GeekVault Reviews: Enemy Mine

Enemy Mine

Rating:  

Directed By: Wolfgang Petersen

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr.

Plot Synopsis:

Two Warriors engaged  in a savage, futuristic war between Earth and the planet Dracon, crash-land on a desolate, fiery planet.  At first, the human (Dennis Quaid) and his reptilian, alien opponent (Louis Gossett Jr.) are intent on destroying each other.  But after battling the elements and each other, the two stranded pilots gradually realize that the only way either of them will survive is to overcome their undying hatred.

Review:

Enemy Mine is one of those movies that slipped by me during childhood.  I always would see the VHS box in the video section whenever I’d be browsing the Science Fiction section, but I never gave it a chance.  If I would have been introduced to it then, I probably would have been bored by it, to be honest.  I was too busy watching and re-watching Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Explorers that year.  Enemy Mine would have been over my head.

However, I can now say that Enemy Mine was probably ahead of it’s time both thematically and stylistically.  This was the Art House Science Fiction film of 1985, and I’m surprised a studio backed a film like this.  Even today, a science fiction film with only 2 characters on screen for an hour and 15 minutes wouldn’t be interesting to a major studio.  Look at movies like Sunshine, The Fountain, Solaris and Moon.  Not viewed by the mass movie-going public as popular films.  However, to film geeks like myself those all are masterpieces that should be more profitable than they were.  Enemy Mine is a thought provoking, slow build of a movie that has huge ideas and heart behind it.

Dennis Quaid gives one of his best performances ever in Enemy Mine as Willis Davidge, a soldier fighting in the war between Earth and the planet Dracon.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this good, although he’s one of the most under-rated actors working today.  This is an Oscar caliber performance.  He is asked to carry this whole movie and is on the screen 98% of the time.  Respectively, Louis Gossett Jr. is unrecognizable under loads of make-up and prosthetics as Jeriba ‘Jerry’ Shigan, the Draconian soldier who also crash lands on a desolate planet.  The physicality of the character and the vocal performance totally grounds Jeriba into reality.  You 100% believe the relationship between these characters and the amount of emotion brought out is pretty incredible.

Enemy Mine was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, who was responsible for one of the greatest movies of all time Das Boot.  Since then he’s been hit or miss with films like Outbreak and Troy, but Enemy Mine was Peterson’s follow up to The Neverending Story, so at that time he was on a roll creatively.  The direction is really solid.  The majority of the film is two characters developing a friendship and surviving on a desolate alien world, so this was an idea that in other hands, could have been a disaster.

As a whole, Enemy Mine is a great film.  I was surprised to see themes like religion, faith, love, tolerance and understanding woven into this Science Fiction narrative.  The first 2 acts are very much an Art Film.  No action or major special effects pieces.  At the time it had to be an extremely brave thing to tackle and I’m grateful Twentieth Century Fox stood behind the film.  Because of the first 2 acts, the 3rd act is very effective with it’s action set pieces.  By this time the film had earned it and being emotionally connected to these characters really helps elevate the scenes.

My only gripes would be the narration by Dennis Quaid at the beginning and throughout, followed up with a random narrator at the end.  The end narration was so far out of left field, it took me out of the final moments.  Plus, the effects are of course a bit dated, but for 1985, ILM did an amazing job.

Enemy Mine is one of a handful of thought provoking science fiction.  If you haven’t seen it, but love movies like The Fountain, Solaris or Moon, this is a must see.

Rated PG-13 for violence.