Fortress 2
Encyclopedia
Fortress 2: Re-Entry is the sequel
to the 1993 film Fortress
. In the film, the principal actor Christopher Lambert
reprises his role as John Henry Brennick, still on the run from the MenTel Corporation. Lambert was the only original actor from Fortress, as his on-screen wife was re-cast and all his on-screen cell mates and the prison director perished in the original film.
John is then knocked out and captured. He wakes up in a room with a disembodied voice telling him that he is in prison again and has been sentenced to death. He has been implanted with a behavior modification device which causes headaches of various intensity when prisoners enter prohibited areas. He also finds one of the men who visited him, a former Men-Tel vice president, who is now brain-damaged because of an improperly planted device. Another of John's visitors, a former soldier, is also in the jail and friends with one of the guards.
Brennick starts making enemies almost immediately. A video of Director Teller "welcomes" the new prisoners. He shows them a female prisoner receiving her death sentence, being sucked out into space through an airlock. The video then shows the prisoners that they their new prison is actually a space station orbiting the Earth.
Brennick tries to escape in a water-delivery shuttle but is caught and sent to "The Hole" - an exposed area of the ship where John is bombarded with solar radiation while the station faces the sun and extreme cold when its orbit takes it behind the Earth. When Men-Tel's president arrives he tries to kill John by jettisoning him without a spacesuit. John manages to hold his breath and propel himself towards another airlock and back into the prison. Due to the sudden decompression, the computerized warden, Zed, begins to malfunction and cannot perform its duties. John uses a prison gun to destroy the computer and Teller is subsequently electrocuted. John and all his friends board the Shuttle and head back to Earth, where John reunites with his family.
said: "[It's] a film that sorely lacks energy [and] various moments of action are ruined by poor camera angles and clumsy editing, [but] while it may lack the grand set of Fortress
, it does boast some reasonable CGI effects and is slightly more entertaining in a cheap kind of way." Kim Newman of the British Film Institute
's Sight & Sound
said the film "lacks [Fortress director Stuart Gordon
's] wit and grit, though director Geoff Murphy makes it a decent enough ride."
Nathan Shumate of Cold Fusion Video Reviews said the film is "at best, a pale imitation of the original Fortress. [...] On its own, it’s a passable movie, with an adequate budget both for sets and CGI space effects. Too bad it had to be a sequel to a superior movie, instead of something wholly its own." The Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film Review said: "The action scenes are run of the mill [and] the special effects are okay and the show at least mounts to a passable action climax as the space station explodes, [but] the scripters have not endeavoured to approach this film in any more intelligent a way than they did the original
."
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the 1993 film Fortress
Fortress (1993 film)
Fortress is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and shot at Warner Brothers Movie World in Queensland, Australia. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character in the movie, John Henry Brennick and his wife Karen B...
. In the film, the principal actor Christopher Lambert
Christopher Lambert
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
reprises his role as John Henry Brennick, still on the run from the MenTel Corporation. Lambert was the only original actor from Fortress, as his on-screen wife was re-cast and all his on-screen cell mates and the prison director perished in the original film.
Plot
Fortress 2 takes place about 10 years later. John Brennick is somewhere in North America, apparently still on the run since he takes a shotgun with him everywhere. His son Danny tells him that his wife Karen wants John to come home immediately. When they arrive there are three people waiting for them. They ask John to help them destroy Men-Tel's new power station, saying that the company is on the verge of collapse and "without their power, they have no power". John refuses, wanting to protect his family, so the trio leave on a boat. As John waves goodbye, two Men-Tel helicopters appear and John scrambles his family's escape plan. He sends Danny and Karen through an underground passage while he leads the soldiers on a wild goose chase. The battle ends, though, with one helipcopter destroyed, but Brennick's Jeep is overturned.John is then knocked out and captured. He wakes up in a room with a disembodied voice telling him that he is in prison again and has been sentenced to death. He has been implanted with a behavior modification device which causes headaches of various intensity when prisoners enter prohibited areas. He also finds one of the men who visited him, a former Men-Tel vice president, who is now brain-damaged because of an improperly planted device. Another of John's visitors, a former soldier, is also in the jail and friends with one of the guards.
Brennick starts making enemies almost immediately. A video of Director Teller "welcomes" the new prisoners. He shows them a female prisoner receiving her death sentence, being sucked out into space through an airlock. The video then shows the prisoners that they their new prison is actually a space station orbiting the Earth.
Brennick tries to escape in a water-delivery shuttle but is caught and sent to "The Hole" - an exposed area of the ship where John is bombarded with solar radiation while the station faces the sun and extreme cold when its orbit takes it behind the Earth. When Men-Tel's president arrives he tries to kill John by jettisoning him without a spacesuit. John manages to hold his breath and propel himself towards another airlock and back into the prison. Due to the sudden decompression, the computerized warden, Zed, begins to malfunction and cannot perform its duties. John uses a prison gun to destroy the computer and Teller is subsequently electrocuted. John and all his friends board the Shuttle and head back to Earth, where John reunites with his family.
Critical reaction
Almar Haflidason of the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
said: "[It's] a film that sorely lacks energy [and] various moments of action are ruined by poor camera angles and clumsy editing, [but] while it may lack the grand set of Fortress
Fortress (1993 film)
Fortress is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and shot at Warner Brothers Movie World in Queensland, Australia. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character in the movie, John Henry Brennick and his wife Karen B...
, it does boast some reasonable CGI effects and is slightly more entertaining in a cheap kind of way." Kim Newman of the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's Sight & Sound
Sight & Sound
Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute .Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today...
said the film "lacks [Fortress director Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
's] wit and grit, though director Geoff Murphy makes it a decent enough ride."
Nathan Shumate of Cold Fusion Video Reviews said the film is "at best, a pale imitation of the original Fortress. [...] On its own, it’s a passable movie, with an adequate budget both for sets and CGI space effects. Too bad it had to be a sequel to a superior movie, instead of something wholly its own." The Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film Review said: "The action scenes are run of the mill [and] the special effects are okay and the show at least mounts to a passable action climax as the space station explodes, [but] the scripters have not endeavoured to approach this film in any more intelligent a way than they did the original
Fortress (1993 film)
Fortress is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and shot at Warner Brothers Movie World in Queensland, Australia. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character in the movie, John Henry Brennick and his wife Karen B...
."