ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

Bud and I just watched this movie in the ASF chat room and very much enjoyed it! It never did seem to get the credit that it deserved at the time, although it has recieved more in retrospect.

The following is a synopsis of the film as reported by Wikapedia:

In the late 21st century, an interstellar war between the humans (associated as the Bilateral Terran Alliance, or BTA) and the Dracs (a sentient, bipedal reptilian 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.

After initial hostilities, the two eventually learn to cooperate to survive. They work together to build a shelter for protection against meteorite storms, a natural phenomenon that periodically strikes the planet.

Over the next three years, they overcome their differences, become friends and learn each other's languages and cultures.

Each saves the other's life several times.
Davidge, haunted by dreams of spaceships landing on the planet, leaves in search of help. He finds evidence of humans, but learns that the planet has only been periodically visited by human miners known as "Scavengers", who use Dracs as slave labor. He returns to warn Jeriba, (nicknamed "Jerry"), only to discover that Jeriba is pregnant; Dracs are hermaphroditic and reproduce asexually.

A blizzard and an attack by an indigenous predator forces Davidge and Jeriba to flee their shelter. To pass the time Jeriba teaches Davidge his full lineage. Jeriba later slowly dies in childbirth, but not before making Davidge swear to take the child back to the Drac homeworld and recite his full ancestry, so that he can join Drac society.

Davidge raises the child Zammis (Bumper Robinson). Davidge and Zammis form a very close bond and the young Drac loves Davidge as any sentient child loves a parent, despite referring to Davidge as "uncle".

One day a ship flies overhead and Davidge goes to investigate. However, Zammis is curious and follows. He is discovered by a pair of Scavengers. Davidge attacks the men, but Zammis inadvertently stands between Davidge and one miner, and Davidge is gunned down. Later, a BTA patrol ship finds Davidge apparently dead, and returns him to his base space station.

On the station during an impersonal funeral ceremony, Davidge suddenly awakens when a disposal technician tries to steal the book Jerry gave him years before to learn the Drac language. Davidge's old team vouch for his loyalty, even after they find he speaks the enemy's language fluently.

Davidge is later reinstated to duty, but not as a pilot, as his superiors want to make sure he has not been brainwashed by the Dracs. Unable to get help in rescuing Zammis, Davidge steals a spaceship to find the child by himself. He manages to find the Scavenger ship and sneak aboard.

Davidge speaks to the Drac slaves in their own language as he searches for Zammis. The slaves know who Zammis is and realize that Davidge is "uncle". Davidge enters the facility and fights with one miner after another as he searches for Zammis. In the confusion caused by Davidge, the slaves revolt against the miners. Towards the end of the battle, Davidge is assisted by the BTA crew who pursued the stolen ship. They realize that whatever it was he experienced while missing in action (MIA) has made him more human; he no longer hates Dracs.

In the epilogue, Davidge and Zammis return to the Drac homeworld of Dracon for Zammis's heritage ceremony before the Drac Holy Council. As he promised Jerry, Davidge recounts the complete Jeriba ancestry before the Holy Council in the traditional ritual as he was taught. The narrator explains that when "in the fullness of time, Zammis brought its own child before the Holy Council, the name of 'Willis Davidge' was added to the line of Jeriba."

The score was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre, and performed by the Studioorchester in Munich and a synthesiser ensemble.

Enemy Mine was met with mixed reviews upon its release, and in 2015 scored 59% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.


Roger Ebert gave the film 2​1⁄2 out of 4 stars, saying it "made no compromises in its art direction, its special effects and its performances – and then compromised everything else in sight."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times referred to it as "This season's Dune", referring to the critically panned science fiction epic from the previous year.

Variety magazine called it "an anthropomorphic view of life but touching nonetheless."

Seventeen years later, another New York Times reviewer gave the film a more positive assessment, noting that if it were "taken in the intended spirit it's often moving, suggesting what might happen if two of earth's perpetually warring peoples were stranded together."

The Los Angeles Times praised the film, calling it "surprisingly coherent, surprisingly enjoyable." The movie received similar praise from critics Gary Franklin, Gene Siskel, and Leonard Maltin.[

In the scene where Davidge (Dennis Quaid) and Jeri (Louis Gossett, Jr.) argue about their respective philosophers and Jeri calls Mickey Mouse a "big dope", Dennis Quaid (Davidge) walks away from Jeri with a noticeable smirk, making a snorting noise consistent with trying to stifle laughter. This was actually the only take wherein Quaid didn't burst out laughing after the Mickey Mouse line, and his reaction was kept in order to make it clear that the scene is intended to be comedic and the bantering, while hostile, is meant to be friendly between the two.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Gord, we appreciate the fact that you rectified a grievous error. All Sci-Fi did NOT have a thread for Enemy Mine!

I was shocked! Dammit, who's in charge around here?

(Oh, right . . . that would be me. )

However, please don't be offended if I point out the obvious fact that the Wikipedia synopsis is just one long excessively detailed *** spoiler *** , and it completely eliminates the need for anybody who hasn't seen this movie to ever bother watching it.

Not one single dramatic surprise is left for the viewer after they read that detailed plot synopsis!

And for anybody who HAS seen the movie, there's not one shred of new info in the whole description. I'm not sure I see the point.

May I suggest that you replace the Wikipedia "Party Pooper Plot Spoiler" with something written by you that doesn't ruin the story, something which shares your thoughts and feelings about it — your personal reflections which convince us the movie is well worth watching.

I went back and glanced over our discussion in the chat room, and it's loaded with comments about the film that would inspire a great commentary by you on what makes this film so good!

Just a suggestion, Gord. It's your call.

On a more positive note: damn, those are GREAT pictures!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bogmeister]

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______________________ Enemy Mine Trailer


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To me, this was a blatant remake of Hell in the Pacific, the 1968 WW2 film starring Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune about two soldiers stuck on an island. They were from opposite sides, but were forced to work together.

The premise of this sci-fi version is similar and overall it's very simple. The narration by star Dennis Quaid explains that the nations of Earth finally began to work together in the late 21st century towards the goal of space exploration.

But new wars began again with "non-Human" aliens (as if there are also human aliens in outer space according to this film — the Star Trek influence is also apparent). Quaid's pilot soldier crash-lands on a planet after a scuffle in space and immediately notes that an enemy alien has also crashed about a mile away.

This alien is known as a Drac, played by Lou Gossett Jr. in heavy make-up. The planet is apparently inhabited only by primitive lifeforms.



Will walks over to the Drac's crash site and attempts to kill him, but fails — instead getting captured. Will's enmity towards the Drac is obvious, but the Drac doesn't kill him for some reason.

Then, during one of the frequent meteorite showers, the Drac drags Will to safety in a cave. So, Will also refrains from killing the Drac when he frees himself. He reasons that they must work together to survive.

Their mutual hatred soon evolves into good-natured ribbing, and later to actual respect. Months pass as they deal with local predators and the meteorites.

After about a year, Will decides to explore another part of the planet. He finds an abandoned human mining operation, but his hopes of rescue are dashed when he realizes that these are lowlife scavengers who use Dracs as slave labor.

Journeying back to his buddy, he finds that the Drac is pregnant. Dracs are asexual, becoming pregnant without choice.




Things come to a head when their shelter is destroyed and the Drac has to give birth.

By this point, the film has veered away from the expected. Will ends up raising the Drac child as a couple of more years pass.

Unfortunately, the outlaw miners return to their mining site and, despite Will's instruction, the little Drac has a lot of curiosity about them.

This does not go well.

The film is an attempt at a real sci-fi saga, spanning years, and there is indeed enough material here for a mini-series, so the final act especially seems rushed. Somehow, Will is found by the BTA (the future Earthling society) after all those years of no contact with fellow humans, and then it's a rush job to return and rescue his foster son.

The obvious theme is the humanizing of an enemy once you get to know them. Will becomes much more enlightened by the end compared to what he was, including his role of a father (or "Uncle" as he's called).

It all tells us that war is wasteful.





One weakness to me was a lot of the set design in the early going on the planet, where it all comes across as a movie set (possibly related to a fitful stop-and-start to the filming when director Wolfgang Petersen took over from others).

Other later scenes are obviously location filming and have more of a reality to them. The early space scenes also have the look of phoniness about them — sort of like what a kid might envision outer space to look like, with colorful planets-as-play balls situated next to each other.

For some reason, the visuals are better later in the film.

I'm also not a fan of Gossett's gargling speech patterns. It gets irritating after a time, even as one gets used to understanding all that he's saying. The evil miners, led by Brion James, are kind of hammy.

Overall, though, it's a game attempt at interesting social commentary in a sci-fi setting, including exposition on an alien culture's philosophy and beliefs.



BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

Enemy Trivia: Lance Kerwin is in a small role in the first act as Quaid's co-pilot; he was a teen star on TV in the late seventies (James at 15, Salem's Lot)

____________________ Enemy Mine (1985)


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BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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The review above demonstrates that BoG is a movie buff first and a sci-fi fan second. He reveres Hell in the Pacific and considers this movie a “blatant retelling“.

I’m the reverse. I saw Hell in the Pacific when it was first released and thought it was well made . . . but too grime for my taste. I think Enemy Mine is a superior story, an upbeat and imaginative version that’s much more enjoyable to watch.

That’s why I only watched Hell in the Pacific once (when it first came out), but I’ve watched Enemy Mine several times over the years . . . and I own the DVD.

Frankly, I think the good point of Enemy Mine went right over the head of Andrew's less optimistic nature and caused him to miss the fine merits of this movie.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

I thought I read that EM almost bankrupted the studio that produced it.

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ Author Barry Longyear reported at a convention that the studio insisted on adding a subplot involving a mine, thinking the audience would not realize that the "Mine" in the title was a possessive (as in "My Enemy") rather than an object.

Note from me: I can't help wondering what the location was in the story instead of a mine before they changed it.

~ According to Louis Gossett, Jr., the Drac language was created from scratch. Much of it was Russian, pronounced in reverse.

Note from me: Does that mean they could run the movie backwards in Russia and not have to dub it? (No wait . . . that wouldn't work. That's an aedi dmud. )

~ It took four hours to apply the make-up to Louis Gossett, Jr., to transform him into Jeriba.

Note from me: I wonder if the costume was uncomfortable. It probably was . . . since they usually are.

~ Louis Gossett, Jr. said in a television interview that he had talked while gargling saliva as a kid as one of those kid things. He told director Wolfgang Petersen that he thought that it would add a good touch to his character. Gossett performed the odd vocalizations all by himself (no mouth prosthetics or post-production effects), and often does "the Drac voice" at convention appearances.

Note from me: The gargling aspect of the Drac language was a good idea. It sounds alien. And it's not hard for a person to do, either.

~ Among the original scenes from the "scrapped" version of the film was a longer finale, where Davidge returns Zammis to his home planet and is introduced to Jeriba's parent, before the lengthy ceremony with the Holy Council takes place.

Note from me: Not having seen the deleted shots, I can't be sure, but it seems to me that cutting right to the ceremony and having the narrator explain what it was and why it was so important was a good idea.

~ putting a mirror in a 45° angle at the end of it. At the Bavaria Filmstudios, where the movie was filmed, you can still take a guided tour around the set. The effect with the mirror was so good, that one day a tour guide ran into the glass and broke it.

Note from me: At first I could imagine how a guy could walk into a mirror and break it without seeing his reflection coming right at him.

Then I realized that if the mirror is at a 45° angle, he wouldn't see his reflection until he was fairly close and it sudden "came into view" from the side.

And if the tour guide was walking backwards will lecturing to group, he wouldn't see the reflection at all
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

An article on the movie (Starlog?) said that originally it had a different look. The original Director wanted a more realistic look for the ships, set and costumes, described as a more 2001 ASO look. They even constructed a three block square outside set for the planet.

When the new Director was hired, he had all of that trashed, and redesigned for the look of the movie that got made.

I would really love to see what those original sets, costumes and miniatures looked like.

And people wonder why it costs so much to make a movie.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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Yep, I'd be interested in seeing them too, David.

I will say, however, that one of the appealing aspects of this movie is the bright and colorful depiction of space and the retro look of the spaceships. Very cool!

______________ Enemy Mine - Excerpt (1986)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Captain Starlight]

I was impressed by the way space was shown in the opening seens of this movie. Most movies just have a black background with a bunch of stars. It's boring. Look at some of the Hubble Space Telescope images to see what space really looks like. Here's a great example.

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/32/ed/3f/32ed3f95cab84d85977ccc6d7c2f47e3.jpg
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[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

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I was surprised to hear that, so I looked it up. You're right, Maurice — ALL of the photos are black & white, and the color is added.

But I'm not sure this means those distant nebular are not colorful . . . just that space telescopes can't capture the colors in such distant light.

Guess we'll just have to invent hyper-drive so we can go out there and see for ourselves.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)