Enemy Mine
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Enemy Mine is a science fiction story by Barry B. Longyear. In 1980 it won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella. In 1985 it was produced as a science fiction film by Twentieth Century Fox. The movie was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and the cast includes Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr..
Tagline: Enemies because they were taught to be. Allies because they had to be. Brothers because they dared to be.
Movie plot summary
It is the 21st century. In the midst of an interstellar war between humans and Dracs (reptilian-like aliens), human pilot Willis Davidge (played by Dennis Quaid) and Drac pilot Jeriba "Jerry" Shigan (played by Louis Gossett Jr.), engage in a spacecraft battle resulting in both crashlanding on Fyrine IV, an alien world with oxygen atmosphere, water, and dangerous but nutritious animal life.After initial hostilities, the two eventually learn to cooperate in order to survive. They work together to build a shelter, a carapace house, against the near-constant bombardment by meteorites, and to satisfy their needs for food, water, and warmth. They learn to overcome their differences, become friends, and learn each other's languages and cultures.
There is also, in the film but not the original novella, a subplot involving an abandoned mine. According to Longyear, this was added at the insistence of the studio, which was afraid that the audience would not understand that the Mine of the title was an adjective.
Later, facing expected death and with child, Jeriba teaches Davidge his full ancestry, a necessity if his child is to be accepted into Drac society. Davidge raises the child Zammis as his own. When Zammis is enslaved by criminal humans, he is rescued by Davidge, other enslaved Dracs, and Davidge's fellow military personnel in an emotional climax wherein the two races are confronted with their shared positive traits.
"This war, as all wars, ends."
In the epilogue, Davidge and Zammis return to the Drac homeworld. Davidge recounts the ancestry before the Holy Council in the traditional ritual, and the audience learns that Davidge's family name is added to the lineage.
Parodies
The Lonely Island created a short skit which parodied the characters in Enemy Mine and ther situation. The sketch was later recreated on the show Saturday Night Live and featured Jack Black.External links
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