Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000) User Reviews

Not as good as the original...

[bazthegreat · 6/10 · 5 March 2000]

I had no idea that a sequel was even being made to the 1993 movie until a few days ago. I arrived at the cinema complex where I work and was totally shocked to discover that a Fortress 2 had been released! The film was officially released in Australia on 2. March, 2000, but I'm afraid it hasn't been too popular...

We're only screening it in one small cinema and, so far, we've probably had about 200 patrons in four days (and that's being generous). Considering the fact that our largest cinema seats 500 for one session, this is not good popularity odds.

It was released suddenly, without advertisements or even posters. You could tell from the start that this was going to be an unfortunate, B-grade sequel to the enjoyable, well planned original.

Still, I thought I'd give it a go. I loved the first film and Christopher Lambert had returned to reprise his role, so I thought why not?

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. The script was very lame, with characters suddenly having the "convenient" skills to make an escape possible at just the right time. Not much planning went into set design. There were very little of the fancy, modern gadgets of the first movie, and you can tell they were cutting costs. Much of the film was computer generated to cover the missing pieces. As for the plot - it was far too unbelievable and, dare I say it, actually quite boring.

This time, the prison is in outer space (!), and instead of those little metal tracking devices used in the first Fortress, prisoners are given a "behaviour modifier" than is implanted in their brain. These ones definitely can't be removed.

It is a rehash of the first. Christopher makes some friends inside, and then they help him to escape. None of the characters other than Chris are very likeable, and I found myself not really caring if they survived or not. Chris seemed to just cruise through the film without much effort - what more could he do?

Follow-up in similar style , full of action , violence and technological elements

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 21 February 2011]

This is a Prison movie with high-tech science fiction , following to ¨The fortress¨ directed by Stuart Gordon in which Lambert is imprisoned because another son was born and in the future it's prohibited . In a futuristic USA , it's forbidden to give birth to more than one child for each woman and then things go wrong . The motion picture is supposed to take place 7 years after the former , as John (Christopher Lambert) is a rebel whom the resistance asking for help , but he escapes to avoid the authorities in USA , which is exactly what he and his wife Karen Brennick (Beth Toussiant replacing Loryn Locklyn) were trying to do when with her second son (their first child was born dead) escape . When they think they have made it , he is discovered and put to prison . With those odds , John still plans to getaway . Prison's chief (Patrick Malahide , replacing Kurtwood Smith) , located in a space station , is a villain who punishes to inmates with tortures and using cruel technological security measures . This is a modern and more sophisticated prison called the "Fortress" where the prisoners are controlled by lasers , neutron-cannons , cameras , mind-scanners and electronic pain-causing devices in their stomachs . John/Christopher Lambert along with other prisoners (Liz May Brice , Nick Brimble , John Sharian) will face off the prison director (Patrick Malahide) and his wardens (Okumoto).

The picture blends thrills , suspense , violence , drama, action ,struggles and some nudism . It is set 7 years after the original when rebels are captured and sent to a new fortress prison , in outer space , there takes place an exciting final confrontation between the starring and baddies , it is very stimulating and gets some exciting surprises . Special appearance of the Blaxploitiation goddess , Pan Grier . Runtime film is adequate , it is fast moving and is neither boring , nor tiring , but bemusing . Atmospheric cinematography and adequate score fitting to action by Christopher Franke . The motion picture obtained little success and failed at Box office . This second part bears a similar plot to previous entry , but isn't as nice as the first . The picture was regularly directed by Geoff Murphy who also realized the second installment to ¨Young guns¨ with more success than this one . The film will appeal to Science fiction buffs and Christopher Lambert fans . Rating : 5/10 , average .

I liked it better than the first.

[midnight_wanderer · 6/10 · 23 July 2005]

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".

Not an utter disaster

[Jonathan Horner · 2 March 2001]

I wouldn't say Fortress 2 was an utter disaster like many of you have pointed out.

I'm a big fan of the first Fortress movie, and recently while in my local Blockbuster store I spotted Fortress 2 sitting on the selves. So me being a massive Christopher Lambert & Fortress fan I jumped at the chance of renting it.

I don't like the idea of the new Fortress being located in space it doesn't work out right in the long run. Fortress 2 is pretty much the same. The intestinators from the first movie have been replaced by a sort of camera which is implanted into your brain there's the usual evil prison director controlling the Fortress and ZED the talking computer is back. Brennicks wife, Karen, is also back, but replaced with a different actor.

To cut a long story short. The Fortress has now been turned into a giant power station which is floating around in space and is owned by the Mentel co-oporation. Inmates are kept there to keep it in working order and to build new structures for the Fortress. John Brennick (Christopher Lambert) gets caught (again) and is thrown back into the Fortress. He then sets out struggling to find a way out.

Like most sequels Lambert has starred in. I feel that Fortress 2 was rushed, there's giant gaps in the movie which could of been filled in with maybe some clever dialogue or interesting scenes.

Overall, being a massive Lambert fan even I must agree that this movie is below average.

4/10

Fortress 2: this time, Lambert is in space

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 23 October 2004]

Christopher Lambert; the king of newer B-movies. The guy has been in every(I think) Highlander movie so far, despite the fact that only the first was particularly popular. He's done so many B-movies that one has to wonder if he is aware that the films are bad and doesn't care, or if he really doesn't realize their quality(or, rather, lack thereof). Here, he returns in a sequel to the fairly low-budget B-movie action-science fiction flick, Fortress. In the first one, the prison was huge, and underneath the ground. Here, it's... well, it's still huge, but this time, it's in outer space. I guess the writer thought, hey, the first time, it was underneath the ground... the only place that could be worse than that would be outer space. I hope he's right... I surely do, because if he is, maybe we won't see anymore half-cooked action-sci-fi flicks like this. Lambert portrays the exact same character, which I suppose is good, as he was a decent character in the first. A few somewhat big names also join the cast, most noticeably Pam Grier. The cast of characters from the first are pretty much remade(apart from Lambert himself), meaning that the new cast pretty much just fills the shoes of the characters from the first(anyone who knows how the first ended knows why). Unfortunately, that means that the film seems more like an overblown remake with the same guy portraying the lead, rather than a sequel. The hacker from the first(who was a neurotic, nervous guy, beautifully portrayed by great horror-talent, Jeffrey Combs) is replaced by an annoying black-guy stereotype. The female lead is replaced by a girl from the resistance(which Lambert's character is said to be a member of as well... odd... I don't remember that from the first... does that mean he joined the resistance after he got a kid? Who'd do that?), instead of his wife as it was in the first... apparently mainly because the scriptwriter couldn't find a good way to capture both Lambert and the wife-character, without capturing the kid. The Men-Tel prison commander(who was played by the cool bad-guy actor, Kurtwood Smith, from RoboCop fame) is now an annoying wimp with a ridiculous British accent that really gets on your nerves(as opposed to the cool Smith, who was a menacing and threatening presence). The plot is a rehash of the first. The pacing isn't particularly good. The very scenes in the movie seems to be(for the most part) remakes of the scenes of the original(talk about lack of originality...) and the action is mostly just rehashes of the first, just made a little less exciting(remember those way-cool machine guns with three barrels in the first? They're replaced with dull futuristic-looking stick-stun-guns). The special effects are decent at best. The script is a weak rehash of the first, with a few added sub-plots, none of which being particularly good... most of them are just there to keep the film going, or put it an action scene, in order to distract the audience from the poor writing. The dialog is pretty bad, with one or two exceptions. All in all, the film is just a tame rehash of everything the first was(which isn't even a lot). Somebody took the first film, said, "hey, this is popular... but it's not very good... how about if we try to do something of even lesser quality and see if people will like it?" Probably writer/producer/actor John Flock, who, going by the plot and the writing of this film, really is as dumb as he looks. I recommend this only to huge fans of the first Fortress, Lambert or B-movies. Everyone else; don't bother. There's a million better ways to spend 90 minutes, and there's at least as many reasons not to see this film. 5/10

What Did You Expect?

[jrfranklin01 · 2/10 · 25 February 2005]

Okay, so the first wasn't anything to boast about. Ergo, the sequel is likely to be only as good as the original, at best. Most sequels just turn out to be a flop or pale in comparison to the first. Fortress 2 is no exception.

Years later, Brennick and his family are being hunted down by the same Men-tel Corporation that build the first Fortress. Lambert returns again as Brennick, although he is starting to show his age. Pam Grier makes a surprising appearance as one of the Men-tel corporate big wigs. Brennick is captured and sent to a new fortress in space. There is a new ZED as the HAL9000 spin off from the first Fortress. Not as much detail (costumes, SFX, etc.)are given to this sequel compared to the first. The coed nature of the prison is a bit surprising as women shower next to men. So much for privacy and heaven help you (man or woman) if you drop the soap! Liz May Brice (Resident Evil, AVP) plays Elena Rivera and gives quite a memorable performance with her shower scene.

Plot holes soon develop when Brennick and his cohorts hack into the video surveillance system. Then the film gets a bit cheesy when a retarded man gains access to ZED and recorded shower scenes fool the porn-hungry prison guards. The special effects are appropriate with such a low-budget film and the laws of gravity are stretched to extreme. All you can honestly ask after watching this is, "What did you expect?" 2/10

Fortress 2: Re-write

[BroadswordCallinDannyBoy · 4/10 · 11 January 2007]

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

What happened to the wife.

[christopher-45 · 3/10 · 2 May 2003]

What a difference a film makes. The first Fortress was quality; the sequel was a world apart. Rotten script, poor sets, so so acting and one dimensional supporting characters, even if Liz May Brice was very pleasing on the eye, which only served to verify how much on the cheap Fortress 2 was done compared to Fortress.

Plus Christopher Lambert fails to have noticed that his wife played in the original by Loryn Locklin was replaced by Beth Touissant, which explains why she only had 2 scenes.

The models were good though, and you have to give the makers credit for their cheek in Brennick's space walk without a space suit.

The luckiest cast member however was Arnita Swanson as Combs, who rightly saw what a stinker this movie was and decided to literately jump ship.

Christopher Lambert must be kept in this Fortress!!

[pablofen · 1/10 · 14 February 2008]

I have vague memories of Christopher Lambert acting good.... I know he could do it..... With every new film from him, this memory becomes more and more diffuse.... I remember I saw Highlander and I was so impressed, then I saw Knight moves and I thought, this guy is great so I rented 3 more film of him, Druids, Adrenaline and Fortress 2.... I remember that evening as one of the most terrific experiences of my life, at the beginning I thought, OK, this film is so bad, but OK one actor can make also sometimes a bad film, so I saw the second one, then my fears began to grow, it was the worst movie ever !!! I couldn't recognize Christopher Lambert, acting was so bad and script so terrible that I almost started to cry, and then....... I put FORTRESS 2 !!!!!! I am still recovering of seeing this film, I know i will have some irreversible sequels on my brain, I lost all my respect of C.Lambert for the rest of my life, also I couldn't try to rent another movie, i was so terrified I could get another crap like Fortress 2.

Really it was one of the worst movies ever, no screenplay, no acting, crap special effects, crap editing, it was so awful that i will keep paying my psychiatrist for many years until i will be prepared again to see another movie of him.

A Worthy Sequel, positive review. Minor SPOILERS.

[themorfs · 7/10 · 3 March 2000]

Being a big fan of the first movie, I was a little nervous as to the quality of a sequel. But today at 10.30am I was pleasantly surprised. The movie picks up 10 years after the ending of the first one. Brennicks child is now 10 years old. The child, Brennick, and his wife have been on the run from the Mental Corporation all that time. Without spoiling the movie - Brennick is captured and sent to a new fortress, one that orbits the earth.

Lambert is back as Brennick and is in good form. The only other recognizable cast member is Pam Grier, basically an extended cameo. The special effects are above average for a movie with a reported budget of only 10 million. The space fortress is very convincing, as are the docking shuttles. The film looks like it cost twice as much. The anti-gravity movement outside the fortess is very realistic looking. The story itself is quite clever, a few cliches, but hey this isn't oscar material. There are several terrific action sequences, and the ending is satisfying. To be honest this is quite a gem of a movie, it had no advertising, small budget, and basically appeared out of nowhere. I found the movie to be equally enjoyable as the original. 7/10.

What a load of crud

[jimmycool20012000 · 1/10 · 11 December 2001]

I can remember watching the first fortress film and highly enjoying it. This was a film that should not have had a sequel made to it. I mean the film would have been remembered as quite a good sci-fi film but after this terrible sequel they will both leave a bitter taste. I mean this film is unrealistic, i mean it is supposed to be such a high tec prison so one wouls think that escape was impossible, not with Christopher Lambert. I can't remember all the absolute crap that happened, i can just remember being mindlessly bored and outraged at the scene when he jumps through space, that one part was just so bad that it would ruin any film. I realy enjoyed the first film as the characters were interesting and the way they escaped was clever and fairly realistic but this seqel is quite simply bad.

DO NOT WATCH!!!

A good sequel to Fortress.

[Rautus · 10/10 · 14 March 2007]

Fortress 2: Re-Entry is actually a good sequel, it's nice to see Chirstopher Lambert playing as John Brennick again. The violence from the first film isn't in this one as much but it's still there in parts.

The idea of having a Fortress in space than underground was clever and adds something new. The prison director isn't as sinister as Poe in the first film but he is good.

The special effects were OK and the prison looked good. Another interesting thing was instead of having a device that causes pain in the body we have a camera that allows the prison director to monitor them and stop them from escaping.

But for John and a few other prisoners they can out smart this device and use a way to escape.

Fortress 2 is a good sequel and sci-fi movie.

Surprisingly entertaining movie / a sequel not worse than the original

[PogoNeo · 7/10 · 17 October 2016]

The first movie was a serious psychological dystopia on the topic of dehumanization, in particular of an inmate and in general of the society; that unfortunately after the first half had this very noticeable transition, ending with a rather disappointing finale in a style of B class action movies. And that shift was so profound, that even the (not so great) music (greatly) matching what was shown on the screen was practically removed during that transition, only to come back when the more action oriented last quarter of that first movie have started

And with this sequel, they took a practically different approach. The music is even worst and does not evoke any feelings in conjunction with the on screen events. Also the dystopic ingredient is somewhere in the back while the action is more in the front. But aside from the opening scene, the rest is coherent; unlike in the first picture of this duology. So if the viewer will enjoy the first 10-20 minutes (once the action is placed in the prison), then this joy will last to the end; unlike in the first picture of this diptych

Yes- there are plot holes and behaviors illogical to some extent, that normally would disqualify any movie from taking it serious. But that is the whole point- if you do not take it seriously, just in the terms of action comedy and not a drama, you will simply enjoy it. There are numerous great and funny moments, like when a female co-pilot is apparently learning how to dock under the supervision of the experienced male pilot. Both those characters are played absolutely great, especially given that the male pilot has only few spoken lines and the co-pilot only has one. Also, one of the characters from the hero's team of escapees that has a damaged brain is portrayed with such a craft, that he just makes the hero of the story look somewhat bleak

Aside from the cheap special effects and story that has only traces of being complex, this is a great entertainment. It is somewhat similar in style to the new "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015): in that when put on paper it seems stupid and boring; but when put all together and presented on the screen, it is just so damn entertaining (and positively different from previous installments)

In space, no one can hear you be lame!

[JoeB131 · 3/10 · 25 December 2012]

I guess this was a sequel to another Christopher Lambert film I never saw mostly because I avoid things with Christopher Lambert in them. But the plot line here is that his character is recaptured by the evil company that controls everything and put on a space station where the Warden is planning to make a superweapon and threaten the world.

In short, it's every bad prison movie you've ever seen, except it's in space.

This might have been interesting with better dialog writers and not having Lambert in it. But this is the movie we got, where another sad franchise is put out of its misery by putting it in space.

Everything you could want and more in a Lambert movie sequel.

[The-Evil-Dead · 26 April 2005]

Well, lets be honest here, the first Fortress movie was nothing too special even though it was directed by Stuart Gordon and featured some excellent cheese filled moments. You may think that the craptacular enjoyment provided by the first movie would translate over to the lower budgeted, even more b sequel.

Sadly I was totally wrong with this assumption.

Things just happen in this movie... There's really no effort by the script or director to give us any characterization. We're stuck with " Brennick is in prison, now he must bust out " as soon as the movie starts.

There's plot holes galore, stupid scenes, and some terrible special FX.

Lambert must have been really hungry for the fifty or so grand he was paid to do this train wreck.

I'm a fan of cheeseball, low budget films... But they have to at least be entertaining in some form or another to be enjoyable to me. There are a few moments like that found in this film, but unless you want to see how NOT to make a movie, don't bother with this one.

1 out of 5.

IT'S OK BUT NOT BRILLIANT LIKE THE CLASSIC FIRST!!!

[lukem-52760 · 5/10 · 28 October 2018]

Re-entry was an ok sometimes good sci-fi thriller but wasn't no where near as BRILLIANT as the classic first but it never was going to be as Re-entry was made on an even lower budget & a straight to video movie but it had some cool moments & fights but it was really nice seeing Lambert back as Brennick as that is the best character he's ever played in my opinion!!! I always knew Lambert from Fortress not Highlander like most!!! So yeah Re-entry is an ok sequel but just not rewatchable like the Amazing 1992 classic!!! Has some moments but the fx are too cheap looking & the main bad guy of the new space prison was Terrible & stupid & boring & the whole film is dull as there's no real scary danger or brutality like the first film had or that great music score or that great 90's atmosphere it was lacking in all of that. Now Christopher Lambert was good none of this is his fault & he acts fine but his excellent character Brennick just isn't in an exciting suspense film like that original so can't blame Lambert. I liked the start with Brennick living & hiding out in the forest with his wife & boy & the how he had an escape route under his house that was all really cool & like i said it was nice seeing Lambert back as Brennick. Good (in bits) but not Great

Disappointing sequel to the surprisingly good first film

[a_chinn · 5/10 · 11 July 2021]

Christopher Lambert returns as Brennick and is once again sent to a space prison and once again devises a plan to escape from the aforementioned hi-ech space prison. However, this time you're minus a strong director (Stuart Gordon "Re-Animator" "From Beyond") and a strong supporting cast (Jeffrey Combs "The Frighteners" "Deep Space Nine," Kurtwood Smith "Robocp" "That 70's Show," Vernon Wells "The Road Warrior" "Commando," or Tom Towles "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" "The Devil's Rejects"). With this sequel, you have none of the returning cast outside of Lambert, who isn't the best actor but who does have an undeniable on-screen charism and is the sole reason to watch this film. You also have Geoff Murphy as director, who's made a few decent films, such as "Young Guns II," "Utu," and "The Quiet Earth" but who's also made his share of stinkers (i.e. "Freejack" "Under Siege 2" "Dante's Peak"). One reason the first film is better is because that film was originally developed as a vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger during his heyday, falling between "Terminator 2" and "True Lies," who was a big fan of Gordon's "Re-Animator" after her stunt double (who appeared in "Re-Animator") and consequentially brought him on as director. Arnold dropped out and the budget went from $70 million to $15, but that original film was still a clever bit of musclebound sci-fi. This sequel, filmed 8 years later, feels like a direct-to-video cash grab and that's pretty much what you get. It's not terrible, but it's a fairly routine prison break story in a sci-fi setting. Not awful, but nothing worth seeking out unless you are a major Christoper Lambert fan.

Awful sequel set in outer space.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 31 January 2009]

Fortress 2 starts as escaped convict & terrorist John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) is recaptured by the Men-Tel corporation & sent right back to prison. Brennick is at first confident that he can escape again but isn't so sure when he realises he is incarcerated in a prison floating in outer space. To add to his problems are a bunch of nasty Russian gangsters, Sato (Yuji Okumoto) one of the sadistic prison guard's & the prison Govenor Petet Teller (Patrick Malahide) who lost his original high powered job when Brennick escaped from the Fortress seven years earlier & he wants revenge. However Brennick is determined to overcome these obstacles, escape & once again see his wife & son...

Also known under the title Fortress 2: Re-Entry this Americam Luxembourg co-production was directed by Geoff Murphy & was the sequel to the surprise sci-fi action thriller success Fortress (1993) with Christopher Lambert which did quite well on video & was a pretty good film too, unfortunately Fortress 2 isn't a good film & I have no hesitation in describing it as total crap. The whole gimmick of Fortress2 being set in outer space doesn't add up to much & the scientific physics don't really convince, for instance space shuttles dock within what seems like seconds & a totally ridiculous scene in which Lambert is blasted into outer space without a spacesuit or anything & manages to 'swim' his way across to another door & survive by simply holding his breath! There'a also an unintentionally hilarious part when they fix a security camera to a Cockroach & the Govenor steps on it & Lambert goes up to the inmate who was keeping the Cockroach as a pet, puts his arm around his shoulder & ruefully says in all seriousness 'it was for a good cause'. The pace is alright & the film moves along but the story is pretty much the same as the original with Lambert trying to escape from a seemingly inescapable prison that has a slightly demented Govenor, a female computer & some sadistic prison guard's. Been there, seen it all before & brought the T-shirt.

The special effects are a mixed bag, some of the CGI computer effects are alright while others are awful. The sets look cheap & the film has an ugly look about it. The action scenes are very flat & unimpressive, they have no pace or excitement & apart from one or two half decent punch ups Fortress just doesn't deliver on the action from & since the sci-fi aspect looks so cheap & have no regard to accuracy that the whole film just doesn't work or satisfy.

With a supposed budget of about $12,000,000 I can't really see where the money went if that figure is true, filmed in Luxembourg the production values look cheap. The acting isn't anything to write home about, Lambert looks like he is just going through the motions, Patrick Malahide is awful as the main villain while veteran actress Pam Grier looks embarrassed to be here which is understandable.

Fortress 2 is a terrible sequel to a pretty decent sci-fi action thriller that didn't deserve a sequel as bad as this but got one anyway, what can I say this poor both conceptually & technically.

my oh my oh my. i really feel sorry for whoever participated in the making of this film.

[mrshy · 1/10 · 12 August 2004]

Well well well, words simply can't describe just how s**t this film really is. tragic? hold on, i need a thesaurus. appalling, awful, bad, calamitous, dire, dreadful, grim, lamentable, painful, pathetic, pitiful, terrible, wretched.... and that's just a few. I totally didn't understand how they used the retarded guy to gain entry into the office. he remembered the tones of the numbers pressed, but surely a secure system would only have one tone for every key, it ain't no bloody telephone. some funny bits with the computer annoyingly naive computer system. and the nudity, well it always helps. and the stereotypical funny black dude who always swears was kinda funny, but that's only cos i like those kind of characters. and the bit with the cockroach going into the office, oh my... to think that woman was in jackie brown.....like the previous comment, she needs a new agent, not only a chat with her current one.

one of those films worth seeing because it is just so bad!!!

Has been's in space...

[cyclone259 · 2/10 · 11 May 2009]

The original 'Fortress', while being pretty good, makes one wonder why they even bothered with this one. This is what I'd call a completely unnecessary sequel, simply made to cash in on Christopher Lambert's previous waning success and provide fodder for the already overflowing direct-to-video market (and it shows).

What they try to pass as a story involves essentially rehashing the original plot line, except moving it to space (wow, what a concept). The plot is sloppy and the acting is even worse. Basically, you have actors walking through their parts, like they didn't even care.

The movie felt like it had a $1.99 budget and the effects were staggeringly atrocious. The only redeeming quality (if you can call it that) was seeing actress Liz Brice in the completely unnecessary and gratuitous shower scenes.

Christopher Lambert had some decent successes early on, but the guys time has come and gone. He reminds me of the action stars who's star has long since burned out: Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven (what's-his-name), etc.

NOTE: I just saw this 'movie' on HBO recently and didn't even know they'd made a sequel to the original, so sorry if the review is ten years late.

Not a bad action flick, but nothing like the first film.

[michael_cowling · 6/10 · 4 July 2000]

The moment my girlfriend and I finished watching this film, we said together, almost in unison "Not as good as the first one"..

The first Fortress film was original.. The whole movie centered around Chris Lambert's character trying his best to escape from the prison complex. Added to that was the twist of his wife and unborn child becoming a conquest for the main villain to master. In the first film, the other characters were interesting, each with his own personality and reason to be on Chris Lambert's "Team".

In contrast, Fortress 2 seems to plod along. The character seems to muck around within the prison for a long while before we see any movement towards escape. When he finally does escape (and if you consider knowing that he DOES escape is a spoiler, then you are naive, since it is obvious that the end product of the movie will be the character escaping) it all seems so easy and not really that difficult to do at all (unlike the first film, where a lot of movie time was spent planning the escape). He pulls of amazing computer-related feats as well as succeeding in kicking as many butts as possible, all within about 20 minutes.

The other characters in this film are kind of cardboard and one-dimensional. You never get to know the support characters in the film the way you did in the first one and therefore you don't really care whether they live or die. At one point in the film, a character removes his face mask and Chris Lambert's character recognises him. However, both my girlfriend and I were not quite so quick, and spend about 5 minutes trying to work out who the character was and why Chris Lambert's character felt so betrayed by him. This definetly demonstrates that the characters are not very memorable. I am not sure whether this is due to the fact that Chris Lambert wanted a bigger role in this film or whether it is due to bad script writing, but it is there never the less.

However, having said all of that, the film isn't a total loss. If you put your brain on hold for a couple of hours and just enjoy the action and suspense of it all (without trying to compare it to the first film), then you will probably come away thinking that it was an average bit of action film making with a very strong lead character (Chris Lambert).

Where to begin

[lister50 · 2/10 · 20 June 2020]

I guess the premise was okay, and was probably never going to amount to much more than the original, but wow... Just wow. The plot, the script, the acting, the total lack of physics for a movie made in 2000! The implausible idea of a prison in space, at an orbital distance a third of the way to the moon. I'm trying to find something redeemable, and I guess it wasn't a long movie. That's something. Unless you've lost a bet I don't know if I'd recommend watching this one.

Great fun

[Zargo · 10/10 · 21 September 2002]

John Brennick is back! And I personally think this sequel set in Space is considerably more enjoyable then the original. It may not be the most intelligent or original movie you'll ever see, but it has to be one of the most exciting flicks I've encountered. Throw in some nice dialogue between the guy in charge and Zed (the computer), and some agreeable nudity, you can't go wrong with Fortress 2: Re-Entry!

Corny but fun **SPOILERS**

[Forever Damned · 7/10 · 21 June 2002]

Not a patch on Fortress but in its own way still kind of fun.

Lambert replays his role as Brennick faithfully but the ridiculous plot lines do tend to get in the way.

**Spoilers**

Tapping into a Bug's nervous system by a TV repair man ?

Stereotypical Russians right down to the Rocky contender lookalike

What is the point of Pam Grier ? She serves no useful purpose as the President of MENTEL and after being flattened on the escape ship...what then ?

Unfortunately, an opportunity wasted but it's worth watching once as it's a fairly fun 90 minutes.

A film that is better than the original... which is not saying much.

[DigitalRevenantX7 · 4/10 · 12 January 2010]

As far as prison films go, FORTRESS was the most ridiculous & over the top, as well as being relentlessly stupid (the Hong Kong flick STORY OF RICKY was also over the top but was actually meant as a comic book film). The biggest surprise about it was the fact that it was very successful in international release. So successful that it gained a sequel half a decade later.

John Brennick, one of the only three people to escape the Fortress, is living the quiet life with his wife Karen & young son Danny. When the Men-Tel Corporation sends in a crack commando squad to capture the family, John is recaptured while his family escapes. Sent to a new 'escape-proof' prison, Brennick tries to bust out – not an easy thing to do when you're trapped in a space station orbiting the Earth.

The thing about Fortress 2: Re-Entry is that it is not as bad as the original. Sure, it has its moments of stupidity – the space station has gravity but does not rotate (although that same fault is used by almost every space-set sci-fi film); shuttles dock with the station as if they were regular planes & the prisoners are sent into space with spacesuits that don't have tethers; a prisoner manages to wire an optical implant onto a cockroach & those same implants are inserted into the prisoners' necks but somehow transmit sensory information to the prison's computer – but it is not as stupid as the first film was (despite the fact that two of the first film's scribes wrote the story for this one).

To its credit, Re-Entry has some passable action scenes – a highlight being a scene where Lambert takes on a flamethrower-wielding prisoner while armed with a makeshift weapon & shield; the climax is more spectacular, with the prisoners trying to escape by shuttle while the station breaks apart; & the visual effects, while consisting of cheap CGI, are competent. Not to mention a couple of plot points that make for good sci-fi – the part where Lambert is placed in a bubble situated on the station's exterior, which exposes him to direct sunlight (which is very hot in space) & freezing cold alternately, & a cool scene where Lambert is blown out of the airlock without a spacesuit & tries to get back into the station – without exploding due to exposure to the vacuum (a scientific fact).

As far as acting goes, Lambert does his naughty schoolboy impression while Patrick Malahide tries to play the prison warden role by being campy – not a good thing. John Flock (the film's producer & co-scribe) makes a cameo as a psychotic Russian prisoner.