Let's be realistic.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

From my favorite movies..

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Seeing this movie again in 2017 brought up great memories for me of what I would watch all the time as a kid. I love how these toys had a mind of their own and decided to attack humans. I thought this movie was hilarious especially with the business man. And also giving the toys to have the ability to gain personality and attack the other toys showed a little bit of a Chucky Doll killing or attack.

This is a pure nostalgia flick that I still find entertaining and still brings back memories from my childhood. I was a toddler when this came out, and I remember finding this really awesome and not being fooled into thinking this was real. Anybody that says this is too intense for children must forget about 8 and 9-year-olds. The most obvious influence this draws from is Toy Story. But it also has some Terminator aspects and Gremlins aspects too. Director Joe Dante directed Gremlins, so there are subtle references to it such as a mini toy of Gizmo in the dumpster and the computer code word being Gizmo. The Terminator aspect is dealt with wild advancement in technology and insane robots (despite these robots being one-foot-tall). Small Soldiers starts off with two toy creators named Irwin and Larry (David Cross and Jay Mohr) who must deal with their company being bought and some changes being made by powerful military expert Gil Mars (Denis Leary). Mars wants the newest toys to actually play back with their owner. This leads to state-of-the-art military chips being placed inside the newest brand of toys: waring factions called the Commando Elite and Gorgonites. Gorgonites are ugly aliens designed to lose against the Commandos. Eventually, the toys will come to life and wreck havoc everywhere they are. Increase the size of these toys, and you get Terminators.Three months later, teenager Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) works part-time at his father's (Kevin Dunn) boring toy store. He persuades his delivery man into giving him a exclusive sneak peek into the Commandos and Gorgonites. Gorgonite leader, Archer, (voiced by Frank Langella) follows Alan and warns him of impending danger, but Alan just thinks it's cool how well a toy can communicate with him. That night, the Commando Elite break out of their boxes and destroy his dad's store. Who's going to believe a group of toys wrecked a store and will destroy all else?Eventually, the movie takes a turn for the darker and grittier as Alan's house becomes a war zone. Commandos seize hold of all they can get and must battle the humans in a deadly combat. It is hard to take seriously and you can't really rationalize everything, but it is rather easy to see how realistic it is. The movie may be simplified in its display, but it was even freaky of possibility during its release almost 20-years ago. Technology has upgraded massively since then...Whatever. The movie is a fun adrenaline rush with humans caught between feuding toys. The action is awesome and the animatronics are great. I still have the dolls of Commandos Brick Bazooka and leader Major Chip Hazard (voiced by Tommy Lee Jones). This three-way clash makes for great entertainment.

When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously.On making the film, director Joe Dante recalled "Originally I was told to make an edgy picture for teenagers, but when the sponsor tie-ins came in the new mandate was to soften it up as a kiddie movie. Too late, as it turned out, and there are elements of both approaches in there. Just before release it was purged of a lot of action and explosions." There does seem to be some confusion on what the film was supposed to be or even what it is now. I avoided the film for years, thinking it was just a bunch of talking toys. Then director Jeff Burr (whom I admire) said to give it another chance, so I decided to give it a go and found it to be much more than just toys and actually a rather interesting and intelligent film.And, to be fair, even if it was just the toys... the effects are pretty darn good. I don't know if it's animation or what, but it looks really good, far better than most other things of the time period (late 1990s).

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.