Small Soldiers
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Movie Reviews of Small Soldiers
Movie Review: More than small soldiers
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: THIS TOY STORY NOT FOR KIDS
Summary: 4 Stars
Sure it's got toys aplenty that'll make your kids' MOST WANTED X-Mas list, and nifty computer animation just like Toy Story... but parents don't let that fool you, this ain't no Disney flick! When, in the first ten minutes of the movie, we're introduced to shock comedian Dennis Lehry you know this isn't for your little ones. Heck, through the whole thing it earns its PG-13 rating in strides. It's even more violent than the comedy/horror film it basically borrows from, Gremlins. For those young adults and those young at heart, to whom this film is really geared towards, there's enough "inside jokes" and inuendos to keep you in stitches. For those die hard film buffs, director Joe Dante and crew basically made a SFX war between the vetran actors in The Dirty Dozen versus the wacky misfits from This Is Spinal Tap, with homage paid to any number of war and action movies including a little nod to the opening sequence in Patton (with music to boot), and of course Joe Dante's previous classics Gremlins and InnerSpace.
On a sadder note, this was Phil Hartman's final performance before his untimely death. The movie was dedicated to his memory.
With the extra supplemental section, and 16x9 anamorphically enhanced widescreen video (gives an additional bonus to those lucky enough to own 16x9 TVs with higher resolution), it's a keeper.
Movie Review: After more than ten years, it's still a fun watch
Summary: 4 Stars
Admittedly, many kid's films are simply a ploy to sell toys and I'm pretty sure there were plenty of Colonel Chip Hazard action figures running around after this Disney film. Still, the mark of a really good kid's film is remembering those characters years later and wanting to see the film again.
Tommy Lee Jones did such a good job creating the gung-ho Chip Hazard that it's hard to forget him even after ten years of kiddie films.
The premise, a toy company's taken over by a company which also supplies the US military. When two enterprising toy designers create a set of action figures with advanced military functions, the war's on. Colonel Chip Hazard (Jones) leads his forces again the Gorgons led by Archer (Frank Langella). The only thing stopping these forces is one kid who's trying to stop his dad's toy store from closing.
Honestly, while this film's billed as a children's movie, it's got a lot of deeper meanings from take-offs on a lot of the military films to thoughts on stereotyping sexual roles for toys. The one-liners still had me laughing. Well worth seeing again and owning for moments when you need a good laugh.
Rebecca Kyle, June 2009
Movie Review: WAR GAMES
Summary: 4 Stars
Joe Dante, the director who brought us those delightful GREMLINS, helms this underappreciated 1998 flick with startling special effects and lots of "inside" dark humor. RESCUE ME's brilliant Denis Leary plays a corporate bigwig who utilizes military microchips to make explicitly realistic toy soldiers. Jay Mohr, the company's designer, unknowingly uses top secret DOD microchips when programming the microchips so the soldiers are even more lethal than intended.
A young Gregory Smith (EVERWOOD) plays a disgruntled young lad who sneaks some of the new toys from the delivery driver (the ubiquitous DICK MILLER) and finds himself considered an enemy by the Commander Elite Force who are programmed to find and snuff out the Gorgonite "Scum." With expert voicing from Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Christina Ricci and cast members from the original DIRTY DOZEN movie and SPINAL TAP, the movie is a fiercely inventive movie that might be a little too violent for younger children, but older kids and young teens should find it entertaining. A young Kirsten Dunst, the late Phil Hartman and Ann Magnuson are also aboard. It's pretty good stuff all around.
Movie Review: Fun, suburban war 'Toy Story'
Summary: 4 Stars
Hey, ignore the extreme reactions that this film has generated. If you think you might enjoy a funny satire of gung-ho, war movie types, give this a try. Fans of Joe Dante's earlier films, especially GREMILNS 1 & 2 and INNERSPACE, know that his films are not very well aimed at juvenile audiences, and with SMALL SOLDIERS this still hold true. There are moments that are too intense and scary for younger children, but very entertaining for older siblings and parents. Chip Hazard is a G.I. Joe from hell, to be sure, and Tommy Lee Jones imbues him a rigid, Patton-esque manner that is hillarious. Not quite Oscar worthy, SMALL SOLDIERS is still great fun, and the DVD transfer looks beautiful. The disc comes with many extras, including those deleted scenes that many cinefiles salivate over (but we must ask ourselves "Why?" sometimes!)