Cherry 2000
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In 2017, business executive Sam Treadwell's (David Andrews) beloved 'perfect sex machine', the "Cherry 2000" android (Pamela Gidley) [technically the Cherry is a gynoid rather than an android], short circuits during a torrid embrace amid the soap suds on his kitchen floor. He searches for a replacement, enlisting E. (Edith) Johnson (Melanie Griffith), a tough tracker who guides him into the interior of America's post-apocalyptic wasteland to an abandoned manufacturing plant, where he hopes to find a replacement to house Cherry's memory chip. During this journey, Treadwell and E. Johnson fend off the attacks of Lester (Tim Thomerson), a hostile, homicidal yet somewhat mentally balanced wasteland overlord and his violent subordinates (who oddly dress as if they are caught between a city life and a tropical vacation). Lester violently objects to Trackers trespassing within the wasteland, especially Zone 7, his personal region which he enforces with lethal severity. As Treadwell and Johnson journey together, a mutual attraction grows, and Treadwell learns the hard way that the perfect woman is made of real flesh and blood. |
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Cherry 2000 is a 1987 science fiction cult film starring Melanie Griffith and David Andrews.
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Plot
In the year 2017, the United States has fragmented 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. Society has become increasingly bureaucratic and hypersexualized, with the declining number of human sexual encounters requiring contracts drawn up by lawyers prior to sexual activity. At the same time, robotic technology has made tremendous developments, and female androids (more properly, gynoids) are used as substitutes for wives.
Business executive Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) owns a "Cherry 2000" gynoid as his wife. After she short-circuits during sex, Sam is told by a repairman that she is damaged beyond repair. A gynoid dealer tells Sam that the "Cherry 2000" model has since gone out of manufacture, and that the only remaining ones are in a defunct factory in "Zone 7", a particularly dangerous, lawless area. With Cherry's memory disk, Treadwell hires Edith "E" Johnson (Melanie Griffith), a tough tracker, to guide him to the factory.
As they enter Zone 7, they encounter Lester, a wasteland overlord with deranged subordinates. Edith and Sam enter an underground reservoir occupied by Six-Fingered Jake, an elderly tracker who was Edith's mentor. When Lester's men attack, the three attempt to escape, but Sam is knocked unconscious and taken to a 1950s-styled motel/village run by Lester. He is greeted by his ex-girlfriend, Elaine, who now calls herself Ginger and works for Lester. Ginger tells Sam that he was the only one spared by Lester's men. Lester decides to induct Sam into the group, and Sam goes along. When he witnesses the group sadistically murdering a tracker, he decides to escape. As he escapes Lester's group, Sam runs into Edith and Jake. Jake stays behind to create some distractions, and gives Cherry's memory disk to Edith, though he had earlier led Sam to believe the chip had been lost.
Edith, realizing Sam is a veteran of earlier wars, begins to see him in a new light and have feelings for him. Sam realizes he is attracted to Edith, but feels guilty when he is reminded of Cherry. 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, to borrow his light plane. 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 a Cherry 2000 model so Jake's death will not be meaningless. As they land, Zone 7 is revealed to be actually the ruins of Las Vegas, now a ghost town. The gynoid "factory" is actually a casino called "Pharaoh's Casino". Sam finds a functional Cherry 2000, and activates her with the memory disk.
When Lester's gang finds them, Edith and Sam manage to evade and kill many of his henchmen. Escaping to the plane, the three 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.Sam tells Edith he intends to pay her for “services rendered”, Edith tells him “Baby,you’ve already paid me”.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Melanie Griffith | E. (Edith) Johnson |
| David Andrews | Sam Treadwell |
| Tim Thomerson | Lester |
| Pamela Gidley | Cherry 2000 |
| Harry Carey, Jr. | Snappy Tom |
| Ben Johnson | Six-Fingered Jake |
| Brion James | Stacy |
| Marshall Bell | Bill |
| Laurence Fishburne | Glu Glu Lawyer |
| Jennifer Balgobin | Glory Hole Hotel Clerk |
Soundtrack
Cherry 2000 is probably most widely known for the original score composed by Basil Poledouris. The soundtrack album prepared for release at the time of the film was cancelled due to the film being shelved for a few years instead of receiving a theatrical release. Thankfully, Varèse Sarabande decided to make it the debut release in their CD Club. Originally sold by mail-order for US$20 and at only 1500 copies, it became a highly valued collectible, one copy selling for a whopping $2500.00 on eBay, the most ever paid for a copy of a film soundtrack CD. However, for being such a touted collectors' item, the packaging for this limited edition CD (despite the beautiful cover art by Matthew Joseph Peak) was surprisingly riddled with typos. The track list had the incorrect length printed for the last two tracks, and two tracks were missing from the track list entirely.
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. Ironically, this new pressing was a very poor selling CD.
Location
According to the credits, the film was shot entirely in the state of Nevada.
- A scene with Sam and E. watching a van plunge into an open pit was shot at Three Kids Mine near the current location of Lake Las Vegas.
- The latter half of the crossing the river sequence was filmed at Hoover Dam.
- Scenes involving the Sky Ranch were filmed at the Beehive group camping area in Valley of Fire State Park near Overton, Nevada.
- E.'s and Sam's first kiss was filmed in the upper reaches of the Las Vegas Wash, several miles east of Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs.
- Adobe Flats was filmed at Eldorado Valley Dry Lake Bed outside of Boulder City, Nevada.
- The town of Glory Hole was filmed in Goldfield, Nevada.
Vehicle Trivia
The three wheel vehicle that Sam Treadwell drives to meet the tracker was a commercially produced Trihawk that was built in the USA between 1983 and 1985, although only about 100 were made.
