Fortress (1992) - If you ever wanted to watch a version of "The Shawshank Redemption" that had the same amount of prison rape but 20X more cyborgs, this is the movie for you
I found this movie on DVD at my local thrift shop the other day, and as someone who grew up in the early '90s binging low-budget, direct-to-VHS SciFi movies, this looked like it might be worth grabbing for $1.29.
My family and I popped it in last night expecting to laugh at a silly / bad / cheapo old movie, and instead we were absolutely delighted!
It stars Christopher Lambert from Highlander (and the original Mortal Kombat movie) and Kurtwood Smith (he's been in a million things including the original RoboCop, and he was Red Forman in That 70s Show), plus a ton of other recognizable character actors from shows and movies you've probably seen. Special shout-out to Jeffrey Combs who memorably played half of the characters on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" - he's playing a burnout computer hacker here and he's a delight as always.
I grabbed this DVD because it absolutely looked like a piece of crap low-budget / direct-to-VHS "badass guy sent to futuristic prison has to break out" kinda thing - the same type of cheesy B-movie I loved watching with my friends as a kid... and it *is* that kind of movie, except the budget must've been 10x what I thought. It looks GREAT, with huge complex sets and insane, over-the-top practical effects and stunt-work.
The pacing is whacked out at times, the plot doesn't always make much sense, but every goddamn person involved absolutely went 11/10 effort. My wife absolutely loved it - she kept saying "this isn't a GOOD movie, but my god it's a FUN movie"
I'm gonna end with a little "Stefan from SNL" breakdown. This movie has EVERYTHING (no major plot spoilers here but skip this section if you want to be surprised):
- >!Ample uncensored male nudity !<
- >!A 'sophisticated disguise' that's obviously just a scarf !<
- >!A dude being ripped to shreds by dogs !<
- >!Close-up shots of a man's intestines exploding !<
- >!A fight to the death on a retracting plank over a bottomless pit !<
- >!A cruel AI who sounds like a nice lady !<
- >!A flamethrower battle against a cybernetic AI-controlled semi truck !<
- >!Significantly more pregnant ladies than you'd expect in a movie about dudes in prison !<
- >!That big human gyroscope thing that was in every movie and show in the early 90s !<
- >!Dudes being cut in half by laser beams !<
- >!Dudes filled with goopy blue blood exploding inside a sewer pipe!<
- >!A guy who vomits out a bomb !<
- >!A baby being born in the middle of a flamethrower battle against an AI-powered semi truck !<
- >!I'll stop now LOL!<
TL;DR: If you ever wanted to watch a version of "The Shawshank Redemption" that had the same amount of prison rape but 20X more cyborgs, this is the movie for you