Enemy Mine is a 1985 American science fiction action drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by Edward Khmara, based on Barry B. Longyear's novella of the same name. The film stars Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. as a human and alien soldier, respectively, who become stranded together on an inhospitable planet and must overcome their mutual distrust in order to cooperate and survive.
An international co-production between the United States, United Kingdom and West Germany, Enemy Mine began production in Budapest in April 1984 under the direction of Richard Loncraine, who quickly ran into "creative differences" with producer Stephen Friedman and executives at 20th Century Fox; the project was shut down after a week of shooting. Petersen then took over as director and reshot Loncraine's scenes after moving the production to Munich.
Originally budgeted at $17 million, the film ultimately cost more than $40 million after marketing costs were factored in, and was a box office failure during the 1985 holiday season, earning only a little over $12 million. However, the film was successful in the former Soviet Union, where it became the first Western sci-fi film shown in the theaters. It later gained a cult following.
Plot
In the late 21st century, an interstellar war between humans (associated as the Bilateral Terran Alliance, or BTA) and Dracs (bipedal reptilian humanoids) is fought. Battles periodically take place between fighter spacecraft, and no human hates the Dracs more than Willis E. Davidge. During one such battle, Davidge and Drac pilot Jeriba Shigan engage in a dogfight, which results in them both crash-landing on Fyrine IV, a planet whose surface is largely a hostile volcanic wasteland. After initial hostilities where they viciously hunt one another, the two learn to cooperate to survive. Over the next three years they become friends, each saving the other's life several times.
Davidge, haunted by dreams of spaceships landing on the planet, leaves in search of help. He finds evidence of humans, but learns that the planet has only periodically been visited by human miners known as Scavengers who use Dracs as slave labor. He returns to warn Jareeba, nicknamed "Jerry", only to discover that Jerry is now pregnant; Dracs reproduce through self-fertilization.
To pass the time, Davidge and Jerry memorize each other's ancestry, agreeing that Davidge's lineage is "very thin". Jerry later dies in childbirth, but not before making Davidge swear to take the child, Zammis, back to the Drac homeworld and recite the Jareeba lineage so the child can join Drac society. Davidge raises Zammis, who calls him "Uncle".
One day a ship flies overhead and Davidge goes to investigate. Zammis is curious and follows. He is discovered by a pair of Scavengers. Davidge attacks the men, killing one of them, but Zammis inadvertently stands between Davidge and the other miner and Davidge is gunned down. Later, a BTA patrol ship finds Davidge, apparently dead, and returns him to his base space station.
During an impersonal funeral ceremony, Davidge suddenly awakens, speaking Drac in his confused state. He is later reinstated to duty, but not as a pilot, as his superiors want to make sure he has not defected to the Dracs. Unable to get help in rescuing Zammis, Davidge steals a fighter ship to find the child on his own. He manages to find the Scavenger ship and sneaks aboard. Davidge speaks to the Drac slaves in their own language; they know about Zammis and realize he is Uncle. Davidge enters the facility, fighting one miner after another, and the slaves revolt. Towards the end of the battle, they are assisted by the BTA crew who pursued the stolen ship. Davidge fights and is nearly killed by the same Scavenger that first shot him but is saved when one of the Drac slaves shoots the Scavenger. Davidge and Zammis are reunited and return to the Drac homeworld with the freed Dracs.
In the epilogue, Davidge and Zammis are on the Drac homeworld as Davidge recites the Jareeba family line before the Drac council, fulfilling his promise to "Jerry": "...and when, in the fullness of time, Zammis brought its own child before the Holy Council, the name of 'Willis Davidge' was added to the line of Jareeba."
Cast
Production
The novella was published in 1979 and won a Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1980.
Richard Loncraine
The film began shooting in April 1984 with Richard Loncraine (Brimstone & Treacle) as director and a budget of $18 million. However, after three weeks of shooting in Iceland and Budapest, producers became concerned about a mixture of budget overruns, creative differences and poor quality dailies.