11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome special effects, January 6, 2004
For pure entertainment value and eye-candy alone, I really enjoyed this film. The acting was good, even though the plot was full of holes and the script had some extremely cheesy lines. It was good to see Phil Hartman on screen, but his talent was wasted in this flick - his character was a minor one and he didn't get many lines.
The premise: a military defense contractor expands its boundaries by buying up a successful toy company, hoping to put surplus chips to use by remarketing them as toys.
Two races of action figures - soldiers (human) and Gorgonites (totally dissimilar to each other, from the planet Gorgon, both are programmed to be mortal enemies. The soldiers are programmed to win, the Gorgonites are programmed to either hide or lose.
Apparently no testing takes place before they hit the shelves and the soldiers are ruthless, ripping the Gorgonites limb from limb.
They decide that children who play with Gorgonites must also be destroyed, as they are perceived as being collaborators with the enemy. Needless to say, this is entertainmen for grownups, not for little ones.
The chips that are used in them give them artificial intelligence - the ability to learn and to create new weapons using anything they find. Almost like "Universal Soldier" along with the passion and emotion.
Archer, protector of the Gorgonites, is the true heartwarming character of the film. He is homesick for Gorgon, and even though the planet only exists in the mind of the toymakers that marketed him, he longs to be home.
Alan, a boy trying to re-earn the trust from his parents, has a hard time proving that toys are the ones wreaking havoc until they are caught in the act.
In the end, it becomes a literal fight to the death between the small soldiers and the children and their parents.
The film falls short in that it doesn't know if it's a farce, a parody, a comedy, an action flick or a drama. They try to put in way too much, so most of it falls flat.
The scenes with the attacking Barbies is more creepy like "The Stepford Wives" than it is funny, even though you get the jokes in what are supposed to be comic relief moments.
Still, this is well worth watching for the animitronics and for sci fi concepts.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutely delightful, action-packed and imaginative!, December 22, 1998
my dvd arrived today, from amazon.com (great service!) i bought it after reading some of the other reviews by on line viewers, and DAMN! they were right! i had a ball! not really knowing what to expect, but relying on the past expertise of joe dante and the spielberg factory, i sat back and WOW! it floored me. great animation, great action, terrific and imaginative storytelling, with a really good cast. it was the most enjoyable purchase of this holiday season. and it really kicks b--t on the dvd format! great visuals, awesome 5.1 digital sound. now i know why it has been on the charts for so many weeks. all of you undecided's out there-go for it. you will have a ball. i recommend it to everyone and of all ages. you will not be disappointed. merry christmas, y'all and thanks to amazon.com for getting it to me in 2 days flat ane even with the holiday mail in full swing.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mirror of "Gremlins", February 18, 2002
If you ever saw the movie "Gremlins" and enjoyed it, you will have the same reaction to "Small Soldiers". Although it is an action movie with a few rather violent scenes, the similarities between these two movies are unmistakable. Aspects of the story like the fact that the leader of the villians survives until the last 15 minutes of the movie and the fact that the villians manage to come back at the heroes in even greater numbers after they are seemingly destroyed make "Small Soldiers practically a reflection of "Gremlins". As I said before, if you liked one of these films, you will certainly like the other!
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