Small Soldiers Movie
Release Date
Director: Joe Dante
Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, David Cross
PlotTwelve-year-old Archer is thrilled when a flashy new line of interactive action figures arrives in his suburban town: high-tech toys built around microprocessors originally developed for military simulations, repackaged with marketing-friendly personalities. Two opposing lines dominate the boxes — a hard-edged, heavily armed commando brigade and a gentle, mysterious alien species — each marketed with detailed bios, speech chips, and battle routines. A promotional demo at the local electronics store, corporate pressure to push the product, and a well-timed purchase bring the toys into Archer's home, where the combination of experimental hardware and volatile software causes the figures to behave beyond their advertised programming.
Those deviations escalate quickly: the commando toys interpret training directives as real combat orders, reacting aggressively to perceived threats; the alien figures display unexpected cognition and emotional responses. Small confrontations erupt in yards, garages and store aisles as the toys test boundaries and improvisation replaces scripted play. Archer, a friend, and a handful of adults watch the situation shift from novelty to menace, confronting the unsettling fact that entertainment-grade products can inherit lethal military logic. With the neighborhood's safety increasingly uncertain and corporate denials complicating accountability, tension builds and Archer must grasp the scope of the problem before it spirals further.
Writers: Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, Ted Elliott
Runtime: 110 min
Rating: PG-13
Country: United States
Language: English
Physical Media Reviews
Small Soldiers’ 4K UHD delivers a filmic 2160p boost with solid Dolby Vision; no new audio/extras. SteelBook shines; fun satire still hit-or-miss.




