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Small Soldiers

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Small Soldiers
Promotional poster for US release of Small Soldiers
Directed byJoe Dante
Written byGavin Scott
Adam Rifkin
Produced byMichael Finnell
Colin Wilson
StarringGregory Smith
Kirsten Dunst
Jay Mohr
Phil Hartman
Kevin Dunn
David Cross
Ann Magnuson
Dick Miller
Wendy Schaal
Robert Picardo
Jacob Smith
Denis Leary
Tommy Lee Jones
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed by- USA -
DreamWorks
- International -
Universal Studios
Release date
July 10, 1998 (USA & Canada)
Running time
110 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40,000,000
Box office$71,743,823

Small Soldiers is a 1998 action/science fiction film directed by Joe Dante and starring Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst, Jay Mohr and Phil Hartman.

Plot summary

The Heartland Toy Company is acquired (and renamed Heartland Playsystems) by the multinational conglomerate GloboTech Industries, a division of Gannett Company which is expanding from manufacturing high-quality military hardware. GloboTech CEO, Gil Mars, pays a visit to Heartland to meet with Larry Benson and Irwin Wayfair concerning their newest projects, which involve the creation of intelligent, interactive toys. Irwin introduces the Gorgonites, creatures built for educational purposes, while Larry introduces the Commando Elite, a group of gung-ho supersoldiers. Gil supports Larry's concept more, but complains when he observes a promotional advert for the toys, complaining that the toys cannot actually do what they can do in the advert (e.g. punch a hole through a box), so he tasks Irwin and Larry to develop actual live-action toys capable of 'playing back'. Although originally not interested in the Gorgonites, he allows them to be incorporated into the line of toys as the Commando Elite's enemies/victims. In order to get the money rolling, Mars also orders drastic shortcuts in the production time, which eliminates testing periods for product safety. That night, Larry searches through GloboTech's hardware online database and decides to use an intelligent AI munitions computer chip to power the toys, the X-1000, which are put on production. Unfortunately, as it later turns out, these chips tend to enhance their basic programming, making them capable of evolving but also prone to over-dedication in their basic pursuits.

A collection of the toys is distributed to an old toy store owned by the Abernathy family, their son Alan signing off for the toys. He and a delivery truck driver Joe investigate the toys, introducing the Gorgonites' leader Archer, and the Commando Elite's leader Chip Hazard. Alan's next door neighbour's daughter, Christie Fimple, visits the store with her younger brother, shopping for a birthday present for him. Alan expresses interest in her, but she reveals that she is dating another boy. That night, Alan discovers Archer has somehow snuck into his rucksack and quickly realises he is more than an interactive toy but a sentient individual, who is following his toy programming and trying to learn. The Commando Elite awaken, and seek to destroy the Gorgonites, seemingly destroying the ones present in the toy store. Discovering Archer is still alive, Chip and his squad manage to pursue Alan to his home and attempt to kill him and Archer. Alan is attacked by Nick Nitro, who he mortally wounds using a garbage disposal. The Commando Elite retreat to the Fimples' garage, where Nick dies in Chip's arms.

Alan and Archer search the toy store for the Gorgonites, eventually finding them in the dumpster outside. Taking them back to his house, Alan learns the group seek their homeland called Gorgon, and mistake Yosemite National Park for their land. The Commando Elite, aware of Alan's interest in Christie, invade the Fimples' house. They drug Christie's parents with sleeping pills, place her brother Timmy captive in a closet, turn Christie's collection of Gwendy dolls into mercenaries, and finally capture Christie herself. They send a video message to Alan, telling him to surrender the Gorgonites or Christie will die. Alan and Archer sneak into the Fimples' house to save Christie, and are then pursued down the street by the Commando Elite who use heavily armed improvised vehicles, but they are all destroyed during the chase - except Chip, who locates a truck full of Commando toys (which have been recalled) driven by Joe.

At Alan's house, Irwin and Larry seek out Alan after monitoring a phone call from him regarding the toys and finding out the potential danger from the chips Larry had ordered. Chip attacks the house with a small army of Commandos, equipped with large numbers of improvised vehicles and weapons, including a miniature helicopter, a machine gun which shoots nails, and makeshift artillery. A battle breaks out between the Commando Elite and the humans inside. During the battle, the humans realise they can fry the toys' chips with an EMP blast. Alan heads out to destroy a nearby powerline, which would create such a pulse; Christie, Irwin and Larry head to the Fimples' house to turn all the electronic items inside to reinforce the pulse. The Gorgonites, who have been hiding for most of the film, exit the house and fight back against Commando Elite. Chip helicopters to the top of the powerline pole, where he briefly battles and defeats Archer, who had been hoisted onto the pole by means of a grappling hook to aid Alan. Chip confronts Alan, who seizes Chip and jams him into the powerline, triggering an EMP blast which knocks Alan to the ground, where he is confronted by dozens of Commandos and Gwendy toys. However, Christie emerges with a lawn mower, destroying large numbers of them. The blast's effects kills all of the remaining Commando Elite and Gwendy toys, including Chip, and the humans and Gorgonites win.

The next day, while the police and firefighters are still mopping up the site, Gil Mars arrives in his helicopter. He quickly proceeds to bribe Joe, the Fimples, and the Abernathys into silence by handing them extremely large checks. He then orders Larry and Irwin to get in touch with Globotech's military division: the Commando Elite might be unsuitable as toys, but they're obviously well-suited for actual combat. Alan and Christie share a kiss. Alan then discovers that the Gorgonites survived the EMP blast, by hiding underneath a large satellite dish that the Fimples bought, and since their mind is set on finding Gorgon, he accompanies them into Yosemite National Park and sends them out in a large toy boat from his father's store.

Characters

The Gorgonites

The Gorgonites are the heroes.

  • Archer - The leader of the Gorgonites. As his name suggests, Archer is armed with a crossbow attached to his left arm. Archer is the bravest of the Gorgonites.
  • Ocula - A one-eyed creature who's very shy. It can only speak in screeches unlike the others, and doesn't seem adverse to put its only eye in jeopardy.
  • Punch-It & Scratch-It - They're constant companions. Punch-It resembles a humanoid Brontotherium, while Scratch-It looks like an orange legless creature who resembles a frog and walks on her hands. She sits on Punch-It when traveling.
  • Insaniac - A hyperactive purple creature. He spins about like the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes and speaks very quickly. His weapon is a Flail.
  • Slamfist - A hunchback, he's Archer's best friend. His left hand is replaced by large boulder-like fist. He's intellectually slow, but his fist is a powerful and useful weapon.
  • Freakenstein - Originally known as Troglokhan, Freakenstein is a Frankenstein's creature-like creature. He was disassembled by the Commandos when they wreaked havoc in the toy store and rebuilt by the Gorgonites with a radio as part of the body.

The Commando Elite

The Commando Elite are the villains.

Cast

Voice actors

Rating

Though classified as a family film, the film received a rating of PG-13 for drug references and war mischief.

Reception

Small Soldiers received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it is rated 48% on the tomatometer, with an average rating of 6.2/10.

Soundtrack

Main article: Small Soldiers (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing classic rock blended with hip hop was released on July 7, 1998 by DreamWorks Records. It peaked at 103 on the Billboard 200.

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