Fortress

Fortress (1992)

Christopher Lambert plays a man named Brennick in this movie set during a future where population control has become big business. It is against the law for couples to have more then one child, even if that child dies. When Brennick and his wife lose their child and become pregnant again they become criminals. They end up at the Fortress, a high tech prison run by a corporation. He must figure out a way to escape the inescapable prison. This is further complicated by the creepy warden (played by Kurtwood Smith) having taken a fancy to his wife, which means he has to break her out of his office as well.

Sometimes I forget that the ‘90s did have some fun genre movies and Fortress is one of those. The story is a pretty solid bit of sci-fi that is exciting and moves along at a brisk pace. At times it might be predictable, but the execution more then makes up for that. There are plenty of good fights, some gore, cyborgs stomping around, and a computer system run amok. The good guys get over (well some of them anyway…) and the bad guys get what is coming to them. That might be a bit simplistic, but it works. I’ve seen Fortress many times and it never disappoints. I figure I can’t really ask for more then that.

You might be asking yourself why Fortress works so well. There is a lot of talent involved in the movie. I’ve already mentioned Kurtwood Smith, who is great as the nasty warden of the prison. And next to maybe Highlander Christopher Lambert has never been better. But these aren’t the only familiar faces. Genre favorite Tom Towles plays Brennick’s badass cellmate that is looking to make his lifer miserable. Does anyone play this kind of character better then Towles? Speaking of genre favorites the movie was directed by Stuart Gordon and old Herbert West himself, Jeffrey Combs, gets to bring another quirky and memorable character to life. With this much talent Fortress was bound to bring something interesting to the table.

The special effects work is really good, especially considering the budget was only in the 12 to 15 million range. The prison fits the futuristic setting and we get plenty of neat sci-fi touches like the killer cyborgs and of course the warden himself. Not only that but there is some gore with a couple of exploding stomachs and one of the characters has the meat blown off his bones! Sci-fi nerds and gore hounds should both be satisfied with what they get out of Fortress.

I remember renting and liking this one on VHS and unlike many of those rentals this one holds up almost 20 years later. I recommend that everyone check it out and now with the DVD from Echo Bridge Home Entertainment it can be had without doing much damage to your wallet.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer