The Underrated Sci-Fi Film Dennis Quaid Starred In Before The Height Of His Fame

Wolfgang Petersen's 1985 sci-fi film "Enemy Mine" was beset with production problems and bogged down by massive marketing costs. The film's original director, Richard Loncraine (1995's "Richard III"), reportedly butted heads with producer Stephen Friedman and walked off the set after only a week of shooting. Petersen stepped in after that, moving the production to Germany and starting over. A film that was supposed to boast a modest budget of only $17 million ended up costing over $29 million.

"Enemy Mine" was then released into the very busy 1985 holiday season, competing with "Out of Africa," "The Color Purple," "Legend," "Clue," and "The Jewel of the Nile." Audiences, it seems, weren't in the mood for a modest sci-fi yarn, and stayed away in droves. "Enemy Mine" also opened alongside Terry Gilliam's dystopian nightmare "Brazil" and Richard Attenborough "A Chorus Line," but those films similarly tanked.

Additionally, the reviews for "Enemy Mine" were only middling at best. Roger Ebert gave the film only two-and-a-half stars, writing that "the look of the planet in 'Enemy Mine' is so convincing, the special effects are so elaborate, and the performances are so good, that I only gradually became aware of what a clinker the story is." The film has a respectable 59% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that is based on only 27 reviews, some of them vintage, and some of them more recent. "Enemy Mine" hasn't received much of a 21st-century re-litigation and remains largely unremembered.

This is a pity, as "Enemy Mine" is excellent. It stars Dennis Quaid, playing another astronaut after his appearance in "The Right Stuff" two years earlier, and still riding his rising star from his starmaking turn in "Breaking Away" in 1979. Luckily, Quaid's star would continue to rise.

Quaid shared the screen with the late, great Louis Gossett, Jr., handily the bigger star at the time. Gossett had already won an Academy Award in 1982 for his performance in "An Officer and a Gentleman," in addition to appearing in notable films like "A Raisin in the Sun" and the undersea hit "The Deep." He was also a massively prolific TV performer, showing up many major hit shows of the day (from "The Mod Squad" to "The Rockford Files").

"Enemy Mine" was the second film to feature both Quaid and Gossett after "Jaws 3-D" in 1983. "Enemy Mine" was a reunion of sorts.

The film takes place in the late 21st century when humanity is at war with a species of reptilian aliens called Dracs. Willis Davidge (Quaid) is a human pilot who, while engaged in a "Star Wars"-like dogfight with the Drac pilot Jareeba (Gossett), crash-lands on an uncharted planet called Fyrine IV. Davidge manages to shoot down Jareeba and the alien also crash-lands nearby. Fyrine IV is an inhospitable volcanic wasteland, frequently struck by meteors and only populated by skittering bug-turtles and underground octopods. Davidge and Jareeba (nickamed "Jerry") will have to overcome their wartime hostilities, as well as a language barrier, in order to survive. They live together for three years.

Davidge and Jerry don't just survive, but begin sharing religious viewpoints. Davidge is an agnostic (he jokes that his God is Mickey Mouse), but Jerry belongs to a lineage-based faith system that acknowledges the long line of Dracs that led to him. Davidge begins reading Jerry's holy books in the Drac language and finds himself converting.

Dracs, it turns out, reproduce asexually, and after a time, Jerry becomes pregnant. He and Davidge serve as the Drac child's parents, with Davidge being addressed as "uncle." The two main characters aren't sexual with one another, but they do have something approaching a romantic regard. One can easily see that "Enemy Mine" is eventually a story of queer parenthood.

I will not reveal any of the twists in the plot, or the way "Enemy Mine" ends, other than to say it's sweet and unexpected. Quaid gives a pretty darn good performance, transforming from a brusque, angry hotshot soldier into a real human with an open mind and deep religious empathy. Gossett's performance is the more impressive of the two, as he had to emote through a full-face reptile mask (with yellow contact lenses) and speak in a growling alien language. Jerry emerges as a fully-realized being that audiences come to love and understand.

"Enemy Mine" was based on a novella by Barry B. Longyear, and while the original was a sci-fi story, there are certainly real-world tales that inspired it. Indeed, one can picture a parallel story from any known human war — from the Punic Wars to World War II — wherein two enemy soldiers become stranded in a remote location, only learn to survive and become friends and/or lovers. The message of such a story, of course, is that if we engage on a one-to-one basis, we are naturally going to be open-minded, kind, and loving. "Enemy Mine" is simply a sci-fi version of that story.

Those who saw "Enemy Mine" in 1985 likely have very fond memories of it. Indeed, ask anyone who was in high school at the time, and they will likely give it a hearty recommendation. It's a good sci-fi story, but also a great fable about togetherness. It also contains a lot of practical considerations. On a planet pocked by meteors, how does one construct a meteor-proof home? Perhaps the bug-turtles might be the answer.

Both Quaid and Gossett would continue to rise in popularity throughout the 1980s and eventually become even bigger household names. "Enemy Mine," made while Quaid's career was on the upswing, is a terrific picture to remind audiences of his ineffable charms.