Small Soldiers (1998)

"What are you worried about? They're only toys..."

'Toy Story’ meets ‘The Terminator’.

Globotech Industries designs an action figure embedded with a military microchip that brings the toys to life.

The nostalgia is strong in this one.

It's scary to think that 'Small Soldiers' was released when I was 5... Alongside ‘Space Jam’ this was one of my favourite films growing up and I'm pretty sure I wore out my old VHS copy of both. I was excited and nervous to revisit ‘Small Soldiers’ after so many years because, on the one hand, it’d be great to relive it but, on the other, it might not be as good as I remember...

Fortunately, even with age and experience, I still loved ‘Small Soldiers’ as much as I did when I was a boy. The magic hasn’t gone and neither has the fun so my fond memories, thankfully, haven't been destroyed.  

It’s funny what you remember and what you don’t when you revisit a childhood film. There was a lot that I actually didn’t remember but this didn’t make a difference because I was hooked again and was laughing straight from the beginning.

Two Globotech designers make a toy that can move and interact with children, not realising that the microchip they implant in them is for military use only. The toys come to life and the commandos take their programming extremely seriously and vow to hunt down the Gorgonites at all costs. Let the fun and toy violence begin. 

There’s a lot of humour for children in the film but what I enjoyed was the fact that, returning as an adult, there was new "grown up" material for me to discover. Hidden crude jokes and adult themes make for some humorous moments that were totally fresh for me. It's always the sign of a good kids movie if the parents can enjoy it just as much. Pixar tend to have this balance nailed and, as it turns out, DreamWorks did too before they moved to become DreamWorks Animation.

It has a lot of subtle homages and throwbacks in there that I'd obviously never noticed when I was young. Movie references and cameos are the most prominent, even down to the casting with George Kennedy, Clint Walker, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown, who all play toy commandos in the film, all actually played soldiers in the original ‘The Dirty Dozen’.

I had totally forgotten about the appearance of a very young Kirsten Dunst who doesn’t seem to age like regular human beings... She actually has some decent chemistry with Gregory Smith who, unlike Dunst, hasn't went on to do much more. For two child actors, they hold the film together and have as much fun with it as we do. Tommy Lee Jones even voices Chip Hazard, the main toy villain, which makes it all the funnier. 

'Small Soldiers' has a badass attitude and it's so much fun because of the subject matter. At the end of the day it's toys that are attacking each other but that doesn't even matter because of the style that it brings. It's got a banging soundtrack featuring the likes of Queen and Led Zeppelin which just adds to the attitude. The action, for being toys, is exciting and pretty violent when you break down what is actually going on. A lot of this has to do with director Joe Dante who also directed 'Gremlins' which has a similar borderline tone for kids and adults. 

For me, this was the golden age of CGI work. CGI was just being introduced but practical effects were still at the helm of filmmaking. This meant that a wonderful blend of CGI and practical effects was being used. CGI was only used when something couldn’t be done practically which is the way it should be. It was only meant to enhance the practical effects rather than replace them. ‘Small Soldiers’ still looks great and the effects still hold up today which is a testament to the balance that was found at this time. 

What I loved about this film growing up and revisiting it now is the fact that the toys have real personality and character. You invest in the idea that they are alive because they're not just purely created in a computer. They are physical toys that move and react like toys would and, when CGI is used, it's so well mixed in with the live action moments that you just believe it.

Overall, ‘Small Soldiers’ is as much for grown ups as it is for kids and I'm glad that I've been able to enjoy it as both. 

I would not like to see what these toys would do to poor old Woody and Buzz...