Here is an 80s sci-fi film that is so helpless, it can't help itself from being ruined. It cannot save itself being ruined from a number of things: financially, critically and as a piece of entertainment. The sci-fi genre is a genre of film that can actually get some interest from a wide range of people; therefore, a good sci-fi movie is a piece of good, quality entertainment.
Unfortunately, Enemy Mine is not a piece of good, quality entertainment. This pic seems so much like it's one of those cheapy, cheesy and corny sci-fi films from the 50s. Seriously.
Enemy Mine, set in the later half of the 21st century, explains in the prologue how the human nations have banded together, and as Earth is becoming overpopulated, have reached into the far reaches of space. In there, the humans come into contact with another race called the Dracs, which are essentially a reptilian, humanoid type creature. Although friendly towards each other at first, the humans and the Dracs realize that they can't coexist, and interstellar warfare evelops. Now I'm thinking about a mix of Star Wars, Star Trek and those 80s space war adventure type arcade games.
Anyway, a human pilot named Davidge (Dennis Quaid) engages another Drac in a dogfight, which ends with both of them shot down over a mysterious planet. The two are initially hostile, both cultures having a strong dislike for each other, but it doesn't take long for the two to realize they must work together to survive, and put aside their differences. Davidge also discovers a mine not too far away, which is controlled by humans and use captured Dracs as slaves to do their work, but keeps this information from his fellow Drac, whom he nicknames 'Jerry'.
The story is somewhat appealing. However, it's also a story that, though only for a sci-fi movie, lacks a sense of adventure and excitement. The acting isn't quite satisfactory, and the entire film itself feels like a 50s movie influenced by Star Wars and Star Trek. Don't get me started on the cliched script.
Enemy Mine was beset by problems from the start. The production budget shot way up, they switched the directing over to Wolfgang Petersen (this is a mighty disappointing film for Petersen following his critically acclaimed war film Das Boot), and other problems were encountered while filming. Things got worse when poor advertising was set up for the film and it became a box-office bomb and was heavily criticized by critics.
Enemy Mine has a good, traditional story of two cultures learning to put aside their differences to survive, and with a couple of mildly comedic scenes put in here and there. That's a good story at heart. So sad, because it's also a familiar story that doesn't contain enough excitement for an audience. And that's only part of the reason as to why Enemy Mine simply doesn't work as a sci-fi movie. It's a movie that belongs in another genre.
**/5
No comments:
Post a Comment