good back-story, and good acting

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's a special boy that goes to St. Regis prep school. This one is for rich misfit kids who've been kicked out other prep schools like Groton or Exeter. But sometimes it's the rebels you need in a nasty situation.It doesn't get nastier when a of bunch terrorists take over this prep school headed by Headmaster Denholm Elliott and Dean of Boys Lou Gossett, Jr. The head of the group is Andrew Divoff who overacts the entire film. He's son of a Columbian drug lord who is now in US custody. Divoff's original target was the son of a federal judge whom he planned to kidnap and hold for ransom exchange. But when the Feds move him and he sees that the whole school is a bunch of privileged kids, he decides to hold them all for ransom for his dad.The hero of the hour turns out to be Sean Astin and his little crowd of special misfits. Turns out that Astin had a lot of the right stuff that no one but Gossett suspected he had.Toy Soldiers is a nice action oriented flick aimed at the young. Divoff is an especially nasty villain whom you want very badly to see get taken down. Mason Adams as the Assistant FBI director and R. Lee Ermey as the army guy in charge are the authority figures.More than the young will like this.

**** May contain strong spoilers ****This is a review made by StoneDraim... and that means that if you want to read a probably different kind of review, keep reading....This is my personal experience, my personal point of view/perspective and my personal opinion... and my opinion is just one of like 7 billions in this world.It is 2016. Toy Soldiers were made 1991. So... in almost every way, there has been a great development and evolution in the movie industry. With that said, I watch this good old movie with that kind of goggles on me.Remember watching this as a kid, though I should have watched it years later, as it is rated age 15. Especially one thing made the story get a grip of me and make the whole movie stand out; watch 1 minute and 16 minutes. How often did you (or do you) see a main character go off...? Remember myself shouting right out "NO! NO! NO! He will survive...he will survive!!!" and tears pouring down my cheeks. Now, 2016... yes, it still brings tears to my eyes... along with that similar "Indiana Jones" tune solemnly embracing the situation.And...here we go again... everybodys' name is Jack, Michael Champion.A really nice thriller flick surrounding a nostalgic trip that has some flaws here and there. All in all, I highly recommend Toy Soldiers.Over to the movie as a product: - The production : An amazing soundtrack! That tune has been a dear friend of mine through the years from the first time I saw Toy Soldiers. Otherwise, great production being 1991. Cheesy in some way, yes. Hits me kind of hard how authentic the blood and the wounds is, and how it is conveyed, as it is still 1991. Some awful editing also here and there... examples; the high tones within the dramatic music "Regis School" at the same time as the fire alarm goes off is confusing..... the terrorist leader is in full zoom and does the same thing with his fingers and words as seconds later in a full room shot.....at 1:32, Billy move out from the desk, and the next cut of editing he is still under it; bad editing. - The actors : Sean Astin, the leader in Goonies and leader in Toy Soldiers. Nice to see him making it upfront in this motion picture. I see some similarity between him and Cuba Gooding Jr.; same type of "forced and still authentic" acting. Pushes themselves to act in a reality sense, and gets away with it. Wil Wheaton acts amazing... sorry, Sheldon... he IS good! - Entertainment : Oh, yes! And, again, keep in mind this is a fair and square action thriller with a group of youth teenagers making their manners count, all made back in 1991. If you compare this to "The Silence Of The Lambs" (also 1991), then you will understand why the rating is different. And at the same time, as written before in reviews of this motion picture; Toy Soldiers is underrated on IMDb. - Age : 158,0 out of 10. (The final rate is based most on my own entertainment of the movie. Short elucidation of the rating: 8 Excellent movie and a solid production 7 Well made movie. Proper entertainment.)

Colombian terrorist Luis Cali is ruthless in trying to rescue his drug lord father Enrique Cali but he's been secretly sent to America. His group infiltrates into the US to take over The Regis School for boys run by the Headmaster (Denholm Elliott). One of the kids is the son of the judge presiding over Cali's trial but he's been taken into protective custody. However the terrorists find other sons of powerful men. One of them is mobster's son Joey Trotta (Wil Wheaton). Dean Parker (Louis Gossett Jr.) is outside with the police. Billy Tepper (Sean Astin) is the lead delinquent in a school full of delinquents.The terrorists release all the staff except the headmaster. Also they give the kids just enough freedom. All of it is aim to jerry-rig the situation where the kids make a plan to overcome the terrorists. I don't think any terrorist would just let their hostages walk around. It's a kiddie John McClane with a lot of unlikely twists and turns. The plot is unrealistic but it's still a watchable thriller.

Billy Tepper is the leader of a group of rebellious guys at The Regis School. He has already been expelled from three prominent private schools.His best friend, Joey Trotta, is the son of the Head of the New York Mafia; Billy, all their friends and many other kids at the school have equally influential and prominent, if more law-abiding, parents.When Luis Cali's father is put in jail, he heads for the Regis school to put the son of the judge in charge of the case under hostage, only to find he has been removed.However, once he realises who the parents of the rest are, he decides the entire student body of the Regis school would be an even better bargaining chip.....Easily the most insane of the Die Hard rip offs, toy soldiers is a good movie, very sadistic in some parts, but it suffers from one thing.....the main bad guy is one of the worst villains ever seen on screen.he is too nice to his hostages, and the one person he lets go, because he is nice, ends up getting shot. Only when the whole plan goes awry, does he finally get nasty, but by then it's far too late.But luckily the film concentrates on the then new wannabe Brat Pack, whom whilst not the most talented people out there, do hold their own against the seasoned actors featured.The film mixes humour with the action, and while the film is very funny in places, one cannot help but notice the very dark aspects of the film, particularly the opening scene, which feels out of place in what is basically a high school movie.It's clear in some scenes that the makers were trying to make big stars out of the cast, and while it's worked in respect for astin, sadly the others have faded into obscurity, which is a shame, because they all do a great job.It's one of these long forgotten movies that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, as when it comes around every now and again, it's a right old treat to watch.