Cherry 2000


1h 33m 1988
Cherry 2000

Brief Synopsis

In the near future, E. Johnson, a mercenary living in The Zone, a post-industrial desert wasteland, is contacted by a yuppie named Sam who is seeking help to replace his Cherry 2000 sex robot, which recently suffered internal meltdown. Together, they set out to find the replacement Cherry clones, wh

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Action
Release Date
1988
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 33m

Synopsis

In the near future, E. Johnson, a mercenary living in The Zone, a post-industrial desert wasteland, is contacted by a yuppie named Sam who is seeking help to replace his Cherry 2000 sex robot, which recently suffered internal meltdown. Together, they set out to find the replacement Cherry clones, which are stored in a warehouse ruled by a psychotic gang at the edge of the desert. Along the way, Sam learns what it's like to interact with a real woman who has brains and a heart instead of a microchip.

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Action
Release Date
1988
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 33m

Articles

Cherry 2000


Orion Pictures and producer Edward R. Pressman did not know what to do with Cherry 2000 (1987), a lightly comic sci-fi romance that they kept on the shelf for two years. Shot in 1985 by director Steve De Jarnatt and starring Melanie Griffith, it was limted in its 1987 release, being too unusual for the marketers to get behind it with any enthusiasm. The Los Angeles Times asked Pressman what it was about and he came up with: "Let's see, it's a comedy. And a romance. And it's science fiction. And it kind of resembles The Road Warrior (1981). And the art direction has a New Wave sensibility...Not an easy film to describe." But this inexplicable quality is what gives it its enduring cult fan base.

Michael Almereyeda (Experimenter, 2015) wrote the shapeshifting screenplay, his first, from a story by Lloyd Fonvielle. It concerns the erotic life of Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) in the faraway year of 2017, who is obsessed with his android lover Cherry 2000 (Pamela Gidley). When she short circuits after some vigorous lovemaking in soap suds, Treadwell is bereft. In this future, the manufacturing sector has collapsed and there is no way to revive Cherry except for breaking in to a long-defunct factory and finding an old model. This is what the new black market job of "tracker" is for, so Treadwell hires "E" Johnson (Griffith) to find him an identical model of Cherry that he can load the original's personality onto (saved on an optical disc).

While the economy has tanked, the bureaucracy has expanded and sexual encounters require contracts before consummation (a young Laurence Fishburne appears as a slick lawyer closing one of these deals), leading many lazy Americans to prefer to lay with androids instead to avoid the hassle. So, Treadwell is no hero, just a lonely guy far too attached to his toy robot. (Its exploration of artificial intelligence anticipates Almereyeda's work on Marjorie Prime, 2017.) Johnson is the real swashbuckler here, an Indiana Jones of post-industrial collapse poaching what's left of America's manufacturing might before it disappears into rubble.

Griffith appears here right before she shot into superstardom with Working Girl (1988) and carries the film as a bazooka-shooting bad ass with blazing red hair. She is supported by Ben Johnson, who gives a grizzled turn as "Six Fingered Jake", a veteran of the Nevada no man's land where most of the film takes place. The remarkable cast also includes Brion James, Harry Carey Jr. and, as the madman of the badlands, Tim Thomerson. Thomerson plays Lester, a cheery sociopath who executes trackers by bow and arrow and whose desert outpost has been modeled like a 1950s hotel (the production design by John Jay Moore is striking throughout).

Director Steve De Jarnatt was brought on late into the process. On the audio commentary of the Blu-ray, De Jarnatt claims that Irwin Kershner was originally attached to direct. After he dropped out, De Jarnatt was brought on with little to no prep time, and he felt like he was catching up throughout the entirety of the shoot. The film navigates a tricky tone, especially when it comes to the relationship between Treadwell and Johnson. Treadwell is initially depicted as a pathetic loner, but has to earn Johnson's respect as they proceed on their absurd quest for a new Cherry. It's difficult to transition Treadwell from the butt of jokes to last act hero, but everyone does their level best, and the stunt team pulls off some impressive feats, especially when their escape car gets dangled over the Hoover Dam with an industrial strength magnet.

But no matter the film's idiosyncratic strengths, everyone involved was eager to move on. Steve De Jarnatt had Miracle Mile (1988) to promote, which he had written and directed, and Griffith was appearing in Something Wild (1986) as well as Working Girl. In that same Los Angeles Times piece that interviewed Pressman, Griffith's reps responded to queries about Cherry 2000 with, "Don't you have anything better to write about?" But time heals all wounds, and today Cherry 2000 looks like a wildly creative experiment that could never be made in the Hollywood of today.

By R. Emmet Sweeney
Cherry 2000

Cherry 2000

Orion Pictures and producer Edward R. Pressman did not know what to do with Cherry 2000 (1987), a lightly comic sci-fi romance that they kept on the shelf for two years. Shot in 1985 by director Steve De Jarnatt and starring Melanie Griffith, it was limted in its 1987 release, being too unusual for the marketers to get behind it with any enthusiasm. The Los Angeles Times asked Pressman what it was about and he came up with: "Let's see, it's a comedy. And a romance. And it's science fiction. And it kind of resembles The Road Warrior (1981). And the art direction has a New Wave sensibility...Not an easy film to describe." But this inexplicable quality is what gives it its enduring cult fan base. Michael Almereyeda (Experimenter, 2015) wrote the shapeshifting screenplay, his first, from a story by Lloyd Fonvielle. It concerns the erotic life of Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) in the faraway year of 2017, who is obsessed with his android lover Cherry 2000 (Pamela Gidley). When she short circuits after some vigorous lovemaking in soap suds, Treadwell is bereft. In this future, the manufacturing sector has collapsed and there is no way to revive Cherry except for breaking in to a long-defunct factory and finding an old model. This is what the new black market job of "tracker" is for, so Treadwell hires "E" Johnson (Griffith) to find him an identical model of Cherry that he can load the original's personality onto (saved on an optical disc). While the economy has tanked, the bureaucracy has expanded and sexual encounters require contracts before consummation (a young Laurence Fishburne appears as a slick lawyer closing one of these deals), leading many lazy Americans to prefer to lay with androids instead to avoid the hassle. So, Treadwell is no hero, just a lonely guy far too attached to his toy robot. (Its exploration of artificial intelligence anticipates Almereyeda's work on Marjorie Prime, 2017.) Johnson is the real swashbuckler here, an Indiana Jones of post-industrial collapse poaching what's left of America's manufacturing might before it disappears into rubble. Griffith appears here right before she shot into superstardom with Working Girl (1988) and carries the film as a bazooka-shooting bad ass with blazing red hair. She is supported by Ben Johnson, who gives a grizzled turn as "Six Fingered Jake", a veteran of the Nevada no man's land where most of the film takes place. The remarkable cast also includes Brion James, Harry Carey Jr. and, as the madman of the badlands, Tim Thomerson. Thomerson plays Lester, a cheery sociopath who executes trackers by bow and arrow and whose desert outpost has been modeled like a 1950s hotel (the production design by John Jay Moore is striking throughout). Director Steve De Jarnatt was brought on late into the process. On the audio commentary of the Blu-ray, De Jarnatt claims that Irwin Kershner was originally attached to direct. After he dropped out, De Jarnatt was brought on with little to no prep time, and he felt like he was catching up throughout the entirety of the shoot. The film navigates a tricky tone, especially when it comes to the relationship between Treadwell and Johnson. Treadwell is initially depicted as a pathetic loner, but has to earn Johnson's respect as they proceed on their absurd quest for a new Cherry. It's difficult to transition Treadwell from the butt of jokes to last act hero, but everyone does their level best, and the stunt team pulls off some impressive feats, especially when their escape car gets dangled over the Hoover Dam with an industrial strength magnet. But no matter the film's idiosyncratic strengths, everyone involved was eager to move on. Steve De Jarnatt had Miracle Mile (1988) to promote, which he had written and directed, and Griffith was appearing in Something Wild (1986) as well as Working Girl. In that same Los Angeles Times piece that interviewed Pressman, Griffith's reps responded to queries about Cherry 2000 with, "Don't you have anything better to write about?" But time heals all wounds, and today Cherry 2000 looks like a wildly creative experiment that could never be made in the Hollywood of today. By R. Emmet Sweeney

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States on Video November 17, 1988

Released in United States Spring 1988

Released in United States Spring March 21, 1988

Began shooting September 30, 1986.

Released in United States Spring 1988

Released in United States Spring March 21, 1988

Released in United States on Video November 17, 1988