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.

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.

Small Soldiers is a little too flawed to get a perfect five star rating,but non the less,it's a really really good flick.

The story is a little predictable,the characters severely lack development,some of the dialog is totally out of place,and the special effects are flawed due to overbrightened animation and looking a bit too "computery".

However,despite those flaws,Small Soldiers has a lot to offer that'll keep you in stitches throughout the entire film. There are plenty of in-jokes (keep an eye open on the trash dumpster the second time around.You'll find a figureine of Gizmo from Gremlins in it) and if your a horror movie fan,you should probably give it a look.The sequence when the Commando Elite figures jerry-rig tools from a neighbor's garage and transform them into weapons,is taken from the Hardware store scene from Phantasm II.

The story is like this: a super rich Global corporation create two lines of action figures: The Commando Elite,G.I. Joe-type mercenaries and the Gorgonites,a band of incredibly ugly but peace-loving monsters who are actually warm and friendly despite their hideous appearance.

The toys are implanted with super-intelligent computer chips which give them the ability to walk,talk and fight with enemy figures.The chips are a bit too advanced however,and the toys soon come to life.

The Commando Elite figures are hell bent on destroying the Gorgonites,as that's their programming.They create weapons from household hardware items,which include butane flamethrowers, rapid-fire nail guns,chainsaws,knives,fireworks (bottle rockets, firecrackers,etc) as well as a large number of vehicles,such as sawblade tanks,bottle-rocket launching makeshift helicopters, and half-tracks with very nasty nail guns mounted on top.

The Gorgonites meanwhile take refuge in a boy's house hiding from the Commandos (the Gorgonites are programmed to hide). However,the Commandos soon find out their location,and stage World War III in Suburbia USA.

Small Soldiers has a lot of twists and turns along the way. Despite total lack of character development,the acting is still great (the actress who plays Christy is wonderful!) and the voice-overs for the Commandos and Gorgonites are absolutely fantastic.The action sequences are also very clever and amusing and the music score is incredible and fits in perfectly.The gags in the film are also very plentiful,so expect to be laughing throughout nearly the entire film.

Overall,Small Soldiers is a very flawed yet awesome movie that desereves to be in your video collection.

On a side note,although many people argue that it's too violent for a kid's movie,it's not at all a bad film for kids.It may be a little nasty for some kids,but boys ages 8-12,who are obviously the film's target audience,will find a whole lot to like and will probably think it's the best film ever.