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 are used as substitutes for wives. Business executive Sam Treadwell owns a Cherry 2000 model Gynoid as his wife. After she short circuits during sex on a wet kitchen floor, Sam is told by a repairman that she is damaged beyond repair, though her memory disk—which is incredibly rare and valuable and contains her entire personality—can be used in a new body if one can be found. A Gynoid dealer tells Sam that the Cherry 2000 model is no longer produced and that the only remaining ones are in a defunct factory in "Zone 7," a particularly dangerous, lawless area. With Cherry's memory disk stored in a device that plays back Cherry's voice, Treadwell hires Edith "E" Johnson, a tough tracker, to guide him to the factory. They set off in Edith's heavily modified 1965Ford Mustang. 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 also becomes attracted to Edith, but is reminded of Cherry when the voice recording is accidentally activated, and feels guilty. 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, where a dilapidated Aeronca Champion light airplane is stored. Edith repairs the plane using parts from the Mustang. Snappy betrays them to Lester and Jake gets shot to death by Snappy’s own live-in girlfriend, but Edith and Sam escape in the plane. Sam suggests that they turn around, but Edith is determined to complete the job so Jake's death will not become meaningless. As they land, Zone 7 is revealed to be actually the abandoned ruins of Las Vegas. The Gynoid "factory" is actually a casino called "Pharaoh's Casino." Sam finds a functional Cherry 2000, and activates her with the memory disk. She remembers him, but does not understand the danger they are in, being a robot programmed only for home life and sex. When Lester's gang finds them, Edith and Sam manage to evade and kill many of his henchmen. Escaping to the plane, Sam, Edith, and Cherry 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, who is in a shootout with Lester's henchmen. Sam sends Cherry to get him a Pepsi, and Edith and he escape in the plane. Lester tries to lasso the plane, but ends up accidentally hanging himself from a statue. After Elaine and Sam escape, Ginger meets Cherry, and it is implied that Ginger may also be a robot. Edith and Sam kiss as they fly away into the sunset.
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 cancelled 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 :
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 in addition to rectifying the track listing, features an additional eight minutes of unreleased music, but it sold poorly. Track listing:
According to the credits, the film was shot entirely in 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 and Sam's first kiss was filmed in the upper reaches of the Las Vegas Wash. Adobe Flats was filmed at Eldorado ValleyDry 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 a rare copy of the outdated Cherry 2000 Gynoid at the end of the film. The fortress-like building featured in the film is 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 at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal in February 1988, before being released theatrically in Europe, and finally on videocassette in Japan and North America in August and November of that year, respectively. The film played in Canadafor the first time during the Lost Episode Festival Toronto in August 2017. Producer Edward R. Pressman confessed that Cherry 2000's combination of genres, styles, and themes stumped promoters at Orion, resulting in its repeated shelving.
Reception
The film holds a 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.41/10. The site's consensus reads: "While Cherry 2000 has a certain low-budget appeal, all but the most ardent genre enthusiasts are likely to find its silly story and uneven performances unintentionally amusing".
