This is an archived article from my now-defunct NeonReviews website. Any qualities and/or information provided about the reviewed item must be seen in context of when it was originally published.

Distributor: Columbia TriStar
Genre: Action / Science-Fiction
Availability: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
Additional information: Fortress (review), Internet Movie Database (IMDb) entry

Seven years after the first movie, and Brennick and his family is still on the run from the company who owns the prison they were in back then. They’ve finally caught up with him now, and is sent off to a new prisoner colony. This time, it’s in space. And once again, he needs to escape the prison.

Actually, the story line is a tad better than the predecessor, but this one didn’t really need the first movie other than an understanding of why Brennick is on the run. Compared to the previous film, technology has taken a few steps backwards. There’s a lot less technology available in this world, considering it’s supposed to be 7 years later. There are only a couple of stronger weapons, the implants and the issue about a full-fledged space station that gives away the fact that we’re in a future world, basically. You’d think that mankind would’ve evolved technology a whole lot further than this compared to what we saw in the first film.

There’s also the issue about the rich female executive (played by Pam Grier) who tries to pass off as a comedy character that doesn’t quite give the movie any credibility. Not to mention the violent guard who enjoys messing around with the prisoners.

Pam Grier doesn’t show up as much as I wanted her to, which leaves Christopher Lambert and Nick Brimble as the only other known faces to me. Another action flick for the crowd and an entertainment-hungry evening. Again, cheap thrills, but at least it’s a slight “upgrade” from the previous one.

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