Enemy Mine (1985)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Barry Longyear (story)
Edward Khmara (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

Enemies because they were taught to be. Survivors because they had to be.

Plot:

A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor...

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Alien | Space | Friendship | Reptilian

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Willis Davidge
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Jeriba 'Jerry' Shigan
Brion James	...	Stubbs
Richard Marcus	...	Arnold
Carolyn McCormick	...	Morse
Bumper Robinson	...	Zammis
Jim Mapp	...	Old Drac
Lance Kerwin	...	Joey Wooster
Scott Kraft	...	Jonathan
Lou Michaels	...	Wilson
Andy Geer	...	Bates
Henry Stolow	...	Cates
Herb Andress	...	Hopper
Danmar	...	Wise Guy
Mandy Hausenberger	...	1st Medic

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Richard Loncraine was the original director of the film, but was replaced by Wolfgang Petersen.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Drax is sitting by the camp fire reading from his book, we see the open book for a few seconds. The page on the right is the same page as the left just upside down.

Quotes:

Davidge: "If one receives evil from another, let one not do evil in return. Rather, let him extend love to the enemy, that love might unite them." I've heard all this before... in the human Taalmaan.
Jerry: Of course you have. Truth is truth.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jack Black/Neil Young (#31.9)" (2005)

Teaching morals through Scifi and Mickey Mouse ...

Aaah, the power of ... no, not cheese ... science fiction and Mickey Mouse!

Science fiction has always been an excellent tool for social comment that has made it a lot easier for people to absorb a lesson about tolerance without being hampered by possible prejudice from a society / social network that we are actually embedded in.

In other words ... replace "alien creature perceived as being evil" with anybody different from you (creed, color, sexual orientation, you name it...), and you pretty much get the tale of tolerance this movie tells about life (on earth or other planets):

- Don't buy anything at face value that "your planet's" authorities tell you.

- Yeah ... that other person is different from you ... so what?

- Don't underestimate Mickey Mouse as a powerful spiritual teacher!

Dennis Quaid is one fine actor ... if you want to get an idea of his tremendous range, just watch "Innerspace", "Frequency" and "Far From Heaven", which are completely different movies.

Furthermore, Louis Gosset Jr. is just plain awesome in this one, possibly giving THE performance of his career.

BTW: this is one of the movie's director's (Wolfgang Petersen) first major hits in the U.S. He also did the very impressive (make that: frightening / claustrophobic) movie "Das Boot", the very successful Harrison Ford vehicle "Airforce One", and the somewhat "macho-heavy" flick "The Perfect Storm" (though I have to admit that the "high sea" visuals / special effects were pretty awesome).

The bottom line for me about THIS movie is: it doesn't matter whether your "holy book" is The Bible, The Koran, The Talmud, or some other sacred scripture from this planet or beyond - the underlying message from every truly "holy" book is essentially the same: it's a message of caring about and loving those you don't necessarily understand when you start out, but come to appreciate over time when you get to know them better.