Go ahead. Revoke my membership to the cool kids table at the lunchroom. I guess I simply don’t care to hear anymore from anyone about how goddamn awful Cherry 2000 is. It’s not. Not in the least. I originally saw this during a summer film fest when I was younger. And it stayed with me ever since. Who could forget that flaming red hair? That wacky voice? Not I, sir. Not I.
Director Steve De Jarnatt’s science fiction flick – originally making its appearance in 1987 – about one man’s quest to replace his damaged robot wife is an absolute blast. Sure, sure, it’s loopy-headed as all hell but, quite honestly, it doesn’t need to hit every single target to be effective when it entertains this much.
Starring a young Melanie Griffith, Ben Johnson, Tim Thomerson, and introducing David Andrews, Cherry 2000 takes domestication on the road as one heartbroken businessman teams up with a sexy bounty hunter and crosses into dark nether regions of Nevada – referred to as The Zone – to find his android wife’s exact duplicate; a model that no one makes anymore. In this post-apocalyptic adventure, once you leave the confines of home there are dangerous enemies at prey everywhere and the further out you go, the more cult-like and deranged the people become, draped in an endless parade of floral prints and polo shirts.
It is a screenplay so ripe with social commentary that it skillfully imagines the future dating scene to involve lawyers and preemptively working out sex clauses between two consenting adults while at the same time showing us a vision of consumerism at its most twisted. Jarnatt (the writer and director of Miracle Mile) keeps a steady focus on the quest to replace the "Cherry 2000" android (Pamela Gidley) after her short circuit during sex while at the same time engaging our senses with a very dangerous landscape that is eerily familiar.
When in the city, tall shadows and neon lights fill the screen. When we enter the lawless territories we deal with classism and, ultimately, women’s rights as E. and Sam banter endlessly back and forth about women NOT being playthings. Cherry 2000 has all the important bases covered and to think Orion didn’t know what to do with this movie! Is it a fantasy? Is it Science Fiction? Is it a romance? Who cares?! Cherry 2000 is a whole hell of a lot of lawless fun.
Combining a sense of film noir with the future scene of a dusted wasteland, Cherry 2000 is B-movie Heaven. It’s the film you drink a six-pack to and just sit back and enjoy. Thomerson, as the crazy leader of the colonists in their 1950s-styled motel, wants you to do exactly that. There are plenty of moments that are head-scratchers as far as logic goes and, as it is heavy on the practical effects, plenty of moments to applaud it for. The dangling car sequence – over the Hoover Dam – with E hanging from her Ford Mustang and firing a whole lot of guns in all sorts of directions is badass, absolutely crackers, and so incredibly worth it.
Universally panned when it was originally released by every critic under the sun, Cherry 2000 – in its new blu-ray model – gets its chance to be appreciated as the forward-thinking and wickedly entertaining picture that it actually is. Don’t let the bastards win, pick up your copy of Cherry 2000 today.
4K Restoration | Special Edition
Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray - December 31, 2024
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Need a bounty hunter? She's your man! In the future, a man travels to the ends of the earth to find the perfect woman. In this fun, futuristic sci-fi adventure, Melanie Griffith (Something Wild) is delightful and unflappable as a futuristic bounty hunter on a mission to find a robot replicant of a rich man's short-circuited wife. When successful businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews, Fight Club) finds that his android wife, Cherry model 2000 (Pamela Gidley, The Blue Iguana), has blown a fuse, he hires sexy renegade tracker E. Johnson (Griffith) to find her exact duplicate. But as their journey to replace his perfect mate leads them into the treacherous and lawless region of The Zone. Steve De Jarnatt (Miracle Mile) made his feature-film debut in this badass, action-packed, futuristic thriller featuring a stellar cast that includes Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Laurence Fishburn, Brion James, Robert Z’Dar, Michael C. Gwynne, Jack Thibeau and Tim Thomerson.
Video
Courtesy of Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Cherry 2000 arrives from a 16-bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative (Supervised and Approved by Director Steve De Jarnatt) and the details don’t disappoint. The 4K transfer is pretty detailed. There is a nice layer of grain to much of the sand-blasted scenery and, for fans of the movie, this offering is indeed an upgrade from previous versions. Colors are well-saturated. Black levels are strong. The contrast is high.
Audio
The release is offered in a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and a brand-spanking new 5.1 Surround sound track which is a whole lot of fun!
Supplements:
Commentary:
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See Special Features for complete details.
Special Features:
Complete with a nice interview with Tim Thomerson, the supplemental material offered with this release is pretty solid. Thomerson, in his segment, talks about his experience making B-movies, how he gets the parts that he gets, and other recollections from his time on the set.
DISC 1:
- Brand New HD Master – From a 16-bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative (Supervised and Approved by Director Steve De Jarnatt)
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Heather Buckley, Michelle Kisner and Heidi Honeycutt
- Audio Commentary by Director Steve De Jarnatt and Film Critic Walter Chaw
- Tarzana (1978 35mm Short Film Noir by Steve De Jarnatt) – Starring Michael C. Gwynne, Eddie Constantine, Timothy Carey, Edie Adams, Pete Candoli, Reni Santoni, Charles Knapp, Kate Murtagh, Ann Dusenberry and Carel Struycken
- Eat the Sun (16mm Award-Winning Short by Jim Cox) – Co-Written and Co-Directed by Steve De Jarnatt
- Grace for Grace: Audio Readings of Two Award-Winning Stories by Steve De Jarnatt (83 Min.)
- Theatrical Trailers (Cherry 2000/Miracle Mile)
- 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
- Optional English Subtitles
DISC 2:
- Tales from Zone 7 - An Oral History of the Making of Cherry 2000: Feature-Length Documentary with Crew, Cast and Staff (150 Min.)
- The Zen of Julie Weiss: Filmed Interview with Costume Designer Julie Weiss, in Discussion with Director Steve De Jarnatt (50 Min.)
- Cherry 2000 Storyboards - Parts 1 & 2
- Red Bennies Burlesque - A Tribute to Cherry 2000
- The Making of Cherry 2000: On Location and Behind-the-Scenes (Archival)
- 2015 Interview with Actor Tim Thomerson
- Deleted and Expanded Scenes + Gag Reel: A Ton of Fun, Never-Before-Seen Footage (60 Min.)
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Runtime: 99 mins
Director: Steve De Jarnett
Writer: Lloyd Fonvielle; Michael Almereyda
Cast: Melanie Griffith; David Andrews; Pamela Gidley
Genre: Comedy | Action | Adventure
Tagline: In the year 2017, a good woman is hard to find. A Cherry 2000 is even harder.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Yeah, Zone 7's a tough place. You should see the way they carry on out there! People staying up all night, playing Twister, revertin' to their animal natures."
Theatrical Distributor: Orion Pictures
Official Site: https://kinolorber.com/film/cherry2000
Release Date: February 5, 1988
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 31, 2024
Synopsis: In 2017, a successful businessman travels to the ends of the earth to find that the perfect woman is always under his nose. He hires a sexy renegade tracker to find an exact duplicate of his android wife.
