Blu-Ray Review: Cherry 2000

By Brendan Ross

The year is 2017 (30 years in the future) and due to some economic turmoil, the United States has essentially turned into a sparsely populated wasteland. Businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews), who lives in one of the few remaining civilized communities, comes home after a hard day of businessman work to his “Cherry 2000” (Pamela Gidley), a female love robot. She already has dinner ready for him, and after a healthy dose of preprogrammed ego catering words they are ready to make love. On the kitchen floor. While the future dishwasher runs in overdrive covering the floors, counters, and both of them with soapsuds. Unfortunately, even in the distant future of 2017 electronic water damage still has not been eradicated and Cherry short circuits.

Sam visits a robot repairman (that is, a man who repairs robots), who tells him that Cherry is irreparable and that replacement would be nearly impossible as the only remaining models are located in Zone 7, which is especially dangerous territory even by apocalyptic wasteland standards. Determined to get his sexbot back at any cost, he hires a tough and angsty tracker, “E” (Melanie Griffith) to escort him through the bumpy terrain and replace his Cherry 2000 before the warranty expires.*

At this point Cherry 2000 essentially turns into a road trip western, as the pair journey through the desolate desert landscape running into colorful characters along the way. If this crazy concept sounds appealing to you that’s wonderful, but unfortunately it was a little too zany and aimless for me. That said, there is a lot of fun to be had here; the film moves along at a brisk pace and is never boring, some of the action set pieces are well orchestrated (in a PG-13 kind of way), and it has that wonderful 1980s aesthetic that I wish everything in life had.

The performances are especially good as well. Although I can’t say David Andrews is a great actor, he is strong on screen and is perfectly cast in this. He looks just as comfortable wearing a business suit and saying businessy things in the beginning as he does covered in dust and firing a rocket launcher in the end, and the movie actually does a good job of selling that transition. Tim Thomerson does some great scenery chewing as the wasteland overlord antagonist; Ben Johnson is a pleasure to watch as a retired tracker living in a cave; and drop-ins by Brion James, Marshall Bell, and even a young Laurence Fishburne are always welcome.

As with every Kino Lorber Blu-ray I’ve seen the transfer here is fantastic. Despite the fact that this is a campy and borderline silly film, it has some wonderfully vivid flourishes and those touches certainly shine in this release. Extras include a director’s commentary, an interesting but unmemorable “Making Of,” as well as an extended interview with actor Tim Thomerson. This feature, although rather slight, is interesting as he gives anecdotes about the production, including a few words about on-set tensions between director Steve De Jarnatt and Melanie Griffiths.

Cherry 2000 was released by Kino Lorber on July 28.

*Just kidding. They use guns and rocket launchers to steal it.