Fortress (1993 film)

Fortress
Directed by	Stuart Gordon
Produced by	John Davis John Flock
Written by	Troy Neighbors Steven Feinberg
Starring	Christopher Lambert Kurtwood Smith Loryn Locklin Jeffrey Combs Vernon Wells Clifton Collins, Jr.
Music by	Frédéric Talgorn
Cinematography	David Eggby
Studio	Davis Entertainment Village Roadshow Pictures
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	December 1992 (Hungary)
Running time	91 min.
Language	English
Budget	$12,000,000 (estimated)

Fortress is a 1992 science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and shot at Warner Brothers Movie World in Queensland, Australia. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character in the movie, John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen B. Brennick (Loryn Locklin) are sent to a maximum security prison because they are expecting a second child, which is against strict one-child policies.

Plot

Set in a dystopian future, 2017, ex-army officer John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) are attempting to cross the US-Canada border to Vancouver to have a second child. Strict one-child policies forbid a second pregnancy, but the couple believe they are justified because their first child died at birth.

Brennick is caught (Karen escapes initially) and is sentenced to 31 years in a private maximum security prison run by the "MenTel Corporation". The prison is very high security, and to maintain discipline, all inmates are implanted with "Intestinators" which cause pain if they become violent, or have minor violations or death, in the case of escapes. The prison is co-run by Director Poe, who oversees Zed-10, a computer that monitors day-to-day activities and represents MenTel. The prison itself is located over a deep pit that can only be crossed by a retractable bridge, while the prisoners being kept in overcrowded cells secured by laser walls. The other convicts are: Abraham, who is awaiting parole; D-Day, a machine and demolitions expert who was turned in by his partners after destroying both a bank's safe and money; Nino Gomez; and Stiggs, a tough inmate who tries to extort John. Stiggs also has a friend called Maddox, but he is killed in the beginning of the movie.

Brennick also learns his wife has been captured and is held in another level with his unborn child who, being illegal, is now officially owned by the MenTel Corporation and will be confiscated at birth.

Poe, infatuated with Karen, tells her that if she lives with him he will treat John well. She accepts, resolving to help John as best she can. She takes a diamond map (which shows the prison map under a laser light) and gives it to Abraham to pass on to John. She tells Abraham that Poe was never going to grant parole and was only using the incentive to control him. Meanwhile in their cell, D-Day dismantles the Maddox's intestinator, which he managed to grab when Maddox was shot. D-Day uses a magnetic component to pull out the others' intestinators.

During their next work shift, digging a new level, John's group puts their Intestinators in a large air duct and stage a brawl, causing Zed to trigger the devices, blowing the duct open. Poe promptly flushes the duct with steam, however, making it unusable. He then sends in "Strike Clones", which are possibly the result of experimentation on convicts' illegal babies. Stiggs surrenders and is promptly shot, but the rest of the group kill a Strike Clone and steal its weapon, which John uses to kill the remaining clones.

Poe, alerted to Karen's betrayal by Zed, orders her taken away for a fatal Caesarean and strangles Abraham (Abraham's Intestinator having been removed).

Hijacking one of the gun turrets (which travel between the Fortress's various levels), they travel to Zed's control room. Taking Poe hostage, John orders him to release Karen. Though Poe gives the order, Zed refuses to obey, stating that MenTel does not negotiate in hostage situations, and a gun turret under Zed's control shoots Poe. D-Day hacks into Zed and accesses a virus confiscated at the start of his sentence. He is shot by a clone before completing the command, but uses his last moments to activate the virus, causing a complete systems crash and all automated security to fail. Rescuing Karen just before she gives birth, John and Gomez hijack a truck and escape to Mexico.

Original ending

The original ending of Fortress has been edited from some versions of the film. After reaching Mexico, Brennick, his wife and Gomez end up at a barn where she starts going into labour. Gomez goes out to the truck to get a blanket for the baby when it comes. The Fortress computer manages to establish a remote linkup with the truck, overriding its internal controls. The truck suddenly comes to life and runs Gomez down, killing him. Brennick shoots the truck with the Strike Clone machine gun. He then sets it on fire with the flamethrower attachment. The truck crashes into the barn, exploding. Brennick climbs into the burning ruins to find his wife sitting against an old tractor, clutching her newborn baby.

Cast

• Christopher Lambert: John Henry Brennick
• Loryn Locklin: Karen B. Brennick
• Kurtwood Smith: prison director Poe
• Carolyn Purdy-Gordon: Voice of Zed-10
• Lincoln Kilpatrick: Abraham
• Jeffrey Combs: D-Day, computer geek
• Tom Towles: Stiggs, Maddox's Buddy
• Vernon Wells: Maddox
• Clifton Collins Jr. (credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez): Nino Gomez
• John Pierce: Moustached Prisoner
• Warwick Capper: cameo

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Stephen Holden of The New York Times said: "Like so many other futuristic movies, Fortress is a lot better at setting up its premise than in developing a story around it, [but] for all its faults, [it] has an unusually energetic imagination. At its best, it blends RoboCop, The Handmaid's Tale, and Brave New World into something scary, original and grimly amusing."

Nathan Shumate of Cold Fusion Video Reviews said: "It’s a good little film, kept very interesting by a multitude of plot twists. [...] The beauty of this movie is that it’s not terribly ambitious; [director Stuart] Gordon knew that it was not meant to be this generation’s defining science fiction film, and so instead had fun with it. The characters are colorful and engaging, and the actors are b-movie all-stars; the story moves along at a fair clip; and the prison itself is a novel setting, with plenty of inconsistencies in future technology but none that sit up and insist that you notice them."

James Berardinelli of ReelViews said: "Fortress has [...] an impressive visual style, [...] the set design is excellent, and the action scenes are well-paced, [but it's] hampered by a poorly-constructed story line [and] never gets on track. Instead of entering the rarefied atmosphere inhabited by such films as Aliens and the original Terminator, it falls in line with the likes of Freejack and Alien 3."

Box office

Fortress grossed $2,855,154 at the box office in Australia.

External links

• Fortress at the Internet Movie Database
• Fortress at AllRovi