Fortress 2 (1999)

Director:

Geoff Murphy

Writers (WGA):

Steven Feinberg (characters) &
Troy Neighbors (characters) ...

Release Date:

2 March 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Locked in a prison orbiting 26,000 miles above earth. Escape was never thought possible...until now.

Plot:

7 years on from the original Fortress movie, Brennick and his family are still on the run from the Men-tel corporation...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Implant | Queen | Stethoscope | Future

Cast

Christopher Lambert	...	John Henry Brennick
Aidan Rea	...	Danny Brennick
David Roberson	...	Nestor Tubman
Liz May Brice	...	Elena Rivera
Beth Toussaint	...	Karen Brennick
Willie Garson	...	Stanley Nussbaum
Paul de Bourcy	...	Eagle Two
Bruce MacEwen	...	Mercenary Leader (as Bruce McEwen)
Stephen Shivers	...	Mercenary
Marius Speller	...	Eagle One
Mereta Mita	...	ZED (voice)
Patrick Malahide	...	Peter Teller
Thea Slikboer	...	Sally Ho
Carl Chase	...	Wells
Yuji Okumoto	...	Sato

Also Known As:

Fortress 2: Re-Entry (Philippines: English title) (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and nudity.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA | Luxembourg

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:16 | Ireland:18 | Mexico:B | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36458) | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Company:

Carousel Picture Company, The

Goofs:

Continuity: Christopher Lambert's character is billed as John Henry Brennick, however during the scene where ZED is processing Brennick into the fortress, he is referred to as "Brennick, John W.".

Quotes:

Marcus: Girl, you better recognize my skills. I could build a radio station out of a milk carton and two condom wrappers.

Movie Connections:

References Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

I was ready for low-grade entertainment, but this doesn't even reach that

Many years after he first escaped from prison, John Brennick and his family are still on the run from Men-Tel. When other rebels come to Brennick for help, they unwittingly lead Men-Tel soldiers straight to them. Brennick sends his wife and son out to safety but stays behind to hold them off. Upon his capture he finds himself back in a Men-Tel prison – but this time in orbit around earth. With Teller dedicated to catching Brennick's wife and son, Brennick decides he must escape and get to them first.

The first Fortress film was not exactly a piece of work – but it wasn't a piece of s**t either. However not every film needs to have a sequel. Most films, if they do have a sequel, need to do it within a few years to capitalise on the first. Here it has been left too long – and to be honest even releasing this immediately after the first would have been too late! The film sets out it's stall in the first 10 minutes – Brennick goes under the house and sends his wife down a tunnel – locking it after her. He says `I'll hold them off while you get away' – the tunnel is the only exit yet in the next instance he is outside driving a Landrover! What? How?

And that sets up the film – what and how? These are questions that NOBODY writing the film thought to ask – or maybe they assumed that the people renting this film would be of the mentality that they would be so pleases with a bit of fighting and some T&A (albeit nice T&A) that they wouldn't question anything. Sadly I wanted to feel that SOMEBODY had cared about making this as good a film as they could – but it looked like they just rushed it together and did nothing to sort out plot holes. The actual set-up is just like the first film but (after the first one went downhill after the escape) this one builds to this as it's climax. It is all nonsense of course and major things that move the plot along are simply stupid (even in sci-fi world).

Let me list just a few: 1 - Someone hacks into the system CCTV with a home-made remote control 2 - Brennick gets access to Teller's offices by strapping a miniature camera to a cockroach 3 - Men and (gorgeous) women shower together in this prison (thanks Theo!) 4 - Brennick gets thrown out into space but holds his breath for 30 seconds, opens another airlock from outside and climbs back in.

Let me repeat that last one slowly – man-holds-breath-in-vacuum-of-space. Holds his breath. At this point I realised that the writers think I am dumb. I have never seen a man in space – but surely the vacuum effect would suck every bit of air from you in a second (regardless of how good you were at swimming at school). I know that the plot is never going to be totally realistic (being set in an space-based prison and all….) but I expect films to at least TRY to be realistic within their own settings – this just smacks of laziness to me.

The cast are video quality. Lambert is as bland and lazy as he has been of late. He mumbles his way through the film and occasionally raises one side of his mouth into a `wry smile'™ and does his `he-he-he' laugh. Why anyone felt his original character had made an impression worthy of a sequel is beyond me. Brice has a nice body (and is a Brit) but that's about as much as she contributes. Roberson is a `black character' and boy does he know it. His role could have been played by any number of black actors who seem to give the same mock-tough comedy performance in this type of thing. Pam Grier continues her quest to prove that her Jackie Brown was an one-off rather than a second chance. She is of slight interest but she really needs to have a word with her agent.

Overall I was ready for trashy fun but this didn't deliver it. Fortress had an element of fun and excitement about it, but Re-entry is just lazy. It doesn't respect it's audience and it simply wanted to get rented, make some cash, then vanish. The effects are passable but the holes in the plot logic are big enough to lose a world – it is apparent that this was a first or second draft of a script that no one gave a toss about. My question – if the writers barely spent 90 minutes on this film, why should you?