Enemy Mine (film)

Did You Know?

• The score was composed by Maurice Jarre and performed by the Studioorchester in Munich and a synthesizer ensemble.
• A limited Deluxe Edition CD with unreleased and alternate cues was released by Varèse Sarabande in 2012.
• In June 2024, a remake was reported to be in development with Terry Matalas as writer.

Plot

In 2092, a human pilot named Willis E. Davidge and a Drac pilot named Jeriba Shigan both crash on the volcanic world Fyrine IV after a dogfight. They start off trying to kill each other, but eventually team up to stay alive. Over three years, they become close friends. Davidge goes looking for rescue and finds signs of human miners called Scavengers who force Dracs to work as slaves. He hurries back to warn Jeriba, whom he calls Jerry, and learns Jerry is pregnant—Dracs can fertilize themselves. The two swap their family histories, and Davidge admits his lineage is pretty short. Jerry dies giving birth, but makes Davidge promise to bring the baby, Zammis, to the Drac homeworld and recite the Jeriba line so Zammis can be accepted. Davidge raises Zammis, who calls him Uncle. In 2095, a ship passes overhead. Davidge checks it out, and Zammis gets caught by Scavengers led by Stubbs. Davidge attacks, killing one Scavenger, but Zammis accidentally gets in the way and Davidge is shot. A BTA patrol finds him and takes him back to base, apparently dead. At his funeral, he wakes up speaking Drac. His superiors reinstate him but won't let him fly, worried he might have switched sides. So he steals a fighter to save Zammis. He boards the Scavenger ship, talks to the Drac slaves in their language, and fights Stubbs. The slaves rebel, helped by the BTA crew who followed the stolen ship. A Drac slave shoots Stubbs just in time. Davidge finds Zammis, and they head to the Drac homeworld with the freed Dracs.

Production

The novella won a Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1980. Filming began in April 1984 with Richard Loncraine as director and an $18 million budget. After three weeks of shooting in Iceland and Budapest, producers grew concerned about budget overruns, creative differences, and poor dailies. One executive said the location and Gossett's costume made it look like a cheap 1950s horror movie. Gossett noted that weather prevented matching shots. Filming stopped; the studio had spent $9 million and faced pay-or-play contracts for an additional $18 million. Wolfgang Petersen initially declined, but after reading the script he was impressed and agreed when production was paused until he finished The Neverending Story. Petersen disliked Loncraine's footage, saying Gossett looked like a man in a rubber lizard suit and Iceland looked like Iceland. He started anew, scouting locations along the African coast. Quaid and Gossett remained on hold and were paid holding money. Petersen moved production from Budapest to Munich, using the studio he had used for Das Boot.

Release

Fox's marketing president called the film extremely difficult to market, describing it as a story of brotherhood rather than technology. The studio launched a full marketing blitz the Sunday before Thanksgiving, with full-page ads in 43 major US newspapers, simultaneous 30-second commercials on all three networks, 3,500 theatrical trailers shipped, and posters in 164 shopping malls. The campaign drew industry criticism; one marketing head called it one of the worst of the year. In the United Kingdom, the original 108-minute film was cut to 93 minutes for theatrical and VHS release; the full version was restored for the 2002 DVD. Costing over $40 million, the studio hoped for a large opening weekend, but the film earned only $1.6 million from 703 theaters. By Christmas Day, it had taken in $2.3 million. When asked how much it needed to break even, a Fox executive replied, It doesn't really matter, because it's not going to do it.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Enemy Mine has a 61% approval rating based on 28 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The critics consensus notes that the film extracts thrilling pulp from the chemistry of Quaid and Gossett and inventive production design, but an overextended story diminishes the central relationship. On Metacritic, it has a score of 59% from nine critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying it compromised everything else in sight. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it this season's Dune. Variety called it an anthropomorphic view of life but touching nonetheless. A later New York Times reviewer gave a more positive assessment, noting it is often moving. The Los Angeles Times praised it as surprisingly coherent and enjoyable.