Fortress (1985 film)
6.2 /10 1 Votes
52% Rotten Tomatoes Music by Danny Beckermann Music director Danny Beckerman | 7.2/10 IMDb Director Initial release 1986 Budget 4.4 million AUD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Rachel WardVernon Wells Cast Similar A Nightmare on Elm Street, Die Hard, The Lost Boys Edited by Ralph Strasser Music by Danny Beckerman Production companies Crawford Productions, HBO Premiere Films Distributed by United International Pictures (Australia), HBO (United States) Release dates 24 November 1985 (US, TV premiere), 26 June 1986 (Australia) Running time 91 minutes Language English Box office A$139,000 Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1 Sound mix Dolby Stereo Color Color | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fortress is a 1985 Australian thriller television film directed by Arch Nicholson and written by Everett De Roche, and starring Rachel Ward, based on Gabrielle Lord's 1980 novel the Fortress.
Contents
Fortress trailer
Plot
A teacher (Rachel Ward) and her students at a small rural school in Australia are kidnapped and held for ransom by a band of violent shotgun-wielding masked thugs wearing Christmas character masks. Held for ransom in a cave, she and the children daringly escape from their captors, are pursued, establish a stronghold, and fight for their lives.
Cast
Production
The novel Fortress by Gabrielle Lord was inspired by the 1972 Faraday Primary School kidnapping of an isolated rural single teacher school and was influenced by William Golding's 1954 novel the Lord of the Flies.
At one stage it was thought the novel would be filmed by Murdoch and Stigwood's R & R Films as a follow up to Gallipoli (1981). However this never eventuated.
Crawford Productions acquired the rights to the film with plans to produce a feature film for the domestic market and a television movie for HBO in the United States. HBO, contributing half of the budget, stipulated that the lead role be filled by an actress recognizable to the American audience.
Everett De Roche wrote the script and originally Bruce Beresford was announced as director. He dropped out and then Arch Nicholson was hired. Crawfords and HBO wanted Bess Armstrong to play the lead. Actors Equity objected, so Sigrid Thornton was accepted as a compromise. However two months prior to shooting Thornton fell pregnant and HBO and Crawfords insisted on Armstrong. Actors Equity would not relent and the film shut down, despite the fact $700,000 had already been spent. The project was later re activated when Rachel Ward (a British actress who had moved to Australia) was approved.
The movie was shot in Australia during 1985 over 12 5-day weeks at Bairnsdale near the Gippsland Coast and in the Grampians. It contains scenes of graphic violence unusual for TV productions of the time.
Release
The film was initially released directly to cable television by the HBO channel in the United States in late 1985. It was released to cinemas in Australia a year later during 1986.
It won the American Cinema Editors for direction of Photography in 1986.