just watch it!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Stellar, stellar, STELLAR film from Stuart Gordan. And also a mind blowing excellent performance from Christopher Lambert. Praise for the amazing script, the action sequences, and the tense music soundtrack. Buckle your asses up, your in for the ride of your life...in an underground prison. Your odds of escape from this prison? 0 percent! The movie grabs you by your throat, and does not let go...and really seems to know what its doing to keep your interest. Set in the year 2017 ( shut up, this is a 1993 movie), a man finds himself in the heart of a crime riddled, very unique prison...and he wants out! Finding a way out is not going to be easy, the odds are against him, and with an illegal baby on board, time is not on his side. He must find the right people, the right time, and step on the right platforms ( you'll see) to make it out of the prison in one piece. Stuart Gordan, a horror giant icon from the 80's who helmed flicks such as Dolls and From Beyond, he has gently discarded the horror to the side, and set forth on a project so much better. ( Fortress 2? Don't bother. The goods are here!) It is fast paced, keeps you on edge, and keeps you watching and your heart beating...and considering the age of this movie, it has aged very well, ripening the rating for this film. 8 out of 10 stars. Great job, guys and gals...take a look at this, you film maker wannabees these days, because THIS is how it's done!

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

This is not a great work of art but it is a great work of popcorn eating genre watching. Everyman against evil corporation in a scary future.Shades of Margaret Atwood for those who might not know who she is. ["The Handmaid's Tale is worth reading or watching -- it is quite readable Atwood, the film pretty good too.] The film should not be confused with a lesser known foreign genre flick by the same name about a schoolteacher trying to escape a different kind of danger with her school children. Again, both the film and book is worthwhile.Anyway, so, a man (Christopher Lambert, perfect genre everyman) has to escape from a prison to save his wife with the help of the likes of Jeffrey Combs (taking a break from trying to bring things to life) against the evil Kurtwood Smith (of course!). Great for late night viewing. Don't take too seriously!

When I first watched this film I found it to be average in the true sense of the word and having watched it again recently I find myself thinking the same.This is the worst thing about it in my opinion, at least a bad movie causes some kind of emotion (even if that is to walk out in disgust), this movie leaves you feeling jaded at the end and unsatisfied but not really angry about it. You don;t really like or really dislike any of the characters and this I don;t blame on the acting, but on the characterisation implicit in the plot In this I'm specifically not mentioning cast by name as I don;t feel the need to name and shame them, the mistakes weren't with the actors for the most part I'm a big fan of sci-fi movies, and don't usually buy into the idea that the old ones are better because in general they really aren't except for the nostalgia increment. However in this case, earlier movies certainly did do this prison story better.That said, its watchable if you have nothing better to do.The story itself centres on a couple who have been sent to prison for breaking population laws. Nothing new here really. As ever the perpetrators are fleeing across the border to Mexico and predictably because its the start of the movie, they don't make it.The lead character Brennan (I think he was called) tries to save the child and his lady by handing himself in and gets sent to the house of horrors, sorry futuristic privately owned prison, where torture is legal. Latter we learn that his lady hasn't got away at all and is instead serving time in the top levels of the prison.The rest of the film is a mishmash of plots seemingly confused as to what its supposed to be portraying. Plenty of gore and violence without any real reason or thought. For instance, there is no way that any prison would ever be allowed to punish someone for dreaming, except in some strange sadistic POW camp (beneath the public radar). The intestrinators equally serve no real purpose except to have the gore of them blowing up and the procedure for fitting them, and the subsequent removal. Thereare far more effective ways of achieving the same level of control if desired.Many potential plot lines are ignored. For instance the showdown between Brennan and Madox, could have been the culmination of decent dialogue and plot development. Instead it is rushed into 2 fight scenes, and the main purposes it seems is to a) Show the lady than Brennan is there b) to allow the sadistic jailer to blow out madox' stomach with a neutron cannon.There are numerous other bad plot lines in the film, or plot lines which simply aren't developed, instead simply paving the way for future plot lines which aren't well developed.That said if you ignore these problems and don't think, the film is indeed fun to watch. However there are better films to spend your time watching, a great many.The shame is that there was the gem of something better, if only Gordon had been able to shrug off the mantle of his previous films and see the gore etc as secondary to a good and well thought out plot line and logically rationalised scifi props.