Product Description

MEET THE COMMANDO ELITE, RENEGADE ACTION FIGURES WITH AN ATTITUDE. THEY'VE BURST OUT OF THEIR BOXES TO COMBAT THEIR ARCH-RIVALS, THE GORGONITES, KINDHEARTED BUT UNUSUAL LOOKING CREATURES. NOW SMALL-TOWN TEENAGER, ALAN ABERNATHY, GETS ENLISTED TO THE GORGONITES.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4191 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 1998-12-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Live, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
Here's the pitch: "It's like Toy Story but these toys that come to life really kick butt!" That's essentially it for this breezy popcorn flick. In a very smart first 10 minutes, new toy-company owner Denis Leary tells his crew he wants toys "that play back." Hence the small soldiers land in Anytown, U.S.A., and the loner kid Alan (Gregory Smith) opens them up before they are supposed to be on the shelves. Those military-grade chips sure make them smart and give the toys plenty of pithy retorts to boot. Plenty of violence, er, action, most of it fun enough. The vocal talents, including Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, and cast members of The Dirty Dozen are inspired characters, the humans less so. With Gremlins director Joe Dante at the helm, it plays like a sequel to that '80s fantasy. Amazing visual effects, of course. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
Joe Dante recycles his blueprint from "Gremlins," using animatronic toy soldiers, but there's no magic this time. The story-about a military chip placed inside children's toys which brings them to gung-ho life-is promising, but the film lacks any true style. The actors (among them Phil Hartman and Kirsten Dunst) don't have much to do but react to the mayhem, while the toys' dialogue wastes the talents of an unusually rich cast of voices that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Christopher Guest, and Christina Ricci. Stan Winston and his special-effects team do a spectacular job, and Dante gets a few perverse laughs (there's a wonderful scene in which some Barbie-like dolls are turned into Brides of Frankenstein), but the awkward tone-sometimes funny, sometimes wicked-deflates the excitement. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Awesome special effects
For pure entertainment value and eye-candy alone, I really enjoyed this film. The acting was good, even though the plot was full of holes and the script had some extremely cheesy lines. It was good to see Phil Hartman on screen, but his talent was wasted in this flick - his character was a minor one and he didn't get many lines.

The premise: a military defense contractor expands its boundaries by buying up a successful toy company, hoping to put surplus chips to use by remarketing them as toys.

Two races of action figures - soldiers (human) and Gorgonites (totally dissimilar to each other, from the planet Gorgon, both are programmed to be mortal enemies. The soldiers are programmed to win, the Gorgonites are programmed to either hide or lose.

Apparently no testing takes place before they hit the shelves and the soldiers are ruthless, ripping the Gorgonites limb from limb.

They decide that children who play with Gorgonites must also be destroyed, as they are perceived as being collaborators with the enemy. Needless to say, this is entertainmen for grownups, not for little ones.

The chips that are used in them give them artificial intelligence - the ability to learn and to create new weapons using anything they find. Almost like "Universal Soldier" along with the passion and emotion.

Archer, protector of the Gorgonites, is the true heartwarming character of the film. He is homesick for Gorgon, and even though the planet only exists in the mind of the toymakers that marketed him, he longs to be home.

Alan, a boy trying to re-earn the trust from his parents, has a hard time proving that toys are the ones wreaking havoc until they are caught in the act.

In the end, it becomes a literal fight to the death between the small soldiers and the children and their parents.

The film falls short in that it doesn't know if it's a farce, a parody, a comedy, an action flick or a drama. They try to put in way too much, so most of it falls flat.

The scenes with the attacking Barbies is more creepy like "The Stepford Wives" than it is funny, even though you get the jokes in what are supposed to be comic relief moments.

Still, this is well worth watching for the animitronics and for sci fi concepts.

More than small soldiers
This is a great movie for the family to watch. It has action that would be enjoyable for all ages. Those who love 80's machine movies will love "Small Soldiers". The writers thought of a unique storyline that makes it more entertaining and bring hopes for the loners. The beginning accurately desplicts how the toy industry is being treated today.

Gregory Smith(TV's "Everwood"), who plays Alan, wonderfully performs his role as a loner who finds toys in a truck. Alan sneaks them home. Little does he know that the toys are alive. He meets a girl at the toy shop, played by the fabulous Kirsten Dunst. The chemistry between the characters give the movie that added spark. The characters' secret about the toys helps build the storyline, readying the war eruption. The two actors prove that "Small Soldiers" is little about toys who fight; rather, it's about the importance of breaking out of one's shell.

The special effects team made the alive toys more entertaining to watch. Those who provided their voices gave it the added humor, especially the female dolls. Computer animation wonderfully combined them and the real-life people. This was especially crucial in the war scene because of the weapons used.

Though no child would ever fight a war in real life, "Small Soldiers" will never leave their audience disappointed. Note the two rising stars.

FLAWED,BUT REALLY COOL
Small Soldiers (1998)

Small Soldiers is a little too flawed to get a perfect five star rating,but non the less,it's a really really good flick.

The story is a little predictable,the characters severely lack development,some of the dialog is totally out of place,and the special effects are flawed due to overbrightened animation and looking a bit too "computery".

However,despite those flaws,Small Soldiers has a lot to offer that'll keep you in stitches throughout the entire film. There are plenty of in-jokes (keep an eye open on the trash dumpster the second time around.You'll find a figureine of Gizmo from Gremlins in it) and if your a horror movie fan,you should probably give it a look.The sequence when the Commando Elite figures jerry-rig tools from a neighbor's garage and transform them into weapons,is taken from the Hardware store scene from Phantasm II.

The story is like this: a super rich Global corporation create two lines of action figures: The Commando Elite,G.I. Joe-type mercenaries and the Gorgonites,a band of incredibly ugly but peace-loving monsters who are actually warm and friendly despite their hideous appearance.

The toys are implanted with super-intelligent computer chips which give them the ability to walk,talk and fight with enemy figures.The chips are a bit too advanced however,and the toys soon come to life.

The Commando Elite figures are hell bent on destroying the Gorgonites,as that's their programming.They create weapons from household hardware items,which include butane flamethrowers, rapid-fire nail guns,chainsaws,knives,fireworks (bottle rockets, firecrackers,etc) as well as a large number of vehicles,such as sawblade tanks,bottle-rocket launching makeshift helicopters, and half-tracks with very nasty nail guns mounted on top.

The Gorgonites meanwhile take refuge in a boy's house hiding from the Commandos (the Gorgonites are programmed to hide). However,the Commandos soon find out their location,and stage World War III in Suburbia USA.

Small Soldiers has a lot of twists and turns along the way. Despite total lack of character development,the acting is still great (the actress who plays Christy is wonderful!) and the voice-overs for the Commandos and Gorgonites are absolutely fantastic.The action sequences are also very clever and amusing and the music score is incredible and fits in perfectly.The gags in the film are also very plentiful,so expect to be laughing throughout nearly the entire film.

Overall,Small Soldiers is a very flawed yet awesome movie that desereves to be in your video collection.

On a side note,although many people argue that it's too violent for a kid's movie,it's not at all a bad film for kids.It may be a little nasty for some kids,but boys ages 8-12,who are obviously the film's target audience,will find a whole lot to like and will probably think it's the best film ever.