CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Woodyanders Young school teacher Sally Jones (a fine and credible performance by the lovely Rachel Ward) and her nine students are taken hostage by four masked gunmen. The teacher and her students soon realize that in order to survive this grueling ordeal they will have to take action on their own and fight back. Tightly directed by Arch Anderson, with a substantial amount of nerve-wracking suspense, a tough, gritty, take-no-prisoners tone (the climax with the teacher and her students brutally attacking the last remaining gunman with makeshift spears is positively shattering), and startling outbursts of sudden ferocious violence, this very tense and effective little gut-kicker packs a really strong and mean wallop. Everett De Roche's gripping and hard-hitting script delivers a disturbing and provocative central message on how anyone can degenerate into savagery if given the proper stimulus. Ward's protective teacher impresses with her bravery, spunkiness, and resourcefulness. The child thespians do solid and believable work. The masked gunmen are genuinely fierce and frightening, with Peter Hehir in particular a scary stand-out as vicious ring leader Father Christmas. The remote rural Aussie outback locations convey a profoundly unsettling feeling of isolation and vulnerability. David Connell's sharp and lively cinematography offers several striking images. Danny Beckmann's rattling score does the heart-racing trick. A real powerhouse.

merklekranz It would be very easy to pick "Fortress" apart by challenging everything that is not dripping with logic. If you do that however, you will be distracted from a highly entertaining movie. The film is atypical, and difficult to classify. Part kidnapping gone wrong, part hunted in the wild, part revenge flick, "Fortress" is the sum of all these. Rachel Ward bravely adapts to the situation and rallies the children in their quest to survive. Featuring not one, but two separate caves, an escape swim through an underground stream, along with some savage retributions against the masked tormentors, "Fortress" delivers enough entertainment that the plot holes are best forgiven. - MERK

dst-thomas This is a really enjoyable film within its genre. Rachel Ward delights as a complex and heroic character, with an adequate supporting cast of kids. Ms. Ward plays Sally Jones, a (very) rural schoolmarm whose class is abruptly abducted by a few degenerate crazies who hope to ransom the entire class to the government for a huge payoff (based on true events). Her character development throughout this suspenseful and terrifying film is wonderful. Various remarks have criticized the film for reasons such as "Sally removing her bra to swim underwater makes no sense." Or, "Why does she need to pull off her bra to swim the first time, and not the second time?" And that's what I like about the film. There's more than enough meat in the end product to give you plenty to chew on. Let me explain a bit, using these scenes as an example. When the group is first locked into the cave by the kidnappers, Sally goes off to find a way out. This she does - an underwater stream. She takes the oldest boy with her, and strips to her underwear to make the exploratory swim to find a passage out of the cave. There is more than enough energy exchange between Sally and the boy as she undresses to give us a good story. It's obviously complex, and there are all sorts of factors at play. Her age, his respective age, their respective student/teacher roles. She may be drawing power from the experience of dominating him energetically. This is power she will need for the rest of the saga. She may be trying to garner his undying allegiance - she will need this from every member of the group. My point is that in the exchange of expressions between the boy and the woman, and the body language of both - there's plenty of juice to supply a good story. Once again, when the group is getting ready to make the swim to escape, Sally is about to pull off her bra (topless swimming is not considered odd in Australia) until she sees the discomfort/anxiety of the oldest and most sexually developed girl (played by Rebecca Rigg/Riggs). As braless Narelle is about to pull off her top in response to Sally's lead, we assume Sally sees the anxiety on Narelle's face and decides to leave her own bra on to spare Narelle the experience of having to strip in public - something Narelle obviously sees as terrifying. This is a good call, because if any of the kids are close to freaking out it is obviously (to Sally) Narelle. Or, Sally sees that Narelle has some goodies of her own and decides she doesn't want the competition. I think there's that much potential complexity portrayed in the film at a number of turns in the story, and it is why I think this film stands out in spite of a low budget and a thin script. Mostly due to the acting and the editing that allows that acting to come forward, I give it three strong, solid stars and recommend it if you like the idea: a framework of terror and brutality surrounding a group of kids and their teacher who discover the inner primitive savageness that is, in the end, their only possible savior.

Der_Schnibbler Schoolteacher and class of rural bumpkins get kidnapped by cartoonish bunch of thugs, brought to the forest, try to escape, get caught, repeat, until they finally bond as a group and give the kidnappers a taste of their own medicine.My, the savage nature of the human animal! Sweet little children acting so viciously! Give me a break.The movie is corny, the children are annoying, the soundtrack is silly, and all that without taking into account the embarrassingly corny, "Yeah, group!" type moments. The only interesting part was the ending, but considering its ineffective buildup it didn't carry much emotional weight.If you are intent on seeing a portrayal man-as-beast, go for "Lord of the Rings" instead and let this one gather dust.