Fortress (1992) is one of those movies from my youth that I never sat through from start to finish, but feel like I absorbed through osmosis. It was always on TV, and flipping between channels, I usually caught key scenes. Much like Escape From Absolom and Wedlock, Fortress feels like the moderately budgeted children of Total Recall’s smash success as a sci-fi quasi-cyberpunk action flick, reiterating the Verhoevian mix of gratuitous violence and a hint of kinked up sexuality, enough to implant itself upon a generation of teenage boy memory banks. Like I always remember in Fortress that people’s guts explode due to the intestinal device they implant in the prisoners, or the “enhanced” warden (Kurtwood Smith) spying on the prisoner’s sex dreams.

In the dystopian future, America has a one child policy and abortion is outlawed. Ex-soldiers Christopher Lambert and Loryn Locklin are captured trying to smuggle across the Canadian border with their second child to be (their first died). Lambert is sentenced to the “Fortress”, an underground, multi-level corporately-run prison that institutes control through intestinal devices that are remotely controlled and can inflict intense pain or can be set to explode. And there are floating robot cameras that can even intrude upon the prisoner’s mind. Despite being a corporate drone cyborg, Kurtwood Smith has eyes for Lambert’s wife, to the point of offering her a deal as a live-in “companion”. It’s up to Lambert and his motley crew of cellmates to bust out, including Clifton Collins Jnr, Tom Towles and the Re-Animator himself, Jeffrey Combs, stealing scenes as a tripped-out hippie hacker nerd with glasses that make his eyes bug out. Also stars Vernon Wells from Mad Max 2 and Commando as a thug prisoner with “187” tattooed on his forehead.

Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), he demonstrates his skill with orchestrating impactful violence and dramatic stakes. The middle of the movie is actually more of a drama as Lambert is broken by being mind-wiped (in a spinning contraption), and the disparate prisoners begin to work together when the prospect of escape is possible. It does feel like a cyber update of a WW2 prison break flick and even the villain is given some shading by struggling with romantic feelings as a cyborg and also just being a cog in the bigger corporate machine (helped by the strong acting of Kurtwood Smith). Lambert is a good lead with his intense stare and Tarzanesque bouts of pain and yelling, particularly when strapping on a boxy machine gun arm and plugging away at cyborg soldiers.

A solid sci-flick from the 1990s era that incorporates some dramatic stakes before its climatic rush towards a non-stop death-count throughout the escape. Also has the distinction of being shot at Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast, and in further proof that it was filmed in Australia, there’s rumours of a cameo by notorious AFL player Warwick Capper in the supporting cast (I didn’t catch his appearance and cannot confirm). Recommended.