Review of Enemy Mine (1985) by Rachel F — 16 Jan 2010

Enemy Mine is a film set in the far reaches of space where Humans are pitted in a conflict with a race of humanoids known as the Dracs. Growing up I loved watching this movie because I thought that the opening sequence was fun and watching the Drac fighters engage the Human fighters was awesome. This film has many good ideas but in some ways falls short of true Sci-Fi/Film greatness:

1. Jeriba Shigan learns English quickly and seems more human than alien.

2. The film wasn't grand enough or convincing enough to me - I did not think that it would be that easy for Jeriba and Willis to become friends and trust one another and I also was in disbelief of how Willis was picked up again by the BTA - how could it happen this late in the film and not earlier on?

3. How did Willis Davidge get promoted back to what seems to be combat flight officer level so quickly after being picked up and revived by the BTA?

4. What happens on the giant BTA ship/station does not seem to be long enough and articulate enough to draw a coherent storyline for what happens in the movie. I think this movie could have done a LOT better had it gone into more depth in these sets and done more things.

This is still a good entry in my sci-fi archive and I think that if you want to see a good popcorn flick this might be what you need to see. I still think that the battle in the beginning is cool - even though the ships are making sounds in the vacuum of space - and I also like the feeling and emotion that comes out of the relationship between Willis and Jeriba.