Fortress (1992)

In a future, private underground prison/Fortress, the inmates are computer controlled with CCTV, dream readers and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife are inside but want to escape before birth.

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Troy Neighbors (story), Steven Feinberg (story)

Stars:

Christopher Lambert, Loryn Locklin, Kurtwood Smith

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lambert	...	John Henry Brennick
Kurtwood Smith	...	Prison Director Poe
Loryn Locklin	...	Karen B. Brennick
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Nino Gomez (as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez)
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Abraham
Jeffrey Combs	...	D-Day
Tom Towles	...	Stiggs
Vernon Wells	...	Maddox
Carolyn Purdy-Gordon	...	Zed-10 (voice)
Alan Zitner	...	Claustrophobic Prisoner
Deni Gordon	...	Karen's Cellmate
Eric Briant Wells	...	Border Guard
Dragicia Debert	...	Bio Scanner Guard
Heidi Stein	...	Pregnant Woman
Harry Nurmi	...	Guard #1

Storyline

In 2017, John Henry Brennick and his wife Karen are captured at a US immigration point with an illegal baby during population control. The resulting prison experience is the subject of the movie. The prison is run by a private corporation bent on mind control.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | escape | future | population control | prisoner | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the future Where punishment is the ultimate crime

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language, and for sexuality

Details

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fortress

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$6,739,141

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Davis Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, Fortress Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film performed very strongly internationally, where Christopher Lambert is a bigger name.

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Goofs

When Loryn goes to warn John that he needs to cooperate (when he is the torture room strapped to the harness) she is escorted out of the room. When she does that she is clearly crossing the yellow line that would trigger pain in the prisoners.

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Quotes

Karen B. Brennick: What are you?
Prison Director Poe: I am enhanced.
Karen B. Brennick: You're not human. You're...
Prison Director Poe: A monster? A freak? The Mentel Corporation has transformed me into a more efficient human being. Once a month, I absorb amino acids, wasting neither food nor fuel. When my kind are in the majority, there will be no more world hunger, no overpopulation.
Karen B. Brennick: You don't sleep, you don't eat... You can't make love, can you?
Prison Director Poe: But I can love.
Karen B. Brennick: Are there others like you?
Prison Director Poe: Not many as advanced, but yes. I was one of Mentel's first babies. It was very ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The Australian theatrical and home entertainment versions all have the violence intact, but the Aussie version features the happier, more upbeat ending -- deleting the truck chase/explosion.

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Connections

Referenced in Best of the Worst: Elves, Santa Claus, and Christmas Vacation 2 (2013)

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Soundtracks

DIE KUNST DER FUGE BWV 1080
Contrapunctus 3&11 a 4
Canon per augmentationem in contrario motu
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Bell'Arte Ensemble
Courtesy of Koch Import Service

User Reviews

Futuristic riot!

2017, a dystopian future, and US Army officer John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen S. Brennick (Loryn Locklin) are expecting a second child. Strict one-child policies forbid any couples having a second child, but the Brennick's first child died at birth so they attempt to get away with a second pregnancy. They are caught trying to cross the border and sent to a maximum security prison that is owned and run by the "MenTel Corporation" A place where dreams are not your own and all thoughts of escape are dealt with severely by futuristic methods unheard of in the civilised world.

You got Connor MacLeod, Herbert West, Clarence J. Boddicker and one of the finest female bottoms in cinema, all crammed into one riotous, hokey and immeasurably fun movie. It probably wont come as much of a surprise to anyone to learn that this Christopher Lambert starrer is not going to have you scratching the cranial matter and pondering the future of mankind. But it does have some interesting ideas both in terms of its prison setting and in the technological advancements used. I mean hey, would you try to escape if you had an intestinal bomb set to go off outside the perimeters? {think The Running Man's neck braces but in your belly}. It can also be said of Fortress that it's not over ambitious, where director Stuart Gordon is aware of his restraints and keeps it simple but sparky, of which this is aided by Lambert buffing up and throwing punches left right and off kilter. Tho nothing much as an actor, Lambert none the less gives the likes of Sly and Arnie a run for their money here and looks every inch and sinew an action hero.

Kurtwood Smith, Jeffrey Combs, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Clifton Collins Jr. and of course,Loryn Locklin's bottom, all add varying degrees of fun and frolics to the occasion. While the set design for the interiors is really rather snazzy. It's B movie berserker time folks, a dystopian world where Christopher Lambert can beat the crap out of blokes twice his size, where half humanoids have flame throwers for arms, and Kurtwood Smith is in charge of a prison. Great fun really, truly. 7/10