Product Details

• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Christopher Lambert in a straight-to-video sci-fi film? You know it's gotta be good. Here he reprises his role as John Brennick, former leader of the Resistance and thorn in the side of the MEN-TEL corporation. In the first movie, Brennick escaped from and destroyed MEN-TEL's high-tech "inescapable" prison. In the 10 years since then, he's gotten himself a house in the woods and some horses, and has illegally procreated with his wife. When Resistance members find him and try to recruit him back into the cause, the bad guys are not far behind, and after some two-dollar action scenes he finds himself captured and thrown into MEN-TEL's brand-new prison, which happens to be orbiting the Earth. Surely, nobody could ever escape from this! Except maybe, just maybe John Brennick!

The plot is even more predictable than the placement of the co-ed shower scenes, to the point that you can practically quote the dialogue before it's spoken, with the only surprises being which cliché they're going to use, and when. (By the way, these violent prisoners are actually being used to build and modify the satellite they're imprisoned in!) Pam Grier has an embarrassing cameo as the owner of MEN-TEL, and the dignity she tries to bring to the role is entirely out of place. The only fun to be had is if you watch it as if you're watching a bunch of adults play "action film," making for a strange entertainment, indeed. --Andy Spletzer

Customer Reviews

Nothing like the original, a BIG disappointment!
When I saw Fortress I was very impressed by it. Fortress was a very interesting story that showed us how several people escaped out of high-tech prison that even controled prisoners thoughts. Fortress 2: Re-Entry unlike the original has an atmosphere of a B-type sci-fi movie. In fact, fortress (or what supposed to be a high-tech prison) in this sequel had an atmosphere of some group home for mentally retarded. As for me it did not look like a high-tech prison at all.

There were many other things in the movie that made it totally unrealistic and unbelivable. For example a part when our main hero (played by Lambert) takes a deep breath and jumps in to the space to get from one part of the satellite to the other. That is nonsense, you cannot be in the outer space without a protective costume. (Can't they talk to someone who knows little about science) When I reached that particular part of the movie I lost all of the remaining respect that I had for it completely. This is nothing more than a cheap, boring, poorly thought out, sequel to a good movie.

Sequel lacks the budget and performances of the original
Although I really enjoyed the original movie, "Fortress 2: Re-entry" is disappointing in comparison. The film offers a promising storyline: John and Karen Brennick are shown 10 years later with their son, hiding from the MenTel Corporation. John is eventually captured and sent to a prison space station to serve his sentence for having another child, while Karen and her son are still being pursued by MenTel. Again, John is driven to escape from this dismal prison. The magic that made the first "Fortress" work is not present in this film. The special effects are of poor quality, and the actors' performances are not very good. This movie may be worth renting just to see what happens to the characters from the first film.

Re-Entry is Pure Re-Hash (Somewhat Good Re-Hash)
This is one of those sci-fi sequel films where the concept was great along with some of the actors, yet leaves you with a bland feeling. The special effects and futuristic weaponry, gadgets and contraptions (brain pain/optic security camera implanted in the prisoners' bodies)are some of the better ones around for a sci-fi b-movie like this. As for Lambert, he's one of those actors where he's always teetering between mediocre acting ability and bonafide dramatic acting ability. It is a sequel where Lambert's character and family are runaway fugitives from a ruthless robotic prison system which he and several others destroyed in the last film.The underlying sub-plot for the sequel stems from the original where families are only allowed by law to have one child due to the devastating population growth.The main characters first child was a still born; they proceed to "illegally" procreate for another one and try to cross the Mexican border to guarantee that the child is born free and safe. The bit of tongue-and-cheek irony here is that in the future Americans are trying to escape the U.S. and cross the line into Mexico to get away from the oppression and police . Lambert's character and wife get caught by the police at the U.S./Mexican border and the rest is history seen in Fortress One. As for Re-Entry, if I explain the plot all will be given away;can't do that. It is a dvd worthy of a weekend rental when you're bored. Otherwise, Bladerunner or StarWars it is not...Viewers who have seen Fortress One take note of Fortress Two; the actress who plays Lambert's wife in Re-Entry somehow became more voluptuous and sexier (despite the fact she's been a fugitve on the run for ten years). Hmmm...