Fortress
Fortress is a 1992 scifi film by Stuart Gordon.
In a dystopian future, in order to control the overpopulation, the law dictates that only one child is allowed per woman. John and Karen Brennick end up in a futuristic prison for being "breeders", people who violate said law. Now it's up to John to break them both out.
A sequel was released in 2000, in which John Brennick ends up in another prison, which is in space this time.
Tropes used in Fortress include:
- The Alcatraz
- Big No: Brennick yells out one just before Stiggs gets shot.
- Blind Without'Em: After losing his glasses, D-Day can only flail his arms helplessly and call out for Brennick.
- Camera Spoofing: Used in the sequel.
- Catch Phrase: Zed-10's "crime does not pay".
- Deadly Dodging: Just before an ion cannon shoots D-Day, Brennick dives in to rescue him, and a cyborg guard gets blasted instead.
- Doomed Defeatist
- Explosive Decompression: Wonderfully averted in the sequel.
- Explosive Leash: The Intestinators, which are put into prisoners when they arrive and are designed hurt or kill them as necessary.
- Eye Scream: When Brennick is subjected to the mindwipe, he sees a vision of himself ripping his eyes out.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: Cyborg guards' guns double as machine guns and flamethrowers.
- Flipping the Bird
- Great Escape
- Heroic Willpower: Brennick stands against the mindwipe for three days, whereas other prisoners could only take it for an hour.
- Hollywood Cyborg: The illegal babies that are taken from "breeders" are modified into enchanced beings which won't require food or sleep anymore. This includes Prison Director Poe.
- Hollywood Hacking
- Master Computer: Zed-10.
- Mind Rape: Very disobedient prisoners are subjected to a mindwipe, which leave them braindead.
- Nerd Glasses: D-Day.
- Numbered Sequels
- One Word Title
- The Password Is Always Swordfish
- Population Control
- Post-Climax Confrontation: After Brennick and co. escape from prison, Zed-10 takes over their escape vehicle to eliminate them.
- Prison
- Prison Rape: Maddox's favourite pastime.
- Recycled in Space: The sequel.
- Run for the Border: Film opens with Karen and John trying to make it to Canada.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Karen agrees on one given by Poe, so he will release John from the mindwipe.
- Shovel Strike: Used against a cyborg guard.
- Take My Hand: After Brennick manages to defeat Maddox in a one-on-one fight, Maddox is left hanging on a ledge. Poe then orders Brennick to finish the job. As a proverbial middle finger to Poe, Brennick offers Maddox his hand instead.
- Tattooed Crook: Maddox.
- Thoughtcrime: The "unauthorized thought processes", i.e. erotic fantazies.
- Torso with a View
- Traumatic C-Section: Pregnant female "breeders" are subjected to it when their child is taken away.
- Use Your Head