Cherry 2000

Cherry 2000
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Steve De Jarnatt
Produced by	Edward R. Pressman Caldecot Chubb
Written by	Lloyd Fonvielle (story) Michael Almereyda (screenplay)
Starring	Melanie Griffith David Andrews Tim Thomerson Pamela Gidley
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Jacques Haitkin
Edited by	Edward M. Abroms Duwayne Dunham
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release dates	November 17, 1988 (1988-11-17) (VHS)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Box office	$14,000

Cherry 2000 is a 1987 science fiction cult film starring Melanie Griffith and David Andrews.

Plot

In the year 2017, the United States has suffered a series of civil insurrections and economic downturns, fragmenting into post-apocalyptic wastelands and limited civilized areas. One of the effects of the economic crisis is a decline in manufacturing, and heavy emphasis on recycling aging 20th Century mechanical equipment. At the same time, robotic technology has made tremendous developments, and female androids (or "gynoids") are used as substitutes for wives. Society has become increasingly bureaucratic and hypersexualized, with the declining human sexual encounters requiring contracts drawn up by lawyers prior to sexual activity.

Business executive Sam Treadwell's (David Andrews) "Cherry 2000" android (Pamela Gidley) short circuits during sex. He is told by a repairman that she's irreparable and that finding a replacement will be difficult since she was a limited edition. To make matters tougher, the gynoid dealer says that Cherry 2000 parts were built in a defunct factory in "Zone 7", a particularly dangerous, lawless area.

After removing Cherry's small optical memory disk, Treadwell hires Edith "E" Johnson (Melanie Griffith), a tough tracker, to guide him into Zone 7. Standing in their way is Lester (Tim Thomerson), a wasteland overlord with deranged subordinates. Edith and Sam enter an underground reservoir occupied by Six-Finger Jake (Ben Johnson), an elderly tracker who raised and taught Edith. Lester's men attack as Edith and Sam head out with Jake for the factory. Sam is hit on the head during the fight and wakes up in a 1950s-styled motel/village run by Lester. Sam is greeted by his ex, Elaine, who has changed her name to Ginger and is Lester's woman now; she informs him that everyone was killed in the fight except him. Lester takes an instant liking to Sam and decides to induct him into the group. Sam goes along until he witnesses the sadistic murder of a tracker that Lester's men had found.

He decides to escape, but bumps into one of Lester's men. When the latter goes down, Sam sees that he has a knife in his back thrown by Edith, who has come to rescue him. Jake stays behind to create some distractions, but he gives Edith the Cherry memory disk, though he had led Sam to believe the chip had been lost.

Edith, realizing Sam is a veteran of the earlier wars, begins to see him in a new light and have feelings for him. After Sam crashes their car, he realizes the attraction that has developed between them, and they start to make out on the car's hood, but before anything happens, Edith accidentally reveals she has the memory chip. Then, after fighting off Lester's goons, they continue on to the factory. Edith goes to a brothel/gas station owned by Snappy, a friend of Jake's, to fix up and borrow a light plane that he has. Snappy betrays them to Lester. Jake is killed, but Edith and Sam escape in the plane.

Sam suggests that they turn around, but Edith is determined to find the Cherry 2000 model so that her surrogate father's death will not be meaningless. As Edith brings the plane down for a landing, it is revealed that Zone 7 is actually the ruins of Las Vegas, now a ghost town, and the gynoid "factory" is actually a casino called "Pharaoh's Casino". Sam finds a Cherry 2000. When he inserts the memory chip, Cherry "wakes up".

Lester's gang finds them, but Edith and Sam manage to kill many of their attackers. Escaping to the plane, they find that their combined weight prevents takeoff. Edith jumps out, despite Sam rejecting the idea. Sam turns the plane around to help the now-trapped Edith. Sam sends Cherry to get him a Pepsi, then has Edith get aboard. Lester is killed trying to stop them from escaping. Edith and Sam then kiss as they fly away.

Cast

• Melanie Griffith as E. (Edith) Johnson
• David Andrews as Sam Treadwell
• Tim Thomerson as Lester
• Pamela Gidley as Cherry 2000
• Harry Carey, Jr. as Snappy Tom
• Ben Johnson as Six-Fingered Jake
• Brion James as Stacy
• Marshall Bell as Bill
• Larry Fishburne as Glu Glu Lawyer
• Michael C. Gwynne as Slim
• Jack Thibeau as Stubby Man
• Jennifer Balgobin as Glory Hole Hotel Clerk

Soundtrack

Cherry 2000 is widely known for the original score composed by Basil Poledouris. The soundtrack album prepared for release at the time of the film was canceled due to the film being shelved for a few years instead of receiving a theatrical release. Later, Varèse Sarabande decided to make it the debut release in their CD Club. Originally sold by mail-order for US$20 and at only 1,500 copies, it became a highly valued collectible, one copy selling for $2,500 on eBay. However, for being such a touted collectors' item, the packaging for this limited edition CD was riddled with typographical errors. The track list had the incorrect length printed for the last two tracks, and two tracks were missing from the track list entirely.

Track Listing (as printed on label):

1. Prologue (1:02)
2. Lights On (1:49)
3. Main Title (1:55)
4. Lester (5:05)
5. Rauda (0:42)
6. Hooded Love (1:13)
7. The Barricades (1:50)
8. Magneto (4:18)
9. Drive to Gloryhole (1:23)
10. Thrashing of Sky Ranch (3:21)
11. Sam Flips (1:13)
12. Cherry Shorts Out (1:30)
13. Lester On The Move (0:36)
14. Drive (1:52)
15. Photograb (1:09)
16. Plane to Vegas (1:00)
17. <Missing from listing> (0:59)
18. Ambush in the Cave/Truck Fight (2:09)
19. Flashback (1:05) (An unlisted entry follows Flashback, time 0:54)
20. Lights Out (1:47) (Correct time is 1:52)
21. The End (0:35) (Correct time is 0:39)

In 2004, Prometheus Records acquired the rights to the score and made it available in a double package with another Poledouris score, No Man's Land. The Prometheus Records release was not a limited edition and, as well as rectifying the track listing, features an additional eight minutes of unreleased music; however, it sold poorly.

Track Listing:

1. Main Title (2:00)
2. Photograb (Alternate Mix) (1:13)
3. Cherry Shorts Out (1:34)
4. Lights On (Alternate Mix) (1:54)
5. Flashback #1/Drive to Gloryhole (1:28)
6. "E" Flips Sam (1:19)
7. The Barricades (1:54)
8. Flashback #2 (1:08)
9. Photograb (1:13)
10. Magneto (4:22)
11. Pipeline (:59)
12. Water Slide (1:04)
13. Jake's Jukebox (1:39)
14. Lights Out (1:29)
15. Moving (:40)
16. Thrashing of Sky Ranch (3:26)
17. Drive (1:59)
18. Hooded Love (1:18)
19. Ambush In The Cave/Truck Fight (2:15)
20. Lester Follows (:22)
21. Drop 'Em (:43)
22. Lester On The Move (:42)
23. Rauda (on) Mic (:45)
24. Jake Killed (:54)
25. Plane To Vegas (1:03)
26. Cherry Awakens (1:15)
27. Lights On (1:54)
28. End Of Lester (5:04)
29. The End (:42)
30. Main Title (3:00)
31. P.C.H. (1:02)
32. First Score (2:15)
33. Lone Score (1:20)
34. Love Theme (1:39)
35. Chase (5:28)
36. Porsche Power/Drive My Car? (2:41)
37. Ann Buttons (1:15)
38. Payoff (3:27)
39. Showtime (4:17)
40. End Credits (3:04)
41. Movietone (Cherry 2000 Bonus Track) (:57)

Tracks 30–40 are from No Man's Land.

Location

File:Citadel in commerce.jpg

The Citadel building located in Commerce, California was featured in the film.

According to the credits, the film was shot entirely in the state of Nevada. The van plunging into an open pit was shot at Three Kids Mine. The river crossing sequence was filmed at the Hoover Dam. Scenes at the Sky Ranch were filmed at the Beehive group camping area in the Valley of Fire State Park. E.'s and Sam's first kiss was filmed in the upper reaches of the Las Vegas Wash. Adobe Flats was filmed at Eldorado Valley Dry Lake Bed. The town of Glory Hole was filmed in Goldfield, Nevada. The Integratron building in Landers, California was used as the casino that was the "abandoned manufacturing plant" holding the rare copy of outdated Cherry 2000 android female robot with usable memory chip at the end of the movie. The fortress like building featured in the film is located in Commerce, California at the location of a former tire factory which was renovated and transformed into the Citadel Outlet Mall.

Release

After its completion in December 1985, Orion Pictures originally scheduled Cherry 2000 for a U.S. release on August 15, 1986. Sometime later, the date was postponed to March 1987, then September 1987. The film ultimately premiered on videocassette on November 17, 1988. Producer Edward R. Pressman confessed that Cherry 2000's combination of genres stumped promoters at Orion, and resulted in its continuous shelving.

See also

• List of American films of 1986

External links

• Cherry 2000 at IMDb
• Cherry 2000 at AllMovie
• Cherry 2000 at Rotten Tomatoes