Unlimitedia
Sick Product of a Sick System
Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
SpunkySelfTwitter
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Wolfgang Petersen's Enemy Mine is a fantastic Sci fi that hearkens back to the days when practical effects, story and character development ruled the scene. It does the best with the resources it had at the time, and for me, growing up with stuff like The Thing and Alien, the imaginative special effects hold up wonderfully even today. Dennis Quaid, a solid guy who's picked some really awesome high concept fantasies throughout his career (Frequency, Innerspace, Dreamscape, Pandorum), is fantastic here as a hotshot earthlings pilot who, in the midst of a dogfight with a hostile alien race, crash lands on a distant, unfamiliar world with only one companion: a member of the race he is at war with, who also crashed. Louis Gossett Jr., that snarky prick drill instructor from An Officer And A Gentleman, is physically and emotionally unrecognizable as the alien pilot, and should have been nominated for his staggering, stunning work. He wears the biologically fascinating prosthetics with ease, creating a thinking, feeling creature that will win your heart. Gradually these two mortal enemies learn the only way to survival is through each other, to build a mutual trust and understanding. The film explores this beautifully, taking its time, showing us both of these being's nuances, fears and hopes, for a truly riveting one on one character drama. The gorgeous galactic setting does wonders for the atmosphere, and when our two heroes get acquainted with the planet's local wildlife, some truly cool practical creature effects come into play. The emotional core sits with the relationship between these two though, and both actors totally own it, completely present and emotionally committed, without a hint of schlock. The 80's gave us some of the best in the Sci fi genre, and this is one of my favorites.
Zettelhead
This movie was made in 1985 by a once great director but it looks like made in 1965 by some cretinous dilettante. Everything just feels badly made up and carried out. The set-design is awful, the sfx are poor, the script is clumsy, implausible and offers no believable development of characters, and the musical score is probably one of the worst ever made! The only thing that is amazing is the acting of L. Gossett Jr. which even works through the massive latex mask.The rest is just... oh, forget about it. It is just unbelievable that those who made it did not die of embarrassment, like I would do.
Alenbalz
Not worth watching, it's really a very poor rehash of a much better film (Hell in The Pacific), two intergalactic enemy's meet and become bosom buddies after being stranded on some remote God forsaken planet, (which just so happens to have oxygen and water). True to form of similar propaganda Hollywod war movies, the earthling prisoner displays the arrogant superiority bravado, threatening his captor from a no-win position. The script is very poorly written, the acting (if you can call it that) very poor and the story line is ever so boringly predictable. The alien make-up (mask) is ridiculous, but it's intelligence and personality are worthy of praise and perhaps a reflection of what Christianity is really all about. It learns English very fast, including a lot of abstract words, and it displays ab superior humanitarian/Christian attitude than the selfish ego-centric aggressive earthling(s). It's a story of a lot of the movies cliché's strung together: white vs black, aggression vs compassion, homo- vs hetero-sexuality, war and peace, co-operation vs defiance, the individual vs authority, man against nature and man/alien, survival, co- operation and honor. All this was done much much better in it's precursor, Hell in The Pacific.
BA_Harrison
Me and Enemy Mine go way back together: I first saw the film on its original cinema release, then I won it on VHS video (which retailed for a staggering £79.99 at the time!), I now own it on DVD (paying considerably less than it used to retail for), and no doubt I'll buy it again sometime in the future, on some other newfangled format, cos the film is a corker! Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, this sci-fi take on John Boorman's Hell in the Pacific is a visually arresting, touching and exciting tale with a heartfelt message about accepting someone (or thing) regardless of their race or creed.I understand fully that the film isn't perfect, with arguably lacklustre space dogfights (especially in comparison to those in Star Wars), and an ending that feels way too rushed (the final scenes were drastically cut to shorten the overall running time), but the wonderful cinematography, a poignant yet often amusing script, and superb central performances still make this a thoroughly absorbing movie that never fails to impress me. Gosset, in particular, is absolutely amazing, successfully emoting despite being hidden under layers of reptilian special effects make-up by Chris Walas.8/10, with an extra point for being like an old friend: always there when I need it!
