Search - Small Soldiers [DTS] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 1998 DVD Release: 07/06/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Studio: DreamWorks Members Wishing: 13 Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Action Comedy, Fantasy Comedy, Sci-Fi Comedy, Family-Oriented Comedy See Also: Small Soldiers

Joe Dante directed this satirical action-comedy about talking tech toys accidentally juiced-up with military microchips. After the defense industry firm Globotech takes over a small toy company, Heartland Play Systems' CEO Gil Mars (Denis Leary) gives the green light to develop a new line of action figures, requesting an upgrade to more realistic figures from Heartland toy designers Larry Benson (Jay Mohr) and fumbling Irwin Wayfair (David Cross). Mars wants toys that act like the ones in TV commercials. The results are fierce fighting figures, the Commando Elite, programmed to seek out and destroy the kindly alien-like Gorgonites. In an effort to make the toys as natural as possible, Benson inserts Globotech's most powerful military computer chips. Meanwhile, in quiet Winslow Corners, Ohio, toy-store owner Stuart Abernathy (Kevin Dunn) and his 15-year-old son Alan (Gregory Smith) are stuck in a failing business, so when Heartland truckdriver Joe (Dick Miller) stops by with the Commando and Gorgonite toys, Alan is convinced they will be hot sellers, commenting, "Maybe this store will finally make a little money." With blistering blows to their blister packs, the Commandos burst out, receive orders from their leader Chip Hazard (voice of Tommy Lee Jones) and ready for an all-out assault on the Gorgonites. When the Gorgonite leader Archer (voice of Frank Langella) begins communicating with Alan, it causes the Commandos to perceive humans as another enemy, simply by their association with the "Gorgonite scum," so an attack on the Abernathy house begins. Unfortunately, the Gorgonites can offer only limited assistance, since they have been programmed to lose. The film combines animatronics, puppetry, and computer animation. The Commando Elite voices include surviving actors from Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967), while the Gorgonite voices reunited several This Is Spinal Tap (1983) cast members. A dedication to Phil Hartman (the voice of Phil Fimple) after the closing credits features a brief Hartman outtake. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Kirsten Dunst - Christy Fimple
Gregory Smith - Alan Abernathy
Jay Mohr - Larry Benson
Phil Hartman - Phil Fimple
Kevin Dunn - Stuart Abernathy

Joe Dante's action-figure action movie Small Soldiers receives a fairly substantial DVD presentation. Along with a widescreen, anamorphic transfer and Dolby Digital Surround and 5.1 Audio, the disc also includes cast and crew biographies, production notes, a few deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and a demo of the Small Soldiers interactive game. Though a commentary by Dante or a "making of" featurette would have been nice, Small Soldiers is still an entertaining DVD for one of the edgiest and most creative family films of the '90s. ~ Heather Phares, All Movie Guide