General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Cherry 2000

Cherry 2000 is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Steve De Jarnatt, in which a businessman journeys through a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland to find a replacement body for his malfunctioning android wife. It was De Jarnatt's feature-film debut, and it stars Melanie Griffith, David Andrews, and Pamela Gidley, with Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Brion James, Robert Z'Dar, Michael C. Gwynne, Jack Thibeau, and Tim Thomerson in supporting roles.¹

Key fact	Detail
Director	Steve De Jarnatt, his first feature film¹
Writers	Story by Lloyd Fonvielle; screenplay by Michael Almereyda, his first²^•³
Setting	The year 2017, after an apocalypse has decimated manufacturing³^•⁴
Production	Shot in 1985 on a $10 million budget, largely in Nevada (Goldfield, Rhyolite, Beatty, with headquarters in Tonopah)³^•⁴
Release	Limited theatrical release in 1987 by Orion Pictures; some accounts describe a straight-to-VHS release in the fall of 1988³^•⁵
Music and photography	Score by Basil Poledouris; cinematography by Jacques Haitkin²
Critical scores	Metascore 59 (mixed or average); 38% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 21 reviews⁶^•⁷

Spoilers

Plot

In the post-apocalyptic California of 2017, Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) manages a recycling plant. His companion is Cherry 2000 (Pamela Gidley), a lifelike robot who caters to his every need. When Cherry suffers an internal meltdown, Treadwell refuses to settle for a newer, less attractive model. He salvages the chip containing her personality and hires the tracker E. Johnson (Melanie Griffith) to lead him through the lawless desert region known as The Zone, where a replacement Cherry 2000 body can be found.¹^•⁷

The film's world is one in which an apocalypse has destroyed manufacturing, so everything must be made from recycled parts.⁴ At a club where humans make contracts for sex encounters, the newly single Sam is dragged along by his buddies and negotiates with prospects, in a scene in which a younger Laurence Fishburne officiates.⁸ The story ends with Sam deciding whether the feisty, human E. might be more of a woman than his perfect android.⁹

Production

How De Jarnatt came aboard. De Jarnatt was preparing Miracle Mile with Nicolas Cage when Mike Medavoy, head of Orion Pictures, where De Jarnatt had a three-picture deal, called and told him he had to direct Cherry 2000, which was to shoot in two months with a release date already set. Irvin Kershner had just fallen out as the director. De Jarnatt initially declined because financing for Miracle Mile was in progress, but after Cage's attorney bluffed about pulling Cage from that project, he read the script, liked what he called weird, great stuff, and signed on. He described the production as always playing catch up.¹⁰

Nevada locations. The film was shot across the deserts, towns, and industrial ruins of rural Nevada, fusing an '80s Southern California sensibility with a Road Warrior-style tracker character.¹¹ De Jarnatt received a budget of $10 million and used it, with a young crew, to build a futuristic, dystopian vision of Santa Monica, California, in the Silver State. Although little of Tonopah appears on screen, the town served as headquarters for the cast and crew while shooting in Goldfield, Rhyolite, and Beatty. A Tonopah High School student, Bambi McCracken, daughter of Nevada historian Robert D. McCracken, worked as Griffith's stand-in and had a non-speaking role as the Bambi 14 model in Slim's Body Shop, earning a place in the final credits.⁴

Release and reception

Orion Pictures and producer Edward R. Pressman did not know what to do with the film, a lightly comic sci-fi romance they kept on the shelf for two years after it was shot in 1985. Its 1987 release was limited, too unusual for marketers to support with enthusiasm. Pressman, asked by the Los Angeles Times to describe it, answered: "Let's see, it's a comedy. And a romance. And it's science fiction. And it kind of resembles The Road Warrior (1981). And the art direction has a New Wave sensibility...Not an easy film to describe."³ One review account states the film was originally completed in 1985, scheduled by Orion for August 1986, delayed to March 1987 and then September 1987, and finally given a straight-to-VHS release in the fall of 1988.⁵ Some reference sources date the film to 1988 on that basis.⁸

Contemporary and retrospective critical response was mixed. The film holds a Metascore of 59, based on five critic reviews classified as one positive and four mixed.⁶ On Rotten Tomatoes it holds 38% from 21 reviews, with the critics consensus reading: "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."⁷ Variety described the film as a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi action picture heavily indebted to the Mad Max movies, with top-billed Melanie Griffith elevating the material each time she appears; Empire's Kim Newman deemed it a middling piece of MadMaxploitation; and TV Guide felt that, after Griffith and Andrews cross into the lawless zone, the quirkier comedic efforts fizzle out and the movie settles into a fairly routine action story.⁶ Griffith appeared in the film just before her stardom with Working Girl (1988).³

Cult status and home video

The film's genre-blending quality is what gives it its enduring cult fan base, according to TCM's essay on the film.³ Reviewers have described it as an enjoyably unusual slice of 1980s sci-fi action ripe for rediscovery, and as a precursor in spirit to later genre hybrids such as Demolition Man, Tank Girl, The Fifth Element, and Ex Machina.¹²^•⁵

Kino Lorber released a Special Edition Blu-ray in 2015 with a director's commentary, an interview with Tim Thomerson, a vintage promo video, and a gallery of lobby cards, stills, and posters; a UK release from Signal One carried the same extras.¹² KL Studio Classics later issued a deluxe edition with a new 4K-scanned restoration, additional extras, and enhanced packaging.¹³ The film is currently available on streaming services including Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM+, and Tubi, in a 99-minute cut rated PG-13.¹⁴

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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