-in action movie with lofty ambitions and the schlocky script hasn't a prayer of rising above the level of juvenile popcorn fodder. But there's no denying the energy and enthusiasm that Gordon brings to the film, which understandably became a global box-office hit and spawned a 1999 sequel starring Lambert and Pam Grier. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English French Spanish
Dolby Digital Surround
Filmography
Theatrical Trailer
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\Greek\Hindi\Norwegian\Spanish\Swedish
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English French Spanish
Dolby Digital Surround
Filmography
Theatrical Trailer
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\Greek\Hindi\Norwegian\Spanish\Swedish
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Guilty Pleasure.....,
By Barbie Bino (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fortress [DVD] [1994] (DVD)
We all know that Christopher Lambert is no DeNiro and his movies are.. well... dodgy in the main. I got this movie in the bargain bucket because I was running low on sci-fi I hadn't seen. I expected a dodgy B movie. What a surprise I got!! This film is actually really good!!!
Lambert is not that wooden in it! The concept and story is excellent. The movie is exciting and largely believable. As has been said by another reviewer - there are some silly moments but if you like sci-fi and you like action i challenge you not to enjoy this!!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1984 meets The Great Escape,
By GeekZilla "He's the strongest, he's the quick... (Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK.) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Fortress [DVD] [1994] (DVD)
AAAAAAAAARGH! I'm in a quandary, I feel I should really be giving this film three stars, but I can feel my hand dragging the mouse over to the four star `click-point'! So why does this deserve the extra star? This isn't just an action film with a bit of gore chucked in for good measure, it deals with issues such as male rape, zero tolerance, and abuse of power. I'm a big fan of Dystopian fiction, from Day of the Triffids, to 1984 - I just love it, and this is a great example. We live in an age where over here in the UK we have private prisons (okay - nowhere near as many as over in the US) and it seems that an increasing number of public service institutions are being taken over by corporations in order to turnover a profit. And this film shows a great (albeit exaggerated) future if such constant corporate domination into politics continues. Plus the story itself is a very emotive one.... ...John Brennick and his wife have commited a crime. His wife is pregnant for a second time when legally, only one child per couple is allowed. Their firstborn sadly died and they try to bypass the system. Brennick is caught and is wife manages to escape (or so he thinks) and sent to a prison ran by the MenTel Corporation. The regime is strict, with dreams monitored; and those which aren't authorised thoughts disrupted by pain, and each inmate is fitted with a device in the intestines. The device is automatically activated when a convict either crosses a yellow line (it inflicts pain) or crosses a red line (it explodes). Intestination can also be activated by the Prison Director, Poe. Constantly watched by the prison computer and by the voyeuristic director - Brennick becomes involved in a fight and is brought to the Director. He learns that his wife is also in the prison, several floors above. Whilst using Brennick's wife to taunt Brennick, Poe falls for her and has her moved into his quarters. With himself and his beloved in Prison - and his child to become the property of MenTel, Brennick plans to escape with his wife from a prison deemed inescapable. With the help of his cellmates, can he do it? This is well acted with Christopher Lambert giving his usual sort of performance. Many claim him to be wooden and unemotional, but I really like him as an actor. I find his performances very compulsive, he has a unique presence. Watch this film and just accept the silly bits, celebrate them and enjoy them. But appreciate the message of the film and yourself the question - why is it that Lambert finds himself in standalone films which end up having sequels?!!
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not captive-ating, but worth a watch,
By
This review is from: Fortress [DVD] [1994] (DVD)
If you can overlook some of the made-for-TV aesthetics, 'Fortress' stands up as a respectable movie. The innocent prisoner theme is nothing new but the cast clearly have fun with their roles and it's particularly nice to see Kurtwood Smith (of Robocop fame) giving an understated performance and an extra dash of complexity to prison governor Poe. There are some genuine moments of peril and some ghoulishly imaginative touches. Will while away a couple of hours.
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