Ever wonder about a more realistic, down-to-earth exploration of what would really happen if two sworn enemies were faced with a tough decision? Well, here is my recommendation for this month´s movie! And I am planning on making this a bi-weekly or monthly event! Recommending old movies from my past, those that flew under people's radar or simply those whom I think deserve a second opinion. Today's or tonight's whichever part of the world you reside in, topic is 1985's Enemy Mine, a rather beautiful movie starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett.

In the not too distant future, mankind finally gets its act together and starts expanding out into space. However, as is usually the case with these movies us poor monkeys are not alone. A species, called the Dracs, has laid claim to numerous rich star systems and troubles follow soon after. A quiet day in one of Terra's space forts turns disastrous as due to his blood lust, Dennis' character ends up chasing a badly damaged Drac fighter deep into the atmosphere of an uncharted planet where poor judgement results in his copilot biting the dust and his craft demolishing on the hard rocks.

It isn't long however before he discovers that he is in fact, not alone. The Drac pilot from before, has survived. Initially hostile and confrontational towards each other, when they realize they have no way to contact each others fleets, they are faced with a tough decision... survive on their own, or band together to double their odds. What results is a charming tale of loss, sacrifice, responsibility and dare I say it, love? Not in the manner you would think either! This movie is a classic as far as I am concerned, the effects haven't exactly aged perfectly, but the makeup on Gossett's character is incredible, very organic looking and just goes to prove why practical makeup art is still more believable than pure CGI. The story is also touching, and reminds me a tad of stories told in world war 2, about how sometimes adversaries would meet and not kill each other though for different reasons than here.

Here it is a story of political and propaganda based racism, military bravado, and how the simple act of talking to one another seems to solve it, at least for those two. It tells the tale of two similar people, and manages to make Drac culture distinct, yet similar to ours. Proof of concept maybe, that certain universal truths, at least what we call universal truths, might carry across different peoples like starlight reaches all? It makes you wonder, when two nations go to war, is it really the nations, or just the governments? Are the two too separated from their people? I am unsure. All I know is this movie is quite the trip for your heart. I highly recommend this movie should you be looking for something a little smarter than your average movie about alien/human interaction, but on that note if you haven't heard of it yet, Alien Nation is a great touch, but more on that later!

Thank you for listening, this isn't exactly a review, more like a recommendation/partial review based on opinion, for better or for worse, enjoy my suggestion for an evenings worth of entertainment and food for thought!