Fortress (1993 Film) - Plot

Plot

Set in a dystopian future, 2017, ex-army officer John Henry Brennick (Christopher Lambert) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) are attempting to cross the US-Canada border to Vancouver to have a second child. Strict one-child policies forbid a second pregnancy, but the couple believe they are justified because their first child died at birth.

Brennick is caught (Karen escapes initially) and sentenced to 31 years in a private maximum security prison run by the "MenTel Corporation". To maintain discipline all inmates are implanted with "Intestinators" which induce severe pain or death, for serious infractions, as a form of physical control and mental conditioning. The prison is co-run by Director Poe (Kurtwood Smith), who oversees Zed-10, a computer that monitors day-to-day activities and represents MenTel. The prison itself is located over a deep pit that can only be crossed by a retractable bridge, while the prisoners are kept in overcrowded cells secured by laser walls.

John is imprisoned with inmates Abraham, who is awaiting parole; D-Day, a machine and demolitions expert; Nino Gomez and Stiggs, a tough inmate who tries to extort John. John also learns his wife has been captured and is held in another level with his unborn child who, being illegal, is now officially owned by the MenTel Corporation and will be confiscated at birth.

Stiggs has a friend called Maddox (Vernon Wells) who intimidates John and the two are involved in a violent brawl which culminates with Maddox being shot by a security turret. John manages to grab Maddox's intestinator and gives it to D-Day before he is taken away to be subjected to a mind-wipe procedure as punishment for the incident.

Poe, infatuated with Karen, tells her that if she lives with him he will treat John well and releases him from the mindwipe chamber. She accepts, resolving to help John as best she can. She takes a diamond map (which shows the prison map under a laser light) and gives it to Abraham to pass on to John. She tells Abraham that Poe was never going to grant parole and was only using the incentive to control him. Karen manages to use her access to the prison computer in Poe's quarters to help John by restoring him from his mind-wiped state. Meanwhile in their cell, D-Day dismantles Maddox's intestinator and uses a magnetic component to pull out the others' intestinators.

During their next work shift John's group puts their Intestinators in an air-duct and stages a brawl, causing Zed to trigger the devices blowing the duct open. Poe promptly flushes the duct with steam and sends in "Strike Clones", which are revealed to be cyborgs (possibly the result of experimentation on convict babies). Stiggs surrenders and is shot but the rest of the group kill a Strike Clone, steal its weapon and use it to kill the remaining clones.

Poe, alerted by Zed, orders Karen to be taken away for a fatal Caesarean and strangles Abraham.

Hijacking one of the gun turrets, using it as an elevator, they travel to Zed's control room. John takes Poe hostage and orders him to release Karen. Poe gives the order but Zed states that MenTel does not negotiate in hostage situations and a gun turret shoots Poe. D-Day hacks into Zed and accesses a virus confiscated at the start of his sentence. D-Day manages to activate the virus after being fatally shot, causing a complete systems crash and all automated security to fail. John and Gomez rescue Karen, hijack a truck, and escape to Mexico. In a final showdown (in the European release but omitted from the US release in favor of a happier ending) the truck stages an attack while Karen is giving birth. Gomez is mown down and John's shooting causes the flaming truck to veer into the barn where Karen is. She somehow survives and has given birth to their child.