Fortress

It's one of those movies you don't get tired of seeing, when my niece was younger, I was watching it and she really liked, everytime she came over from then on we had to watch it, it's just that good. I guess it's the reality of it that makes it so good.

I am so happy that Google exists, because after 15 YEARS of fruitless searching (including on IMDb, sorry!) I've found this movie again. Images like the swim through the underground cavern and the older couple (?) being horrified by the rabbit masked man have haunted me to the point I thought I had imagined the whole thing. The fairly low-fi quality of the film makes it all the scarier, classic HBO 80's fodder. The fact that I watched it as a pre-teen made the fight for survival of the woman and the children all the more real. The setting of the Outback made their situation seem really perilous, for if there is so much open, empty space around you, it seems you have fewer places to hide (and I think may have sparked my latent fear of kidnapping and lack of hiding places). Excellent (as it stuck in my mind all these years, I guess it had to!)

This movie stays with you. I think about it at least a couple times a year, every year for the last 17. It really makes you think "how would I react under similar circumstances?" The performances by the kids are great as is that by the teacher. But the best scene of all is the way they close the movie - it's very dis-"heartening".

Point blank this movie flashed me back to 3rd grade spring time or 4th grade fall of 1985. Vividly I remember sleeping over my friends house and telling him about this movie Fortress that I had just seen and he was eager to see it after I went on and on about it. Something was magical that night because about an hour later he turned on HBO and the movie was just starting. I remember we watched it and we both loved it. All through the years growing up it was our little inside laugh.....we would talk about Father Christmas......haha. I thought about the movie frequently growing up but never ever ever saw it again on TV or any channels such as HBO or Cinemax or Showtime. About two weeks ago while looking through my Comcast cable at 3 in the morning I came across Fortress coming on the next day on HBO and I set my DVR to record it and just watched it last night. I felt like a kid again.....and I couldn't believe how my memory flashed back and I knew pretty much everything that was coming up before it happened. I'm 29 years old and haven't seen that movie in 21 years. Wow!!!!!!!! Still Fantastic as it was when I was a child.......... Hope I didn't bore you to death.....maybe some others can relate to my little story and feel the same way about this movie.

Tommy New Jersey

In the countryside of Australia, the schoolteacher Sally Jones (Rachel Ward) and her nine pupils are kidnapped by four violent men wearing masks. They are locked up in a cave, but Sally finds a way to escape underwater a lake. However, they are hunted down by the criminals and Sally is forced to organize a defense with the support of the students.

"Fortress" is an Australian thriller with Rachel Ward in the lead role of a teacher kidnapped with her students at school by criminals. The plot is simple, engaging and full to action. The children are amazing and have nice performances. The conclusion recalls "Lord of the Flies", when the innocent children need to fight for their lives. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Fortaleza" ("The Fortress")