Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Fortress (1986)
Stars: Rachel Ward (Sally Jones), Sean Garlick (Sid)

I was recently flipping through the channels on cable looking for something to watch other than news. I came upon Fortress and figured a cheesy 80's TV movie would be just the kind of mindless entertainment I was looking for. What I got was actually a pretty interesting thriller/action type movie.

Sally is a teacher in rural Australia who finds herself and her class kidnapped by four masked men. Combining the skills of each person and resources of the land (and their schoolbags) they make a bid for freedom. As they are chased through the outback they learn that they will have to fight to survive. All of this culminates in a fairly shocking ending.

Rachel Ward as the peace loving teacher Sally was really good. Her emotions came off very realistic, and I really liked that she didn't go from scared teacher to some super hero by the end of the movie. Sean Garlick as Sid was also pretty good. Sid was one of the older kids in the class and more or less the leader of the kids and sometimes even leading Sally. Sally and Sid as the leaders get most of the screen time, but it worked really well. Another thing that I liked is that there was obviously no gratuitous sex since it was a teacher and a student as the main heroes.

The rest of the actors, mostly kids, did a pretty good job. Some of the kids did not get much to do other than look scared but they did it well. The kidnappers were in masks throughout the movie and at times all you could hear would be the crazy sounding laughter of a captor and not see them which added to the creepy feel of the movie.

The movie did have some violence and gore in it, more as the movie progresses. It wasn't unnecessary or over the top. The way the movie was done the escalating violence seemed to be natural.

Overall the movie was much better than I had thought it would be. It has sort of a Lord of the Flies feel to it. So if you happen to see Fortress on cable some time give it a try. It is one of the better made for cable movies I have seen.


Note: This movie was loosely based on an actual kidnapping of a class in Australia.




Recommended: Yes