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 | tape gag | toy | action figure | computer | 

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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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music being played during the scene where they turn the "Gwendy" dolls into soldiers is the theme music from Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

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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

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Lethal Weapon 4/Whatever/Small Soldiers/Madeline/Pi (1998)

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Soundtracks

Rock And Roll (Part 2)
Written by Gary Glitter & Mike Leander
Performed by Gary Glitter
Remixed by Rick Dutch Cousin (as Dutch)
Courtesy of Snapper Music PLC

User Reviews

Hey Chucky, eat this!!!

I know the summary doesn't have anything to do with this comment, but I thought it would be funny to start this review. "Small Soldiers", believe it or not, it's more valuable that it appears to be. Yes, it may be a flawed movie, but considering that it is a movie born in the heart of Hollywood studios and intended for small audiences (and not so small), "Small Soldiers" takes his chances to create successfully a political satire, a very dark one.

Joe Dante (a very underrated director) is a specialist in filtrating that kind of political message. And that's no wonder why decided to direct this movie. The best of all is that also works as a family flick, where the characters are likable enough to care about and it's really entertaining.

Anyway, I really like it.