"Fortress" is mostly routine, but enjoyable, futuristic sci-fi from director Stuart Gordon (of "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" fame). It has an excellent cast of familiar faces that make the most out of what they've got, especially Kurtwood Smith ("RoboCop", 'That 70s Show'). There are acceptable levels of violence and gore, the production design and lighting are adequate, and Gordon does a very fine job with pacing and energy level. The producers originally wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger as the star, but he went on to do "True Lies" instead (it was Ah-nuld that suggested Gordon as the director of this feature).Some interesting ideas are present in this tale of a husband and wife, John and Karen (Christopher Lambert and Loryn Locklin) who are expecting their second child, despite the fact that the law now forbids couples from having more than one kid. (They tried again because the first child was born dead.) They're caught and sentenced to do time at the "Fortress", a massive, multi leveled high tech prison. It's run by your standard issue sadistic warden, a man named Poe (Mr. Smith). John, forced into an overcrowded cell, makes plans with his cellmates to escape, although this place is supposed to be escape-proof.Lambert is no better or worse than he usually is. Locklin is reasonably appealing. The supporting cast is pretty eclectic: Lincoln Kilpatrick ("Chosen Survivors", Renny Harlins' "Prison") as Abraham, Jeffrey Combs of the "Re-Animator" series (rocking a shoulder length wig here) as D-Day, Clifton Collins Jr. ("Tigerland", "Pacific Rim") as Gomez, Tom Towles ("House of 1000 Corpses", "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") as Stiggs, and Vernon Wells ("The Road Warrior", "Commando") as Maddox. That's Gordons' actress wife Carolyn supplying the voice of the computer intelligence Zed-10. Smith, whose character will have some surprises in store, is an effective and not completely one-dimensional antagonist."Fortress" hits the ground running, and offers decent entertainment for a fairly trim 95 minute run time.Seven out of 10.

In the future of the USA where apparently the right has triumphed among other things prisons are now in the hands of private corporations and abortion is illegal. But there are strict population controls and for those who have more than one child, that child in its infancy is turned over to the state for their use. What use they make of it too. The people who disobey that law, prison for a long time.So it is with Christopher Lambert and Laura Lochlyn, husband and wife who violate that edict. Lambert and a pregnant Lochlyn are arrested and sentenced to The Fortress which is an underground prison in the desert of the southwest USA that is operated by a private company with robot and semi-robot guards and a director who is one the successful super race that they've created with second children. The director is played by Kurtwood Smith of That Seventies Show and he's one chilling menace. But even a chilling menace raised as a super human has needs.So he decides he fancies Lochlyn and brings her into his quarters. Now imagine if you will Laurence Olivier who fancied Jean Simmons and brought her to his villa as Spartacus was dying on the cross. Kirk Douglas couldn't do much about his situation, but Lambert and his cell mates Clifton Collins, Jr., Tom Towles, Lincoln Kilpatrick who is a trustee and Jeffrey Combs do quite a lot about it. For that you have to see Fortress.I think one of the most popular themes in science fiction and even film in general is when some super beings are done in by us ordinary humans when we get roused enough to do something. It's the secret of the appeal of Fortress and I think science fiction fans and others will enjoy it.

Of course anything directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dagon) has to be good. Well he excels himself here. My favorite actor Christopher Lambert (Highlander) is the hero and central character in this film. Another of my favorites, actor Kurtwood Smith (Robocop) is the villain in this film and gives a thoroughly professional performance. Loryn Locklin is the female lead in this film and she also gives her best performance. A regular in Gordon's film, veteran actor Jeffrey Combs (Re-animator Trilogy, From Beyond) is solid throughout the film and really gets into his role as always. Vernon Wells (Commando, The Road Warriors) makes a short appearance as prisoner Maddox.Other notable actors in the films are Tom Towles (Halloween 2007), Clifton Collins Jr. (Still Waters) and Lincoln Kilpatrick (Bulletproof).Lets get on with the plot: Set in a dystopian future the year 2017, in the USA, an ex-US Army officer John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen S. Brennick (Loryn Locklin) are attempting to cross the border to Mexico to have a second child. Strict one-child policies forbid a second pregnancy, but the couple believe it justified because their first child died at birth.Brennick is caught (Karen escapes initially) and sentenced to a private maximum security prison that is owned and run by the "MenTel Corporation", for 31 years. The prison is very high security, and to maintain discipline, all inmates are implanted with "Intestinators" which cause pain for violence, minor violations etc., and death in the case of escapees. 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 in front of a deep pit that can only be crossed by a retractable bridge, with the prisoners being kept in cells secured by laser walls. However, the prison is also overcrowded.John is put in a cell with three other convicts — Abraham, who is awaiting parole; D-Day, a machine and demolitions expert who was turned in by his criminal partners after he destroyed both a bank's safe and its money; Nino Gomez; and Stiggs, a particularly tough inmate who initially tries to extort John, and has a tough friend called Maddox, who is killed in the beginning of the movie.Brennick also learns his wife has been captured as well and is being held in a separate level of the prison with his unborn child who, being illegal, is now officially owned by the MenTel Corporation and will be confiscated on its birth.Poe, having become infatuated with Karen, summons her to his quarters telling her that if she lives with him there he will treat John well. She accepts, resolving to help John as best she can. Seeing a diamond map (which would show the prison map using a laser light), she gives it to Abraham to pass on to John, pointing out 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 intestinator from Maddox (which he managed to grab when Maddox was shot) and uses a magnetic component to pull out the others.The next day during their work shift, digging a new level, John's group places their Intestinator on a large air duct and stage a brawl, causing Zed to trigger them and blow open the duct. Poe promptly flushes the duct with steam, however, making it unusable, and sends in "Strike Clones", which are implied to be the result of experimentation with the convicts' illegal babies. Stiggs is killed, and 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 move up and down 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 fatally shot by a clone before completing the command, but uses his last moments to activate the virus, causing a 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 cut from some versions of the film. After reaching Mexico, Brennick, his wife and Gomez end up near a barn where Brennick's wife starts going into labour. Gomez goes out to get a blanket for the baby when it comes, thinking one might be in the truck. The Fortress (or similar) computer manages to establish a remote linkup with the truck by that time, overriding its internal controls — and the truck suddenly comes to life all on its own. The truck runs Gomez over and kills him. Brennick attacks the truck with the machine gun he procured from one of the Strike Clones. He sets it on fire with the machine gun's flamethrower attachment and it crashes into the barn, exploding. He climbs into the burning ruins and finds his wife — sitting against an old and rusted tractor, clutching her blanketed baby.10/10. Buy it on DVD NOW!!!

When I first watched this film I found it to be average in the true sense of the word and having watched it again recently I find myself thinking the same.This is the worst thing about it in my opinion, at least a bad movie causes some kind of emotion (even if that is to walk out in disgust), this movie leaves you feeling jaded at the end and unsatisfied but not really angry about it. You don;t really like or really dislike any of the characters and this I don;t blame on the acting, but on the characterisation implicit in the plot In this I'm specifically not mentioning cast by name as I don;t feel the need to name and shame them, the mistakes weren't with the actors for the most part I'm a big fan of sci-fi movies, and don't usually buy into the idea that the old ones are better because in general they really aren't except for the nostalgia increment. However in this case, earlier movies certainly did do this prison story better.That said, its watchable if you have nothing better to do.The story itself centres on a couple who have been sent to prison for breaking population laws. Nothing new here really. As ever the perpetrators are fleeing across the border to Mexico and predictably because its the start of the movie, they don't make it.The lead character Brennan (I think he was called) tries to save the child and his lady by handing himself in and gets sent to the house of horrors, sorry futuristic privately owned prison, where torture is legal. Latter we learn that his lady hasn't got away at all and is instead serving time in the top levels of the prison.The rest of the film is a mishmash of plots seemingly confused as to what its supposed to be portraying. Plenty of gore and violence without any real reason or thought. For instance, there is no way that any prison would ever be allowed to punish someone for dreaming, except in some strange sadistic POW camp (beneath the public radar). The intestrinators equally serve no real purpose except to have the gore of them blowing up and the procedure for fitting them, and the subsequent removal. Thereare far more effective ways of achieving the same level of control if desired.Many potential plot lines are ignored. For instance the showdown between Brennan and Madox, could have been the culmination of decent dialogue and plot development. Instead it is rushed into 2 fight scenes, and the main purposes it seems is to a) Show the lady than Brennan is there b) to allow the sadistic jailer to blow out madox' stomach with a neutron cannon.There are numerous other bad plot lines in the film, or plot lines which simply aren't developed, instead simply paving the way for future plot lines which aren't well developed.That said if you ignore these problems and don't think, the film is indeed fun to watch. However there are better films to spend your time watching, a great many.The shame is that there was the gem of something better, if only Gordon had been able to shrug off the mantle of his previous films and see the gore etc as secondary to a good and well thought out plot line and logically rationalised scifi props.