Enemy Mine

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.