Enemy Mine

Little more than a buddy movie set in space which, sadly, relies like Wolfgang Petersen's earlier NeverEnding Story more upon special effects than storyline. Earth warrior Quaid shoots it out with 'Drac' warrior Gossett, then both man and creature crash-land on the deserted Fyrine IV. The gloomy planet, with its meteor storms and bug-eyed monsters, soon draws the combatants together as they realise that the greatest threat to their survival is not each other, but the planet itself. Enemy Mine then mutates into a story of friendship, understanding and eventual love between the two Robinson Crusoes in space. Both Quaid and Gossett, the latter doing a passable imitation of a fish, perform like troopers, and one special effect in particular, where Gossett gives birth to a Drac-brat, is impressively moving. What the film lacks, however, is the epic vision to match its epic pretensions, something to bind together the action and the ideas.