Fortress - Ahh, nineties sci-fi

There’s something very comforting for me about watching Christopher Lambert in the nineties sci-fi/action movie ‘Fortress.’ It’s like revisiting an old friend in a comfortable environment.  Yes, it’s fair to say that anyone who was basically in their early teenage years of watching films would find this film particularly deep and thought provoking (like I did at the time).  Now, over twenty years (and several thousand) films later, my cynical and jaded eyes see it for what it is – a load of nonsense (but kind of good fun nonsense if you’re in the mood).

Sometime in the near future pregnancies are controlled and anyone having a child without government approval (or something) is imprisoned in the most hellish of judicial facilities imaginable.  The opening scene shows us Christopher Lambert and his pregnant wife attempting to flee the country, but getting caught in the process.  Guess where they end up?  The titular ‘Fortress’ is a prison (tower) buried under the ground in the desert where escape is ‘impossible’ (yeah, in the same way that ‘no one’ had ever won ‘The Running Man’ until Arnie had a go).

Once imprisoned, Lambert is subjected to all the usual prison movie tropes, including clichéd cellmates, aggressive bully-type alpha-male prisoners and – of course – the fascist warden in charge, this time played by Kurtwood Smith (or that-baddie-in-Robocop to most of us).  Whereas most of the film is pretty run-of-the-mill, Kurtwood does his best to turn in a pretty sinister and menacing performance.  Of course there are some pretty big stretches in the plot which are designed to further the story rather than be realistic.  These are things like the warden just so happening to fall in love with Lambert’s wife (like our hero needed any extra excuses for hating the man in charge of the barbaric facility).

The sets are pretty bland.  In fact, the sets are sets – pure and simple.  Grey walls with people wandering around in orange jumpsuits.  The special effects aren’t that special and the dialogue is a bit corny here and there.  All in all, it’s probably not the greatest of films and it’s no wonder that it’s been pretty much forgotten compared to the classic action films of the decade.  And yet, I stand by my original statement. Watching ‘Fortress’ takes me back to my childhood, so, yes, a lot of my appreciation of this film stems from my nostalgia of the era.  It’s a simple film from a simpler time.  

I doubt it would hold up today against the current crop of action movies.  It wasn’t much more than a ‘straight-to-video’ affair back in its day, but, like I say, if you’re looking for a slightly dated, more simple action movie then this one is worth a watch if you feel like wasting an hour and a half.  The deeper meaning I may have once seen has long since been painted over by clichés and cheesy nonsense, but I like that sort of thing.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that