Cherry 2000 (MGM) (1987)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Scene Selection Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	98
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Steve De Jarnatt
Studio Distributor	MGM	Starring	David Andrews Jennifer Balgobin Marshall Bell Harry Carey, Jr. Laurence Fishburne Pamela Gidley Melanie Griffith Michael C. Gwynne Brion James Ben Johnson Jeff Levine Jennifer Mayo Cameron Milzer
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$9.95	Music	Basil Poledouris

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired French Italian Spanish Dutch	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

   Cherry 2000 is a tongue in cheek sci-fi action picture from the mid 1980s which owes a considerable debt to Mad Max II & III, The Bronx Warriors, Escape From New York and other post apocalyptic fables. The film stars Melanie Griffith, David Andrews, Tim Thomerson and Ben Johnson. Cherry 2000 was released in what I believe was the golden age of B grade genre films. Before the direct-to-video craze crippled the quality of low budget cinema, cheap science fiction films such as The Hidden, They Live, Buckaroo Banzai and many others were actually given a cinema release. What separates these exploitation gems from recent genre quickies was a respect for the fan base that revel in such cinema. With the exception of Cube and Equilibrium I am hard-pressed to think of any recent low budget genre effort that was worth a damn.

    Melanie Griffith plays the part oF E. Johnson, a tracker who lives at the edge of the desert known as the Zone. The year is 2017, and white-collar yuppie Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) seeks Johnson's help in replacing his beloved Cherry 2000 (Pamely Gidley), a robot sex-object who suffered an internal meltdown when subjected to an aquatic romantic encounter. For obscure reasons, replacement Cherry models are stored far out in the Zone, which is ruled over by the psychotic Lester (a wonderfully hammy Tim Thomerson) and his gang.

    The bulk of the film consists of well staged chases and action scenes where Johnson and Treadwell avoid capture at the hands of a deranged Lester. Technically the film is quite lavish with the Nevada locations providing startling vistas. The film was shelved for two years in 1986 when Orion pictures went bankrupt. MGM eventually released the film in 1988 after Melanie Griffith scored big with the comedy Working Girl.

Video

    Cherry 2000 is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    The transfer presented here is reasonably sharp with very little edge enhancement. There was some very minor aliasing in the opening 5 minutes but nothing overly distracting. Shadow detail is reasonable for a 20 year old film with solid blacks and a reasonable depth of field. Grain is kept to a minimum, but is apparent during night time sequences.

    Colours are natural and well rendered.

    There is the occasional blemish marring the transfer, but for its age the film looks great.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The five audio tracks found on the disc are in English, French, Spanish German and Italian. All are in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.

    Dialogue is clear with no audio sync problems other than changed dialogue rendered in ADR.

    The films score is by Basil Poledouris, the man responsible for the brilliant score found on Conan The Barbarian. Again the talented composer elevates the material with a well balanced and engaging soundtrack.

    Surround channel usage is minimal at best. The score, along with standard sound effects like vehicle engines and so forth are present, but unfortunately there are very few directional effects on offer.

    The subwoofer is also anaemic in its design with little reverberation or bass.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Scene Selection Animation

    All versions currently available are identical.

   Cherry 2000 will not be to everyone's liking, but those of us who remember how much fun low budget genre films were in the 1980s will relish the trip down memory lane. Sporting zero extras the disc nonetheless has a very respectable transfer.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall