This interesting
Sci-Fi movie was released in
1985. It was directed by
Wolfgang Petersen. It was written by
Barry Longyear and
Edward Khmara. The cast includes
Dennis Quaid,
Louis Gosset Jr.,
Biron James,
Richard Marcus,
Jim Mapp, and others.
Enemies because they were taught to be. Allies because they had to be. Brothers because they dared to be.
In the future Earth is at war with an alien race. A human soldier's spacecraft gets shot down and crashes on a habitable planet. He, Willis (Dennis Quaid), is the only survivor of the crash. But he isn't alone on the planet. A soldier of the alien race has also crashed on the planet. Drac (Louis Gosset Jr.) and Willis run into each other, at first fight and then through the desire to survive work together. In the process they learn a lot about each other, each other's race and become friends.
This has got to be one of the most under-rated sci-fi films of the 80s. The plot and the point the movie makes are nothing new, but they are good and worth re-iterating. Everybody needs a reminder from time to time that while we all have our differences we also have many similarities. As Drac says Truth is Truth.
The movie was based on the book by the same name also by Barry Longyear. It is out-of-print and I'm not sure when it was written, but the movie has a very early sci-fi feel to it. So I'm guessing it was either written in the 40s or Longyear writes with a classic sci-fi style. Meaning that the point of the story is an eternal one and the story could have been told at any time and in any place.