Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously. Small Soldiers is incredibly underrated and was unfortunately a bit ahead of it's time and sure it kinda reminds a bit of Toy Story but it also does things of it's own mixing Warriors against Commando's and the whole thing just works perfectly. Plus the casting is really good since well known actors such as Kirsten Dunst and the late Phil Hartman can be seen in here plus another good Dick Miller role as well. (10/10)

"Small Soldiers" is a decent enough '90s family film. My only complaint is that the movie felt a bit long, but I mostly liked it otherwise. Phil Hartman was a great addition - sadly, it was his last film. I still love watching old SNL episodes from his run. This film has a creative plot, great visuals for the time, some humour, great film references - from 2001 to Apocalypse Now - and was an altogether entertaining film.

Small Soldiers is one of those B movies which you would probably skip if you heard the premise of it. I revisited it today since it was on the Encore Action channel at the cabin I am staying in, and I can say there's a reason I did not remember much of this movie since watching it in my childhood.So the premise is basically this: take Toy Story, mix it into a live action film, separate the toys into 2 rival gangs who fight each other, and finally, make the toys dumber and more aggressive than they were in Toy Story. Oh, and make it PG-13, because if there's any way to improve a movie with a premise which should be kid-marketed, it's by making that movie PG-13.While the CGI is poor and the "action" of the film doesn't necessarily entertain me, Small Soldiers has some good thematic material, although it is somewhat typical of an action film of this nature. A good amount of the thematic material has to deal with not surrendering, fighting/violence is not the answer, and so forth. A good one that goes beyond the typical themes in action films is that a line is revisited: "Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there" or something along the lines of that.The way they set up the premise for this film was pretty strange; two toy engineers came up with two different sets of toys – one alien, one a group of soldiers – and their boss had the great idea of making the two sets rivals. Then, the guy who created the soldiers ordered microprocessors for both sets of toys, which happened to be used by the military, which meant the toys became very dangerous once activated. They became a type of artificial intelligence, though one side character described it as being more like "actual intelligence." To avoid the entire nation being terrorized by the aggressive "commandos," the film conveniently made it so that one kid who worked at his dad's toy shop would be able to "test" these toys before their actual release. This kid is, of course, the main character of the film, and of course he got his own romantic subplot with a young Kirsten Dunst.This film was a little bit of an upset in my opinion – they could have waited a few years until CGI was a bit better, they could have made this more kid-friendly which probably would have made it much more profitable, and the plot was somewhat sloppily put together. This film has a good aesthetic and passes for a good B movie, but it is not a film I would revisit often.

*Spoiler/plot- Small Soldiers, 1998. A comedy about a mix-up at a major toy manufacturer's factory that releases 12 inch toy action figures that have amazing capabilities. The mix-up is that military super chips from war weapons have been incorporated into child toys. The toys become intelligent and cause havoc.*Special Stars- Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst, Kevin Dunn, Phil Hartman, Ann Magnuson.*Theme- The military's progress is often dangerous or questionable.*Trivia/location/goofs- Funny man Phil Hartman's last film and the film is dedicated to him & his legacy. THe film's director Joe Dante is a huge film fan and his films usually cast the same major actors that have appeared in his past films. Look for familiar actor's faces. Shot at Universal sound stage and Warner Studios ranch for village scenes.*Emotion- A wonderfully clever and interesting film plot that develops some very funny drama involving a family and action figures. I'm a little biased on this point of this review. I worked on the film for many weeks and enjoyed the cast & crew. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CheckingtheGate/message/8.*Based on- Recent toy and military advances in the news media.