Cherry 2000

This is the kind of film that gets under your skin. One of a small subgenre of Sci-Fi Westerns, its small flashes of inspired writing make it worth watching some night when there's nothing else to do. Cameron Milzer is particularly notable as a blackly comedic psycho-girlfriend, but Tim Thomerson and Melanie Griffith are no slouches themselves. Pleasant bleak visuals and an interesting score from Basil Poledouris (Robocop, Hunt For Red October, & the Conan films, as well as 60 other movies) make for a modest repeat viewability factor. Fun and stupid!

"Cherry 2000" was a huge commercial failure and it's hardly ever mentioned today, but I found it surprisingly entertaining. Sure, the script is unimaginative and the film has no real vision and the action scenes are strictly routine, but the two leads are enormously, effortlessly likable. They make a deeply sweet pair. Maybe the film should have concentrated more on their love story and less on the familiar action aspects of the story. And the violence of a couple of scenes seems rather out of place. But even with its weaknesses, this movie is, fitfully, absorbing and very entertaining.

I will not attempt to describe this movie. It would be fruitless. You may at first be frustrated by the seemingly inept invocation of all the tried and true cliches of the "genre" - from Mad Max to its weirder post-apocalyptic cousins. But this is not Circuitry Man in reverse - it is much, much stranger. By the time the polka-dotted bikini-wearing ex-girlfriend of the hero is playing hostess at the disney-esque bubble-dome camp of the desert-dwelling homicidal outlaw gang... oh, never mind. By the way, Melanie Griffith was much better looking before lip surgery. Almost hot, in fact. But rest assured, this is a work of genius, exposing a deep understanding of the rift between genders during the height of the supposedly post-sexual-liberation 1980's, an almost sublime sense of humor about sexual alienation and most of all, the erotic link between women and cars in American culture is finally completely laid bare.

In fact, this movie is so profoundly subversive that it could only be made under cover of shlock. Do not be fooled by what seems like coke-addled acting and tourette-syndrome editing. This film is high art. Especially the part where the robot says "is that your hand?" Stay up late and watch it on TBS tonight! And take notes!

Okay, "Cherry 2000" has finally achieved "cult film" status. But unlike many other cult movies, it actually deserves the title.

There are many things to like about this flick. The nuanced, likeable Ben Johnson has a good role that even delivers some tragedy (how often do you get that in a b-movie?). The charismatic Griffith is alternately contemplative and kick-ass. Of course, Tim Thomerson as Lester nearly steals the show, providing a truly strange, ruthless villain.

The effects are cheesy, sure, but they never look fake, unlike a lot of the CGI films coming out today. When you see E. Johnson's Ford being dangled over the Hoover Dam, that is an ACTUAL car, not some stupid digital effect.

The movie does lay its message on thick, but considering the obvious budget constraints they were working with, that's a perfectly excuseable flaw. The satire is at times hilarious (watch for Larry Fishburne's turn as a lawyer with Morpheus-esque reflecting sunglasses, and the final exit of the villain is truly visually ironic). I bought this on DVD (having never seen it on TV) and really liked it...maybe you will, too.

until I saw this film. It's absolutely hilarious. And Ben Johnson was just a treat. Melanie was never so pouty and sexy, but that Mustang she drove steals the show. A really underrated film with lots of very wicked things to say. This relates to Mad Max about like 007 related to spies or (Chief) Inspector Clousseau related to detectives. Well, it's not in the same class, but it takes a stab at camping the Road Warrior.