Enemy Mine (1985)

Enemy Mine is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Wolfgang Petersen based on the story of the same name by Barry B. Longyear. It starred 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. The film began production in Budapest in April 1984 under the direction of Richard Loncraine, who quickly ran into "creative differences" with producer Stephen J. Friedman and executives at 20th Century Fox; the project was shut down after a week of shooting. Wolfgang Petersen then took over as director and reshot Loncraine's scenes after moving the production to Munich. Originally budgeted at $17 million, Enemy Mine eventually cost more than $40 million after marketing costs were factored in, and was a flop at the box office during the 1985 holiday season, earning only $12.

Synopsis

In the late 21st century, an interstellar war between humans (associated as the Bilateral Terran Alliance, or BTA) and Dracs (a Hermaphroditic humanoid race) is fought. Battles are periodically fought between fighter spacecraft, and no human pilot hates the Dracs more than Willis E. Davidge (Dennis Quaid). During one such battle, Davidge and Drac pilot Jeriba Shigan (Louis Gossett, Jr.) engage in a dogfight which results in both crash-landing on Fyrine IV, an alien world uninhabited by intelligent life, with two moons, a breathable atmosphere, water, native fauna, and a hostile environment.

Actors