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Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: July 28th, 2015
Director: Steve De Jarnatt
Cast: Melanie Griffith, Tim Thomerson, David Andrews
Year: 1987
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The Movie
Cherry 2000 is an oddball, unique science fiction film from director Steve De Jarnatt, who was also responsible for the equally inventive Miracle Mile (also coincidentally released from Kino).
The film comments heavily upon the notions of sex, love and male/female relations, while setting its story in a future society where pleasure robots are available as mates, while real life sex can be bartered upon at a myriad of neon-lit meat markets across the post-apocalyptic landscape. David Andrews plays the lead role of Sam Treadwell, whose sex robot model Cherry 2000 short circuits during an aquatic sex session with Sam early on in the film.
It's this unfortunate occurrence which sets off Treadwell's journey to hire a tracker; his only hope to track down a spare Cherry 2000 model in which to insert a memory chip. Melanie Griffith plays the tracker role of E. Johnson with a certain amount of charisma, but it must be said that her believability as a tough gun for hire struggles to reach the places it need to be in order to succeed. Still, the vibe between Griffith and Andrews is solid, and they make a likeable pair as both set off to "Zone 7," in order to reactivate Cherry 2000.
It's in this apocalyptic zone where the pair run afoul of a maniac by the name of Lester, played with similarly likeable sleaze by Tim Thomerson. The Trancers star chews the scenery for all he's worth here, and he makes a right proper foil for Griffith and Andrews as his tracker-hating crew attempt to put their adventures to an end. There are also some cool cameo appearances from actors as varied as Laurence Fishburne-early in his career-as well as the Maniac Cop himself, the sadly departed Robert Z'Dar, who looks buff and in great shape here, iconic chin firmly intact!
Elsewhere, there's a strong Brazil vibe to De Jarnatt's film, as bizarre, hyper-eighties visuals cross paths with a smart script and some truly impressive stunt work. Pay particular attention to a scene with a car and giant magnet near the halfway point: you just don't see those kind of set pieces anymore, that's for sure. Many older film fans probably remember Cherry 2000 receiving some semi-constant rotation back in the early days of HBO, but his Blu-Ray release is by far the best this unique science fiction film has ever looked on home video.
Video/Audio/Extras
Kino Lorber's high def disc, in AVC encoded 1080p high definition at 1.85.1, is sharp and colorful, brightly saturated in that over-lit and smoky eighties neon style. There are some flickers here and there of damage, but nothing to get up in arms over, really, while the audio, in DTS-HD 2.0, could be a bit boosted and better balanced-dialogue could be better defined against the background noise-but is otherwise fine and dandy.
Some nice extras round out this Blu-Ray presentation, including a vintage "making of" featurette which interviews not only the main cast, but also makes use of some second unit direction and production team sound bites. It should be noted that this vintage extra is presented full-frame, while a more recent interview with Tim Thomerson reveals the charismatic actor's recollections about making the film.
Finally, there's also a nice commentary track from De Jarnatt and film critic Walter Chaw, whose rapport is nice as they reveal some nice behind the scenes stories about working with the cast, some themes behind the film as well as production notes about the nuts and bolts of creating Cherry 2000.
The Final Word
Cherry 2000 is quirky and weird; a fun sci-fi romp which may not hold major replay value for those who didn't grow up with it, but nevertheless receives a solid home here on Blu from Kino Lorber.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
[img]http://www.rockshockpop.com/screencaps/Cherry2000/01-2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.rockshockpop.com/screencaps/Cherry2000/01-2.jpg[/img]
