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Similar Items:

•	Cherry 2000
•	Conan the Barbarian
•	The Fifth Element (Remastered) [Blu-ray]
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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Long out of print, and previously a highly-sought-after collector's item, (selling for as much as $2,500!), Basil Poledouris' revered orchestral score to the 1988 cult, sci-fi/action sensation CHERRY 2000, (starring Melanie Griffith (WORKING GIRL) and directed by Steven de Jarnatt (MIRACLE MILE)) is finally back!... and better than ever - newly remastered with 7 never-before-released tracks!

Described by Poledouris as a "mixture of Mozart, Morricone, and Moroder," this unique score combines orchestra and a tasteful smattering of synth to define and enrichen the film's futuristic western motif.

This CD also features Mr. Poledouris' high-octane, electronically propelled score to the 1987 crime/actioner NO MAN'S LAND, written by Dick Wolf (LAW & ORDER) and starring D.B Sweeney (EIGHT MEN OUT) and Charlie Sheen (PLATOON).

This previously out-of-print, newly remastered score includes the now-legendary "Payoff" track, which was used to complement the "Crazy Ivan" sequence in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

The best score never heard July 23, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This long forgotten Melanie Griffith movie is best left forgotten (though I did love the dinner scene at Sky Ranch). Unfortunately, the late Basil Poledouris's unique score went forgotten with it, at least to the general public. Film score collectors and fans of music in general are probably very familiar with this score, which was released by Varese Sarabande in their "club," complete with botched track listings. It's famous for being one of the most expensive CDs ever, selling at auctions for up to $2500. But Prometheus records came to the rescue and, for a while, produced a Cherry 2000/No Man's Land double-package, with new tracks, all listed correctly on the back of the case.

The Cherry 2000 score is a very creative piece of work. It does and yet it doesn't quite match to the images it accompanies. There's certainly a Western feel, which the movie itself tried to accomplish and didn't. Each character has a motif, but the motif stands apart from the character. The score is almost funny in how it over-dramatizes the characters and events. E's theme is a cowboy-ish, riding off into the sunset, western motif, which clashes with her actual bounty hunter character, and yet ironically connects with it. The scene where Sam shoots Lester is accompanied by a bombastic fanfare, even though the "shootout" is subdued and Sam is kind of a wimp. It clashes with the scene, yet connects to it on some level.

Heard on CD, and not in the film, although not as humorous an experience, is still an excellent listen. It starts with a beautiful woodwind/string opening for the credits, and slowly works its way to the western style. Hearing the score, you wouldn't guess that the film was a post-apocalyptic, western influenced, B-movie. The track list gets a little weird, as alternate takes of the "Photograb" and "Lights On" cues are put before their place in the film, but that's not much to complain about. The score picks up with "Magneto," a very western, action-oriented cue, then does a one-eighty on us with "Pipeline," which could have been at home in an episode of the original Star Trek.

Quiet, personal cues for the three main good guys are played before "Thrashing of Sky Ranch," one of the best compositions of the score. It continues in the quiet, personal sound of the previous few cues, then comes a low, synthetic rhythm which sets up for what Sam is about to do the ranch. The rhythm segues into another sci-fi kind of idea, with a an electronic piano rhythm accompnaying an oboe solo, which gives way to a wall shaking low string rhythm, and even though in the film Sam is exacting revenge via fire on Lester's Sky Ranch, the climax of the cue is a playful, bouncy trumpet solo. Hearing it outside of the film almost conjures up images of children running through a field of daisies.

This playful nature of the score continues to underscore the villains. It's another clash; they ARE the villains. We see Lester kill a man in cold blood earlier in the film. Yet Lester and his troupe are so ridiculous and over the top, anti-villains, if you will, that the playful nature of their themes seem to fit nevertheless. "Lights On" is a great moment in the score. The sci-fi feel that crept in randomly previously in the score comes full force in the beginning of the cue, and is soon accompanied by Lester's playful theme, then shifts over to E's theme played by a trumpet/French horn duet and ends with the "Sam Kills Lester" fanfare. We're treated with the "End of Lester" cue and a short "The End" fanfare for the film's end. "End of Lester" is the best moment in the score. The music is exhilarating as Sam's plane takes off, and even more exhilarating when he turns around to go back for E.

Although to fully appreciate the creativity and humor the score has you have to hear it in the film, it stands beautifully on its own. In fact, most people probably prefer the score without the movie. I should also note that the score on CD isn't quite what it is in the film. The main difference is that the film had some drum machine sounds added in, most noticeably in the "Magneto" and "Thrashing of Sky Ranch" cues. The drum machine takes away from the quality, I think. On CD without the drums, the cues sound much better.

No Man's Land is barely worth mentioning. Its best moment is the main theme, which is only decent. It was Poledouris's experiment in a synthesizer only score, but it is of little interest to anyone, and he definitely worked much better with a live orchestra. The Cherry 2000 score is more than worth the price of the CD, and it's probably all most collectors will care about. I wonder why exactly Prometheus Records packaged these scores together. Cherry 2000 is obviously the reason why the CD was even made. Even the liner notes barely mention No Man's Land.

Speaking of the liner notes, I have to say that whoever wrote them did a great job. They are basically a synopsis of the movie, explaining which cue on the CD plays where in the film, and to be frank, the liner notes make the movie sound much better and more entertaining then it actually is.

I give the CD only four stars instead of five, though, because I have a few complaints. The CD lacks the music from E's introduction in the film. It is the only time her theme is played standalone, and while it's not a remarkable rendition of it I would have liked it for the sake of completeness. "Thrashing of Sky Ranch" has a couple of pops at about 2:22, "Flashback/Drive to Gloryhole" has several pops starting at 56. I wish they had done more to eliminate tape hiss; some tracks have it wore than others. The CD as a whole is mixed kind of low, so you'll have to turn your volume up.

The Prometheus Records release is already a little hard to find, so get it now before it one day becomes worth $2500.

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