Small Soldiers (1998)

When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, David Cross

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Cross	...	Irwin Wayfair
Jay Mohr	...	Larry Benson
Alexandra Wilson	...	Ms. Kegel
Denis Leary	...	Gil Mars
Gregory Smith	...	Alan Abernathy
Dick Miller	...	Joe
Kirsten Dunst	...	Christy Fimple
Jacob Smith	...	Timmy Fimple
Jonathan Bouck	...	Brad (as Jonathan David Bouck)
Kevin Dunn	...	Stuart Abernathy
Ann Magnuson	...	Irene Abernathy
Wendy Schaal	...	Marion Fimple
Phil Hartman	...	Phil Fimple
Archie Hahn	...	Satellite Dish Installer
Robert Picardo	...	Ralph, Clean Room Technician

Storyline

Fifteen-year-old Alan Abernathy, the son of a toy store owner, tries out some new action figures: The Commando Elite versus The Gorgonites. But three months ago, a toy company believes it is onto something when it employs the latest government military technology in a series of action figures, enabling them to talk. They underestimate the power of the special micro chips they've employed, however, as the two opposing sides of the toy line start thinking for themselves and engaging in real combat! The Commando Elite vow to wipe out the Gorgonites in a suburban neighborhood. Alan, his neighbor Christy Fimple, (on whom he has a massive crush) with the help of the kind Gorgonites, must protect his home and family from the Commandos.

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Plot Keywords:

tied feet | toy | action figure | computer | battle | 

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Taglines:

Big Movie Small Soldiers

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some menacing action/violence and brief drug references

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Commando Elite

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,047,592, 12 July 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$54,682,547

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$71,282,547

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On making the movie, Director Joe Dante recalled "originally I was told to make an edgy picture for teenagers, or when the sponsor tie-ins came in the new mandate was to soften it up as a Kiddie movie. Too late as it turned out, and there are elements of both approaches in there. Just before release, it was purged of a lot of action explosions."

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Goofs

Christy appeared to have curly hair in the hostage video the commandos forced her to do, only to have relatively straight hair only minutes later when Alan found her bound and gagged in her bedroom. She was tied up during that entire span of time, meaning she couldn't have been able to fix it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Irwin Wayfair: He's here! He's early! He's not supposed to be here now. He said... okay, here's the copy of... check.
Larry Benson: Pretty exciting, huh?
Irwin Wayfair: I don't know. I think it's kinda sad, I mean you know Heartland Toys has a long tradition of bringing joy to kids, ya know? Gil Mars isn't going to care about any of that. He's just gonna care about profits. I think it sucks.
Larry Benson: Welcome to Earth, Irwin. You may not be familiar with our company, but this is pretty much the way things work down here in the real ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

At the end, there's a short clip of 'Phil Hartman' and the legend "For Phil".

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Connections

References The Dirty Dozen (1967)

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Soundtracks

Tom Sawyer
Written by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart & Pye Dubois
Performed by Rush
Remixed by DJ Z-Trip
Courtesy of Mercury Records/Anthem Entertainment
By arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music

User Reviews

Affectionately made and with a lot of charm

SMALL SOLDIERS is, essentially, Joe Dante's third GREMLINS film, except that the antagonists aren't gremlins this time around but instead normal, plastic toys who have been brought to life via military technology. It's along the same lines as TOY STORY, which came out at around the same time, but I think the Dante movie has the edge; it's live action, for a start, and the special effects used to animate the soldiers are remarkable.

The film goes for a light action-adventure template with plenty of laughs thrown into the mix along the way. Like GREMLINS, there's a lot of small-scale stuff going on here, like fireworks being used as weapons and characters encountering the dangers of garbage disposal units. It's a kid's film, with child actors in the lead roles, but one of those ones that adults are sure to enjoy too.

Cast-wise, we're handed decent turns from Gregory Smith (before he won popular attention with EVERWOOD) and Kirsten Dunst (just before she graduated to adult roles in SPIDER-MAN). Elsewhere, we get Denis Leary chewing the scenery as the slimy corporate villain, and Dante lucky charm Dick Miller as an unlucky delivery driver. Best of all are the voice actors hired for the soldiers; they're led by Tommy Lee Jones but boast plenty of veteran talent, including Ernest Borgnine and Frank Langella. Overall, Dante gets the tone just right, leaving this a highly enjoyable family adventure.