Enemy Mine (1985) is one of those great, lost treasures of sci-fi from the mid 1980s. The film stars Dennis Quaid as a fighter jock who becomes marooned on a distant planet with an alien being known as a Drac, a humanoid, reptilian creature who perceive humans as a threat since humans have begun colonizing the far reaches of space.
Quaid’s narration opens up the film and explains that by the late twenty first century, humans put aside their differences and worked together to begin colonizing outer space in search of worlds and resources. The Drac race had colonized the universe a thousand years prior to man’s arrival and went to war to preserve their claim in the galaxy. During a surprise attack launched by the Dracs, pilot Will Davidge (Quaid) and his shipmate crash-land on the planet Fyrine IV, a hunk of rock in outer space that has a breathable atmosphere.
Davidge’s partner Joey (Lance Kerwin) dies due to internal injuries and Davidge is left all alone. After Davidge buries his friend, he looks off into the distance and sees smoke from the crashed Drac ship that was responsible for him being marooned. Davidge sets off to find the ship and to kill its pilot if it isn’t already dead.
