Fortress

Title: Fortress
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre Action, Sci-Fi
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Kurtwood Smith (That 70’s show)

Whilst clearly dated now (released in ’93), this remains as possibly one of the better never-mentioned films, delivered to us by the man who also gave us 'Re-Animator.' The plot is as simple as you could want it, and the love interest is already developed so there’s no romance to get in the way of constant knuckle grazing, shovel smashing, gun-toting action. And as for the gore, well they have no problems with a good splatter of blood, and the effects remain (with one notable exception) top-notch. No blatant rubber usage and of course, this was in the days before CGI effects; explosions are done with actual explosives, flames are done with actual fire, etc.

Set in the near future, the US has banned more than one child per woman. The penalty? Maximum security prison, in this case, the ‘Fortress.’ Run by a company called the Men-Tel Corporation, they receive government funding for each in-mate stored, and are given little to no direction on just how they should store them. With the assistance of a powerful all seeing computer, capable of being everywhere at once, and some clever devices (which I’ll let you explore for yourself), deep beneath the earth, isolated in the middle of nowhere, escape was thought impossible. Not that this deters Mr. Lambert of course.

It may only contain two stars, but the acting is well performed by the supporting cast. From the bully to the ‘bitch’ there isn’t a weak link, except perhaps in their cliché personalities. Lambert delivers on his standard style, but the real gem here is the sadistic prison director (Kurtwood Smith). He is truly maniacal; controlled in his temperament and yet fascinated by the behaviour of many of his in-mates, capable of acting without remorse, and toying with them for his own amusement, his biggest problem arises from the powerful computer, ‘Zed,’ whom he treats much like a nagging parent.

This is a prison-escape film delivering on plenty of ideas, and most importantly, plenty of action. As previously stated, the love interest is established from the start and rarely takes a front seat, so what we’re left with is an array of action scenes from high powered laser guns to home-made explosives, all out punch-ups to going nuts with a machine gun, it will never let up. Forget these new pretentious actions films, all that overcomplicated plot does is prolong the time between action scenes. Action films should be about the action, and on that front, this delivers more than most.

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