Fortress 2: Re-Entry

A sequel to cult director Stuart Gordan's fun and campy film from 1993. This time Brennick is once again caught by the super-evil Men-Tel corporation and locked in a facility orbiting the Earth. Naturally he soon begins planning an escape.

Aside from the opening action scene which is OK the film starts to sink pretty fast. Relying too much on computer effects that are really sub-par - the first film cleverly used set design more than computer effects - and then there are some glaring plot devices that pretty much overshadow parts of the plot that are enjoyable. Cheesy computer effects are forgivable and can easily be looked on as a new-age camp, but the silliness of the plot of is poor script writing and that is almost impossible to forgive. You need a tight script for a good movie. Period.

Also, if you thought the end to first film was cheesy then you'll like this film even less because the ending is even ridiculous by fairy tale standards. --- 4/10

Rated R: violence and profanity

Sci-Fi fans love to think they are so smart sometimes. Everyone keeps bashing this movie for the scene where the main character survives in space without a spacesuit. To be honest, I have not seen the movie, so I do not know how long he spends in space, however I registered on IMDb just to point out that it may actually be possible to survive in the vacuum of space for a short time. See The Straight Dope for more details on that: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_147.html. Moreover, having a character survive a short time in space without a suit is not an unusual plot device. It was done in 2001: A Space Odyssey and also Event Horizon, and probably others. The concept is certainly not any more outrageous than diving through a plate glass window without suffering massive lacerations and not any more outrageous than a huge number of other physics-ignoring-action that Hollywood puts into movies every single day.

I think this one just had a better look & feel to it. I liked the atmosphere more than the first. I also would maybe watch this one again but I don't know about the first. It was too depressing. This one was fun. This director did what we wanted & didn't kill off all of the main characters. If Dday didn't die on the first I would have liked it more. It had too much of a mad max look to it which is a look I don't like. It's like a futuristic look but yet it's still dull looking. The second was just more fun to me. I just hate when directors will kill off my favorite characters one by one making it more & more depressing. I also really liked the whole space idea because I'm thinking to myself "how... is he going to get out".

So Patrick Malahide is Teller, the prison governor. Okay. However, Patrick Malahide was also Chisholm in Minder, and I don't think the filmmakers realised just how off-putting that would be - you keep expecting a spluttering Arfur Daley to be hustled into his office instead of a stony-faced Chris Lambert. Well, I did, anyway.

Of course, that wouldn't be too likely as this new Fortress is in orbit 26,000 miles above Earth, which, when it's suddenly revealed (to the horror of the oblivious prisoners/"labourers"), feels like it should have been a key twist that you couldn't possibly have seen coming... bit of a shame that it's given away in the tagline on the front of the video, then.

Anyway, yeah, what everyone else said: it's Fortress 1, only not as good. The sets and effects are basically fine, some of the set pieces are pretty tense (if ridiculously set up), but the flimsy script, non-existent pacing, absence of worthwhile new ideas and charisma-free supporting cast all seem to have come from a film with one tenth of the budget - Pam Grier excepted, though she may as well not be in it at all considering the total irrelevance of her character.

And does everyone really have to talk so quietly? I know they're in prison, but Mr. Lambert always whispers everything anyway - and here so does Patrick Malahide, so get ready for a lot of scowling and rewinding if you want to follow the few halfhearted shreds of plot on offer.

Oh yeah, and that very last scene is, basically, the worst thing ever. It's not even as if The Laugh can save it, as Chris has already put The Laugh to much better effect about twenty minutes earlier...

"YOU are going to pardon ME? Heh heh heh."

He hasn't lost it.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good SCI-FI flick as much as anybody. Especially when Christopher Lambert is the star. I really liked the first Fortress Adventure. But it seems as if they made a sequel just for the sake of making a sequel. The basic story line is the pretty much the same as the first. Brennick gets caught by Mental, hence Brennick is once again in a prison(fortress). This time in outer space. How will our hero ever escape? I won't say too much if you havn't seen it. But what i will say is that this movie opened my eyes to a new kind of science discovery, appearently a person CAN hold his/her breath in outer space without spacesuit or helmet........right... Anyways, if you are looking for a SCI-FI flick and have NOTHING else to watch. I recommend watching this movie. The visual effects are great. Sound is respectable. You might think I didnt like this movie, actually I own the DVD. Even though this movie wasn't a huge hit, do you think we will get to see a Fortress 3: Banished to the Planet Ziest....(it would be a good tie-in for Highlander 2 or not...)