Fortress (1993 film)
Encyclopedia
Fortress is a 1993 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.
) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin
) are attempting to cross the border into Mexico 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.
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."
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
and shot at Warner Brothers Movie World
Warner Bros. Movie World
Warner Bros. Movie World is a popular movie related theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia. It is owned and operated by Village Roadshow since the take over from Time Warner and is the only movie related park in Australia...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character in the movie, John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert
Christopher Lambert
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
) and his wife Karen B. Brennick (Loryn Locklin
Loryn Locklin
Loryn Locklin is an actress. She has appeared in the films Taking Care of Business, Fortress and Denial amongst other films. She has also appeared in a few television shows, such as Frasier, JAG and Home Improvement....
) are sent to a maximum security prison because they are expecting a second child, which is against strict one-child policies.
Cast
- Christopher LambertChristopher LambertChristophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
: John Henry Brennick - Loryn LocklinLoryn LocklinLoryn Locklin is an actress. She has appeared in the films Taking Care of Business, Fortress and Denial amongst other films. She has also appeared in a few television shows, such as Frasier, JAG and Home Improvement....
: Karen B. Brennick - Kurtwood SmithKurtwood SmithKurtwood Larson Smith is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop and stern parental characters , and for his appearances in the genre of science fiction...
: prison director Poe - Carolyn Purdy-Gordon: Voice of Zed-10
- Lincoln KilpatrickLincoln KilpatrickLincoln Kilpatrick was an American film, television, and stage actor.-Career:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Kilpatrick attended Lincoln University and earned a degree in drama before he began acting. Encouraged by Billie Holiday, Kilpatrick began his career in 1959 in the Broadway production of A...
: Abraham - Jeffrey CombsJeffrey CombsJeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
: D-Day, computer geek - Tom TowlesTom TowlesTom Towles is an American actor.Towles was born and raised in Chicago. He became an actor after a stint in the U.S. Marines, beginning with an uncredited performance in Dog Day Afternoon . He has appeared in film and television extensively since the 1980s...
: Stiggs, Maddox's Buddy - Vernon WellsVernon Wells (actor)Vernon George Wells is an Australian film and television actor who has built his career around action-type films, most often cast as a villain...
: Maddox - Clifton Collins Jr. (credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez): Nino Gomez
- John PierceJohn PierceJohn Pierce is the name of:* John J. Pierce , writer* John M. Pierce , American amateur astronomer* John R. Pierce , American engineer, Professor, and author* John Pierce, member of the group Pablo CruiseSee also...
: Moustached Prisoner - Warwick CapperWarwick CapperWarwick Capper is a retired high profile professional Australian rules football full-forward who played with the Sydney Swans with a short stint at the Brisbane Bears in the VFL ....
: cameo
Plot
Set in a dystopian future, 2017, ex-army officer John Henry Brennick (Christopher LambertChristopher Lambert
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin
Loryn Locklin
Loryn Locklin is an actress. She has appeared in the films Taking Care of Business, Fortress and Denial amongst other films. She has also appeared in a few television shows, such as Frasier, JAG and Home Improvement....
) are attempting to cross the border into Mexico 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
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
; 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
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
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.Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Stephen HoldenStephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
, The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative fiction, written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985...
, and Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
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
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
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
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
and the original Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
, it falls in line with the likes of Freejack
Freejack
Freejack is a 1992 science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy, starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Jonathan Banks, Grand L. Bush and Anthony Hopkins. Upon its release in the United States, the film received mostly negative reviews. The story was adapted from Immortality, Inc., a...
and Alien 3."