Sally Jones (Rachel Ward) is a teacher in rural Australia. She and her students are kidnapped for ransom. Four masked gunmen come to the school and stuff them into a van. An early escape is abandoned when they threaten to kill one of the kids. They are sealed up inside a cave. With ingenuity, they escape the cave but the masked gunmen are not letting them go that easily.It's a fair action thriller TV movie. It's got a simple compelling story. Director Arch Nicholson does a solid job with the different setups. Rachel Ward leads this as the teacher. She does a generally good job but there is a few overacting moments. The kids keep talking and she never tells them to be quiet. Some decision by some of these characters don't necessarily make sense. The finale is a bit silly in a Ramboesque sort of way. It's very watchable until the end.

At 12 years old, this movie rocks! At 35, it's illogical. LOL. When I saw this movie as a kid, I was fully immersed. Probably due to the fact that children identify with children. So I remember the movie was more thrilling and tense. As an adult, the movie annoyed me. LOL. I wanted to hear more about this RANSOM plot. What were the masked men thinking? How was this a good plan at all? Why did they leave them unattended at the cave? Then they left them unattended again with just one guard at the barn. Then finally, the left then unattended again in the last cave scene. Instead of getting the kids, which I thought was the objective, the masked men stood outside the cave making taunting noises. I thought they wanted to kidnap them? What is going on here? Of course it's give and take. Though the movie is illogical in terms of the action sequences, as an adult, I can understand the subtle themes. I saw hints of LORD OF THE FLIES, which is pretty deep for a TV movie. What happens when you're left alone with nature, but with no law and authority? Just like LORD OF THE FLIES, the children almost became savages in the end. Also, one of the girls was not quite a girl anymore and was growing up. These are subtleties that you don't get when you're 12 years old viewing this movie.So though it's not quite as enjoyable as when I was young, at least now, I have a full comprehension, and it's still a great nostalgic flick.

Huh! Based on the lewd and exploitative VHS cover image as well as the brief synopsis on the back, I automatically assumed this was another ordinary and by-the-numbers rape & revenge exploitation thriller. The last thing I anticipated, however, was a made-for-TV production based on true events and atop of that boosting a few valuable morality lessons. Don't worry, though, as this isn't the "A Cry in the Dark" type of factual drama, but a raw and sleazy thriller with some very violent bits and strangely unsettling undertones. "Fortress" is more or less an amalgamation of "Lord of the Flies" and "Last House on the Left" with a teacher and her mixed classroom of nine children gradually reverting to savagery in order to save their own lives. One school day morning shortly before start of summer, Miss Jones' classroom gets invaded by a trio of anonymous men wearing menacing masks. They are kidnapped and locked up in a cave still unaware of their fades. Rather than to wait and see, the group plots to escape and flee into the Outback wildlife. But since every escape attempt ends with failure, the group agrees to fight back as one. This results into a perplexing and rather shocking climax. I heavily suspect the film version ending differs quite a bit from the factual events, but still even if the truth was half as harsh it would still be shocking! The transformation of the children and the teacher into rancorous and bloodthirsty little psychopaths is illustrated gradually slow and atmospheric, and thus the finale becomes more credible and even somewhat disturbing. Especially the very last scene, when a police inspector tries to question the class about what happened exactly, is creepy! There are some truly odd undertones and hidden perversity in "Fortress" and this is a particularly rare element to find in TV-productions. For instance, there's the clearly noticeable sexual tension and innuendo between Miss Jones and her boy student Sid. It already starts right from the beginning, when Sid kills a fox and Miss Jones protests, but their bond grows more intense during the Outback adventure. Rachel Ward is good as the teacher and I would really like to mention the actors whose faces were covered by the icky masks the entire time. Good job, guys! You were scary!

It would be very easy to pick "Fortress" apart by challenging everything that is not dripping with logic. If you do that however, you will be distracted from a highly entertaining movie. The film is atypical, and difficult to classify. Part kidnapping gone wrong, part hunted in the wild, part revenge flick, "Fortress" is the sum of all these. Rachel Ward bravely adapts to the situation and rallies the children in their quest to survive. Featuring not one, but two separate caves, an escape swim through an underground stream, along with some savage retributions against the masked tormentors, "Fortress" delivers enough entertainment that the plot holes are best forgiven. - MERK