Enemy Mine (film)

Infobox Film
name = Enemy Mine


caption = original movie poster
director = Wolfgang Petersen
writer = Barry Longyear
music = Maurice Jarre
cinematography = Tony Imi
editing = Hannes Nikel
starring = Dennis Quaid
Louis Gossett, Jr.
producer = Steven J. Friedman
Stanley O'Toole
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = December 20, 1985
runtime = 108 minutes
country = United States
language = English
amg_id = 1:15832
imdb_id = 0089092|

"Enemy Mine" is a 1985 science fiction film based on the story of the same title by Barry B. Longyear. It was produced by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and starred Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr.. The original music score is composed by Maurice Jarre.

Plot summary

It is the late 21st century. In the midst of an interstellar war between humans and Dracs (reptilian-like aliens), human pilot Willis E. Davidge (Quaid) and Drac pilot Jeriba "Jerry" Shigan (Gossett), engage in a spacecraft battle resulting in both crashlanding on Fyrine IV, a hostile alien world with a breathable atmosphere, water, and dangerous animal life.

After initial hostilities, the two eventually learn to cooperate in order to survive. They work together to build a shelter for protection against the near-constant bombardment by meteorites, and to satisfy their needs for food, water, and warmth. They learn to overcome their differences, become friends, and learn each other's languages and cultures.

Later, facing expected death and with child (Dracs being apparently parthenogenic), Jeriba teaches Davidge his full ancestry, a necessity if his child is to be accepted into Drac society. Davidge raises the child Zammis as his own, after Jerry passes during the childbirth. Over the years, Davidge and Zammis form a very close bond, and although the young Drac refers to Davidge as his 'uncle', his emotional range towards Davidge is as a son would look up to a father- an emotion that Davidge shares as well. Davidge knows that there are mining crews scouring the planet in search of minerals and ore desposits, and he knows that they have little regard for Drac life, so he remains on guard to keep Zammis from getting captured or killed should they run into any of the miner's spacecraft. Zammis however, doesn't realize the danger and goes off to get a closer look at such a spacecraft, and gets himself abducted- with Davidge being hurt in the process of trying to rescue him. Left on the planet's surface for dead, a B.T.A patrol ship finds Davidge unconscious, and take him back to the space station where he was formerly based before being shot down. On the station, he's mistaken to be dead, but awakens when one of the techs tries to steal the small book that Jerry had given him years before when he first wished to learn the Drac language. Davidge's former patrol crew vouch for his hatred of Dracs, even after it's discovered that he speaks the language fluently. Sometime later, Davidge is reinstated to duty, but not as a pilot- he subseqently steals a fighter and goes after the miners to rescue Zammis and bring him back. He manages to find the ship, and the Drac slaves help him overcome the brutality of the human overseers and he eventually reunites with Zammis. Davidge's crew now realize that whatever it was that he experienced while MIA has made him more humane, he no longer hates the Drac race, and helps to take all of the Drac slaves back to their homeworld as well.

In the epilogue, Davidge and Zammis return to the Drac homeworld for Zammis' introduction ceremony to the Drac Holy Council so that he may be accepted into Drac society. Davidge recounts the ancestry before the Holy Council in the traditional ritual, as he was taught by Jerry. In time, Zammis also has a child and the audience learns that the name of "Willis Davidge" was added to the line of Jeriba.

Trivia

*The film was very popular in the Soviet Union, having been released as part of the first wave of American films allowed to be legally wide-released.fact|date=September 2008 "Enemy Mine" hence achieved enormous popularity.fact|date=September 2008
*"Enemy Mine" inspired the song "Inseparable Enemies" from Star One's album "Space Metal".fact|date=September 2008
*The film takes place from 2092 to 2096.

Parodies

"The Lonely Island" created a short skit which parodied the characters in "Enemy Mine" and their situation. The sketch was later recreated on the show "Saturday Night Live" and featured Jack Black.

ee also

* Hell in the Pacific
* Enemy Mine (Stargate SG-1)
*
* Dawn (Enterprise)

External links

*
* [http://www.milkandcookies.com/playlist/3217/ Parodies by The Lonely Island and re-adapted] for "Saturday Night Live"