Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Sam Panico A Joe Dante movie always like a conflict — a battle between blockbuster and personal statement, led by a filmmaker with keen commercial instinct, yet the heart of a non-conformist. Through it all, one walks away with the feeling that while the film itself may have some rough edges, there's a true love for movie-making (heck, movies themselves) at the core. That makes perfect sense — before Dante was in the industry, he wrote opinionated mini-reviews for the Castle of Frankenstein magazine. After apprenticing as an editor for Roger Corman, he directed Piranha and The Howling, the latter a film that is a veritable love letter to the history of werewolves on film wrapped within a postmodernist take on them. Again, always that juxtaposition.Perhaps Dante's biggest monetary — if not critical — success was 1984's Gremlins, which is covered in great detail within this tome, as is its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. But for the purpose of this article, please indulge some backstory: the former is a cute and cuddly big budget affair on one hand; an incredibly dark, depressing and borderline horror film on the other. There aren't many family pleasing films that detail father figures dying in chimneys and left unfound for months, after all. And the latter is sequel that does everything but scream at the viewer that sequels are inferior cash grabs devoid of art while simultaneously throwing everything that Dante and a fleet of the most talented FX guys and animators can invent at the screen, including Chuck Jones coming out of retirement and an insane Hulk Hogan cameo (look, any movie where Paul Bartel asks for the Hulkster's help dealing with unruly Gremlins in a movie theater demands numerous rewatches).1998's Small Soldiers is, on the surface, all about war. And again — it's a picture at war with itself. GloboTech Industries — no relation to GloboChem, despite David Cross's appearance in the film — has acquired the Heartland Toy Company. CEO Gil Mars (Dennis Leary) demands toys that play back, so he selects two toylines — Irwin Wayfair's (the aforementioned David Cross) Gorgonites and Larry Benson's (Jay Mohr) Commando Elite — and combines them into one storyline of forces at war with one another. Thanks to a tight deadline, safety testing is ignored and Benson uses GloboTech's overly powerful X1000 microprocessor to be part of the toys — which makes them self-aware. Trivia note — the stolen password that Benson uses is Gizmo, a reference, of course, to Gremlins.There's another war between perception and reality. The toys cast as the bad guys, the Gorgonites, are caring individuals who want to protect the planet, while the militaristic GI Joe- esque Commandos become the heels.So what happens when they arrive at toy stores? That's answered when Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith, whose character is potentially named for Clayton Abernathy, GI Joe's Duke) purchases the entire line from delivery driver Joe (Dick Miller, who appears in every one of Dante's films). Alan discovers that the toys are living and breathing sentient beings when Archer sneaks away in his backpack. Upon returning to his dad's store the next day, the Commando Elite have awakened and decimated the Gorgonites and the rest of the store, leaving traditional, non-mass produced toys a smoking wreck.Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/08/18/small-soldiers-1998/

Hitchcoc I guess after Toy Story, we were about to have all the copy cats come rolling out. Those old soldiers that we all had as little boys were not very interesting. They were mostly left to stand in places. I remember using them as little bowling pins and knocking them over with a baseball. They are probably the simplest toys, with their sort of yuck green color and lack of any sort of flexibility. Of course, true to their position in the toy world, they are going to go on a mission of some sort, using their combat skills. There are a few jokes, but, for the most part, there is almost no personality, no supporting characters like a Buzz Lightyear. But for kids who just want to watch toys moving around, I'm sure this is satisfying. By the way, the one with the gas mask used to really freak me out.

luke-a-mcgowan 1. This is one of those movies I watched as a kid and enjoyed now for nostalgia purposes. I think the DVD I watched this on was one of the first DVDs ever made.2. Top notch casting, even if some of the voice acting doesn't have the heft of Inside Out or The Lion King. Tommy Lee Jones aces it as Major Chip Hazard.3. Add a star for the Patton spoof where Chip Hazard recites every single cliché American speech line and turns it into the most patriotic speech ever made.4. The screenplay never takes itself too seriously but at the same time doesn't feel cheesy. Its a tough balance to walk for a movie about killer army men, but they handle it well.5. Its a delight to see Phil Hartman on film (his final screen appearance). Of the on-screen cast, Kirsten Dunst charms the audience easily as Christy and Kevin Dunn makes a mark as Alan's father. Gregory Smith is adequate as the film's protagonist Alan, playing him as a T2- era John Connor. Ann Magnusson has a very memorable moment towards the end with a tennis racket.6. Dennis Leary absolutely owns the entire screen as Gil Mars. I don't use that phrase lightly, but when Leary is on screen the whole movie is elevated dramatically. It is a Velma Kelly level of screen presence.7. The love story between Alan and Christy is goofy. Her boyfriend is barely an obstacle because she doesn't seem to even like him that much. She flirts with Alan in the same breath as saying that she only dates older boys.8. The battle sequences are fantastic, a great blend of practical effects and CGI. The use of standard house tools and items somehow raises the stakes to an incredible level.9. Its a great family movie but above all else it is just a delightful movie to sit down and watch. Certainly above average in all respects.

mattzizelmann This movie was the worst movie I have ever seen. The acting was so bad I wanted to puke, the soldiers were so stupid I wanted to pass out, and the lines of this movie were so ridiculously bad I wanted to die. "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean its not there." I mean what the ****! This movie SOMEHOW managed to get decent ratings. If someone says this movie was good, I am going to punch them. I hope this director never makes any movie again. This movie was so bad, if he made any other movies, the average rating would probably be -345671254312698215469. I hope they never come out with a sequel. If they do, I will break all of there cameras in half. They might as well record a coffee cup, and that would still be better than this movie. Unbelievable.