Conference noted::sf

1161.0. "Fortress (Film 1993)" by VERGA::KLAES (Quo vadimus?) Wed Aug 25 1993 12:51

Article: 3735
From: [email protected] (VERNON SCOTT, UPI Hollywood Reporter)
Newsgroups: clari.news.movies,clari.news.features,clari.news.interest.people
Subject: Prison film blueprint for future?
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 93 19:08:02 PDT
 
 _U_P_I _A_r_t_s _&
_E_n_t_e_r_t_a_i_n_m_e_n_t --
_S_c_o_t_t_'_s _W_o_r_l_d 
	
	HOLLYWOOD (UPI) -- Director Stuart Gordon, beloved by the cult
crowd for his underground grunge film ``Re-Animator,'' has delivered a
shocking new movie titled ``Fortress.'' 

	Somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind, the heavyset, balding
Gordon created a superprison of the future that makes the Black Hole of
Calcutta look inviting.

	The Fortress is a 30-story circular establishment sunk beneath
California's Mojave Desert isolated from the rest of mankind. The only
way out is straight up, and there's no way for inmates to scale the
heights, tunnel out or otherwise escape.

	Set 20 years in the future, the story involves an over-populated
United States where all couples are allowed only one child. If a second
pregnancy occurs both parents are thrown into the Fortress and the
child, when born, is transformed into a robotic slave of the state.

	That consequence befalls a handsome young couple -- played by
Christopher Lambert and Loryn Locklin -- in the opening scenes of 
``Fortress.''

	Once incarcerated, inmates are forced to swallow ``intestinators,''
electronic devices that react to electric fields surrounding their cells
and other areas of the stacked tiers of cellblocks.

	When a prisoner dares cross a force field the pain is so great
it can lead to death.  Moreover, convicts' thoughts and dreams are
monitored.  Brutal punishment is meted those who conspire to escape. 

	The prison is run by Men-Tel, an evil corporate enterprise that
profits from the work of the enslaved prisoners.

	Gordon has created a perfect hell for societal miscreants of every
description.

	Worse, Gordon says the Fortress is a blueprint for what some prison
authorities are planning for the years ahead.

	``We visited several prisons in preparation for this movie,'' he said
during a recent noon break. ``I saw some terrifying California prisons
that weren't much different from the Fortress.

	``One of them, Pelican Bay on the Oregon border, is new and very
high-tech. We had to sign releases that said if we were taken hostage
they would not try to save us. We were given stab-proof vests. A guard
said, 'They don't help much because the cons aim for your eyes anyway.'

	``Pelican Bay looks futuristic. It's poured concrete and eerie. They
call it supermax, for supermaximum security. They say it's escape-proof.

	``After a few minutes in that place you begin feeling sorry for the
convicts. They are confined to their cells 22 1/2 hours a day. They are
allowed, one at a time, half an hour in an 'exercise yard' which is 12
by 12 feet with nothing in it.

	``We talked to some prisoners and discovered most of them are in for
drug-related offenses and not violent crimes. We saw one guy doing time
for unpaid parking tickets because the minimum-security prisons were full.''

	Gordon says the Fortress in the film is based on technology and real
ideas now in development.

	``There are plans to build an underground prison near San Francisco,''
he said. ``You can't build anything more secure than that. We should see
one of them under construction in the next few years.

	``When we told prison wardens about the intestinators they thought
they would be a real good idea. They already have bar-code identification 
braclets in some places, although they aren't tatooed on convicts.  Yet.

	``It's amazing to think how rapidly penal technology is advancing
through computers and electronics.''

	Gordon worked with the writers in developing the script for 
``Fortress,'' which originally was to star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

	``It's easier to make a picture like this if the hero is someone the
audience can identify with,'' he said. ``You never worry Arnold is the
hero becase you know he can and will escape in one piece.

	``There's nothing supernatural about 'Fortress.' It's strictly
science fiction but there is almost as much reality as fiction. There's
a lot of violence, but the film reflects the reality of the prison experience.

	``Electronic surveillance inside prisons is being expanded
dramatically so they can cut down the number of guards to save money.

	``The number of repeat offenders is so high among today's inmates,
prison philosophy has changed.  They've given up on rehabilitation and
concentrate on punishment.  So they're making prisons as hellish as they
can get.

	``That's what the 'Fortress' is all about.''

    Isn't that what prisons are for, punishment?  I, for one, am sick of
    subsidizing post graduate studies in criminal behavior, for repeat
    offenders.  I am also sick of paying for their college degrees and
    technical training etc.   Prison has no deterent value to anyone, but
    "decent people", it does not deter criminally minded people.  Prison
    should be harsh, it should not be comfortable, it should be punishment. 
    Should they throw folks in for having too many children?  No that would
    be stupid, just kill one of them to balance the books.....just
    kidding,...put those stones down,.... I was just joking...sort of.... 
    Hey wait a minute...help!!!
    
    
    ANDREW
    

    
    Anyone looking to punish a con or two oughta make them sit through this
    movie.
    
    DFW

Avoiding the political overtones of this discussion at all costs...

I liked the move somewhat.  It wasn't the best thing I have ever seen
Christopher Lambert do, but it was certainly better than some of the
savage attacks that the SFL newsgroup is giving it.  Many of the scenes
are unpleasant to watch (people getting beaten up, stomachs being blown 
up, etc) but they were in context so the audience understood it was coming.

I thought the technology was neat, and (with a few exceptions such as the
power pack for the intestinators and the incredibly detailed dream monitor)
fairly realistic.

Plus, depending on your gender preferences, Christopher Lambert and Loryn
Locklin are *very* easy on the eyes.

-- Ken Moreau

    The intestinators are one the few things in the prison that is current
    state of the art technology. There has been talk of using things like
    this for years but they aren't sure how to place and extract them.
                           Jeff Peters

How are they powered?  Is it similar to artificial heart batteries?

-- Ken Moreau

    
    ...and WAHT is an "intestinator"...?
    
    Inquiring minds, and all that..
    Jamd

    
    It's a device implanted upon incarceration which lodges in the GI tract
    and causes intense pain or terminal indigestion on command.
    
    DFW