Toy Soldiers (1991)

When terrorists seize control of a boarding school, a group of troublemaking boys decide to resist them.

Director:

Daniel Petrie Jr.

Writers:

William P. Kennedy (novel), Daniel Petrie Jr. (screenplay),

Stars:

Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Astin	...	William 'Billy' Tepper
Wil Wheaton	...	Joseph 'Joey' Trotta
Keith Coogan	...	Jonathan 'Snuffy' Bradberry
Andrew Divoff	...	Luis Cali
R. Lee Ermey	...	General Kramer
Mason Adams	...	FBI Dep. Asst. Dir. Otis Brown
Denholm Elliott	...	Dr. Robert Gould - Headmaster
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Dean Edward Parker
George Perez	...	Ricardo Montoya
T.E. Russell	...	Henry 'Hank' Giles III
Shawn Phelan	...	Derek 'Yogurt'
Michael Champion	...	Jack Thorpe
Tracy Brooks Swope	...	Jennifer (voice)
Max Manwell	...	HRT Commander
Joe Inscoe	...	Agent Grimes

Storyline

Billy Tepper is the leader of a group of rebellious boys at The Regis School. He has already been expelled from three prominent private schools. His best friend, Joey Trotta, is the son of the Head of the New York Mafia; Billy, all their friends and many other kids at the school have equally influential and prominent, if more law-abiding, parents. When Luis Cali's father is put in jail, he heads for the Regis School to put the son of the judge in charge of the case under hostage, only to find he has been removed. However, once he realises who the parents of the rest are, he decides the entire student body of the Regis School would be an even better bargaining chip.

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Plot Keywords:

trial | student | boarding school | hostage | terrorist | 

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Taglines:

They've Always been REBELS - TODAY, They Become HEROES.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

A terror iskolája

Filming Locations:

Miller School of Albemarle - 1000 Samuel Miller Loop, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$15,073,942 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Island World, TriStar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William 'Billy' Tepper, then lead character played by Sean Astin, is named after actor William Tepper, who starred in the Jack Nicholson-directed film, Drive, He Said.

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Goofs

Shadow of the camera is visible when moving around the furniture in the garden.

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Quotes

William "Billy" Tepper: What kind of stuff do they have?
Student: What do you mean? What stuff?
William "Billy" Tepper: Guns, grenades, that kind of stuff.
Student: Man, they've got tons of it, all kinds. A big machine gun... Wait a minute. I'm not going to get in trouble for this, am I?
William "Billy" Tepper: Don't be a wuss.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Crackerjack (2013)

User Reviews

Ridiculous but fun

Colombian terrorists hold hostage a military school in the U.S. until their demands are met. The students decide to fight back. Will they be able to do it?

Silly premise but the film actually works. The group of kids who fight were all up and coming when this film came out in 1991: Sean Astin (looking very cute); Wil Wheaton (looking miserable); Keith Coogan; George Perez (the token Latino who is very handsome, very muscular and is mostly shown in nothing but tight underwear); T.E. Russell (the token black guy) and Shawn Phelan. None of them are very good actors (except Astin), but who cares? This is a mindless action film. The only other good performances are from Denholm Elliott (having a ball as the headmaster) and Louis Gossett Jr. as the dean.

Other than that--there's lots of action, suspense, explosions and little brains. In other words---FUN!

Only complaint (and this is minor)--it's a bit too long (there are THREE endings) and there is LOTS of casual, bloody violence (the R rating was well-earned). Still, I enjoyed it a lot.