''Fortress'' is a 1992

science fiction action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

directed by

Stuart Gordon Stuart Alan Gordon (August 11, 1947 – March 24, 2020) was an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Go ...

and shot at

Warner Bros. Movie World Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a entertainment precinct, with the ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character, John Henry Brennick (

Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957), commonly known as Christopher Lambert, is a French-American actor, producer, and writer. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally f ...

), and his wife Karen B. Brennick ( Loryn Locklin) are sent to a maximum security prison because she is pregnant with a second child, which is against a strict

one-child policy The one-child policy ( zh, c=一孩政策, p=yī hái zhèngcè) was a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1979 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. The progr ...

. The film was a financial success, but critical reviews were mixed. A sequel, '' Fortress 2: Re-Entry'', was released in 2000, with Lambert reprising his role.

Plot

In 2017, the United States is a military dictatorship. Ex-army officer John Henry Brennick and his wife Karen attempt to cross the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

to the Free City of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in the Canadian

Soviet Socialist Republic In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as " ...

to have a second child. A strict one-child policy forbids a second pregnancy, even after the loss of the firstborn, so Karen wears a magnetic vest to conceal her pregnancy from security scanners. A guard notices the vest and raises the alarm. Brennick is caught, believing Karen to have escaped, and sentenced to thirty-one years at the Fortress, a maximum security prison run by the Men-Tel Corporation. The prisoners are used as slave labor to further expand the Fortress as part of the prison-industrial complex. Inmates are implanted with "intestinators" which induce severe pain or death for physical control and mental conditioning. Prison Director Poe oversees the Zed-10 computer that monitors daily activities. The prison is underground in the desert, within a pit that can only be crossed by a retractable bridge. The overcrowded cells are secured by laser walls. John is imprisoned with inmates Abraham, a model prisoner who works as Poe's manservant and is awaiting

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

; D-Day, a machine and demolitions expert; young offender Nino Gomez; and Stiggs, who tries to extort John. John learns that Karen is being held in an upper level with their unborn child, who is now officially owned by Men-Tel and will be incinerated at birth. Stiggs' friend Maddox instigates a brawl with John; Maddox is shot by a security turret and falls to his death. John grabs Maddox's intestinator and gives it to D-Day before he is taken for a mind-wipe as punishment. Poe, infatuated with Karen, tells her that if she lives with him, he will release John from the mind-wipe chamber. She accepts. Poe is revealed to be a cyborg. Four months later, a heavily pregnant Karen uses her access to the prison computer in Poe's quarters to restore John from his mind-wiped state. She steals a holographic map and gives it to Abraham to pass on to John. D-Day dismantles Maddox's intestinator and uses a component to remove the others' intestinators. During a work shift, John's group puts their intestinators in an air-duct and stage a brawl, causing Zed to trigger the devices and blow the duct open to prepare their escape. Poe promptly flushes the duct with steam and sends in "Strike Clones": networked cyborgs armed with flamethrowers and machine guns. Stiggs is shot dead, but the rest of the group seize a Strike Clone and use its weaponry to destroy the remaining Clones. Zed alerts Poe to Karen's actions. He reveals to her that her child, like all Men-Tel-owned babies, will be extracted by

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

and made a cyborg. Poe strangles Abraham. Hijacking a gun turret to use as an elevator, John's group travels to Zed's control room. John takes Poe hostage and orders him to release Karen. Poe gives the order but Zed refuses, stating that Men-Tel does not negotiate during hostage situations. A gun turret kills Poe, leaving John's group without leverage. D-Day hacks into Zed and activates a feedback virus, triggering a complete system crash causing all automated security to fail, allowing the prisoners to escape. John and Gomez rescue Karen, hijack a truck, and escape to Mexico where Karen enters labour and gives birth to their child, while an

INTERPOL The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

red notice is issued for their recapture.

Cast

as John Henry Brennick, the main protagonist and former captain in the black berets * Loryn Locklin as Karen B. Brennick, John's wife and a former computer programmer in the Army * Annika Thomas as Brennick Baby *

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in '' Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) and '' That '90s Show' ...

as Prison Director Poe * Clifton Collins, Jr. (credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez) as Nino Gomez, John's young cellmate * Carolyn Purdy-Gordon as Voice of Zed-10, the computer system that oversees the prison *

Lincoln Kilpatrick Lincoln Kilpatrick (February 12, 1931 – May 18, 2004) was an American film, television, and stage actor. Biography Career Born in St. Louis, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, stat ...

as Abraham, a prison trusty *

Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Herbert West in the ''Re-Animator'' film series (1985–2003) and portraying multiple characters in the ''Star Trek'' universe, most notably the ...

as "D-Day", a computer geek *

Vernon Wells Vernon Wells may refer to: * Vernon Wells (baseball) (born 1978), American baseball player * Vernon Wells (actor) (born 1945), Australian actor * Vernon Wells (Neighbours), a character on the soap opera Neighbours {{hndis, Wells, Vernon ...

as Maddox, the prison bully *

Tom Towles Tom Towles (March 20, 1950 – April 2, 2015) was an American character actor of film, theatre, and television, known for his portraying villains and intimidating supporting characters. His breakthrough role as Otis in '' Henry: Portrait of a Se ...

as Stiggs, Maddox's buddy *

Warwick Capper Warwick Richard Capper (born 12 June 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL), known before 1990 as the Victorian Football League (VFL). An acc ...

as Braindead Prisoner, a prisoner who was mind-wiped (uncredited) * John Pierce as Moustached Prisoner (uncredited)

Production

Producer John Davis developed ''Fortress'' as part of his company's domestic distribution deal with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

before the project was acquired by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

for distribution through their

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

label. ''Fortress'' was filmed at

Village Roadshow Studios Village Roadshow Studios are a set of film studios located in Oxenford, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The studios are owned by Village Roadshow and consist of nine sound stages as well as a range of other production facilities. The studio ...

and

Director

spoke of wanting to address the

prison system A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crim ...

particularly the shift it experienced during the Presidencies of Ronald Reagan and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

where prisons became less focused on rehabilitation and more on punishment. Gordon took visual inspiration for the look of the prison, wanting to keep the film within the realm of possibility despite its sci-fi setting, from

Pelican Bay State Prison Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) is a supermax prison in Crescent City, California. The prison takes its name from a shallow bay on the Pacific coast, about to the west. Facilities The prison is located in a detached section of Crescent Cit ...

which Gordon described as having a "Hellish" atmosphere. While the script was written in mind with someone more physically imposing like

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

, Gordon felt the main character should be more of an everyman which lead to

being cast in the role. Lambert often insisted on doing his own stunts which became a point of mild disagreement between Gordon and Lambert.

Release

In April 1993, it was reported that distribution rights for ''Fortress'' had been acquired by

for theatrical distribution by Miramax's label

. ''Fortress'' was theatrically released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on September 3, 1993.

Home media

''Fortress'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in 1994 by Live Home Video, and re-released along with the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 1999 by

Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until i ...

. Columbia TriStar also released the film on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD in some other territories in 1993–2004, while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-released the DVDs from 2006–2017. The film also released on DVDs with Full Uncut Editions in UK and Germany. The film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

for the first time on 27 January 2013 by

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment was an American independent distribution company. It acquired and distributed feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children's programming for home video, digital and television in the Unit ...

and released in Spain on 9 December 2015 by Resen. In July 2017, Nameless Media (under the label of SPHE) also released the film on Blu-ray and DVD, including a Steelbook covers and a figurine model of the Strike Clone.

Alternative 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 labor. Gomez goes out to the truck to get a blanket for the soon-to-arrive baby. The Fortress computer, Zed-10, 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 until it seems to jam. 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.

Box office results

''Fortress'' grossed A$2,855,154 at the box office in Australia. Internationally it grossed a total of US$40 million, turning into a profitable movie for having been shot with a budget of $12,000,000.

Reception

The film holds a 38% 'Rotten' score on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 16 reviews with an average rating of 4.7/10.

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said: "Like so many other futuristic movies, ''Fortress'' is a lot better at setting up its premise than in developing a story around it, utfor all its faults, thas an unusually energetic imagination. At its best, it blends ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

'', ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has ...

'', and ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...

'' 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; irector StuartGordon 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 James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

of ReelViews said: "''Fortress'' has ..an impressive visual style, ..the set design is excellent, and the action scenes are well-paced, ut it'shampered by a poorly-constructed story line ndnever gets on track. Instead of entering the rarefied atmosphere inhabited by such films as ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...

'' and the original '' Terminator'', it falls in line with the likes of ''

Freejack ''Freejack'' is a 1992 American science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. The screenplay was written by Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett and Dan Gilroy, who adap ...

'' and ''

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''ALIEN3'') is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. Starring Sigourney Weaver reprising her ...

''".

Sequel

Prior to the film's release, it was reported

Village Roadshow Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures is an American film production company founded in 1989. It is a division of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG), which in turn is majority-owned by Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors, wi ...

and

Davis Entertainment Davis Entertainment (also known as Davis Entertainment Company) is an American independent film and television production company, founded by John Davis in 1984. Davis's three divisions–feature film, independent film, and television–develo ...

had hired Troy Neighbors and Steven Feinberg to write a treatment for ''Fortress 2'' with

slated to return and production to commence in early 1994. However, due to negative critical reception, a sequel to ''Fortress'' did not immediately move forward. A sequel titled ''Fortress 2: Re-Entry'' was released in 2000.

References

External links

* * *
''Fortress''
at Oz Movies {{Stuart Gordon 1992 independent films 1990s prison films 1992 science fiction action films 1990s dystopian films 1992 films American science fiction action films Australian action adventure films Australian independent films Australian science fiction action films American dystopian films 1990s English-language films Films about prison escapes Films directed by Stuart Gordon Films produced by John Davis Films set in 2017 Films set in the future Overpopulation fiction Davis Entertainment films Village Roadshow Pictures films Dimension Films films Columbia Pictures films Films shot on the Gold Coast, Queensland 1990s American films Films scored by Frédéric Talgorn 1992 science fiction films English-language science fiction action films English-language independent films English-language crime films English-language action adventure films