Fortress *** (1992, Christopher Lambert, Loryn Locklin, Kurtwood Smith, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Clifton Collins Jr, Jeffrey Combs) – Classic Movie Review 2335

Christopher Lambert runs and jumps athletically around in director Stuart (Re-Animator) Gordon’s 1992 entertaining but basic futuristic action prison movie as former black beret captain John Brennick. He is arrested at a US emigration point along with his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) for her illegal pregnancy during population control, and taken to a  high-tech, subterranean maximum security fortress.

This awful super-jail is run by a private corporation bent on mind control. In charge is the vile robotic warden Prison Director Poe (Kurtwood Smith) and, as all the prisoners are controlled by lasers and an unpleasant device shot into their stomachs, escape is apparently impossible.

This setup is fine, if not wholly original, and the set designs and visual effects trick work are convincing and often impressive, while the stunts and action are rousing and dangerous looking.

But alas the film is never terribly exciting, the acting is mostly quite basic and the movie’s tone is nasty, with a sadistic close-up view of shootings and body explosions, keeping the idea of fun at bay.

Though Fortress holds the attention throughout, it’s forgettable, and that’s a shame because there’s the basis of a classy film here. Also in the cast are Lincoln Kilpatrick, Clifton Collins Jr, Jeffrey Combs, Tom Towles and Vernon Wells.

Lambert was hired by the film’s producers as a consultant and oversaw filming.

Sequel: Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2335

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