The film was theatrically released on July 10, 1998 by DreamWorks Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $72 million against a $40 million budget. Small Soldiers marks the last on-screen film role of Phil Hartman, who was murdered two months before the film's premiere; the film is dedicated to his memory. It was also Clint Walker's final film role, prior to his retirement from acting in 1998 and death in 2018.
Plot
When top defense contractor GloboTech Industries acquires the Heartland Toy Company, CEO Gil Mars commissions toy designers Larry Benson and Irwin Wayfair to develop toys capable of "playing back". Mars selects Larry's "Commando Elite" action figures for the project with Irwin's "Gorgonites"–peaceful monsters intended to be educational toys–as their enemies. Facing a tight deadline of three months to get the toys ready for shipment, Larry unwittingly equips the toys with GloboTech's X1000 microprocessor, which he and Irwin later learns was meant for the Department of Defense.
Working at his family's toy store, teenager Alan Abernathy persuades delivery driver Joe to give him a set of the new GloboTech toys, activating Major Chip Hazard, head of the Commando Elite, and Archer, the Gorgonites' leader. Alan develops a crush on his neighbor Christy Fimple, and returns home to discover Archer in his backpack, realizing the toys are self-aware and capable of learning. That night, Chip Hazard activates his comrades to attack the Gorgonites, and Alan finds the store in disarray and the new toys missing. Christy helps clean up and Alan calls GloboTech's customer service line to file a complaint. Larry and Irwin hear his message and discover the X1000 is a military-grade artificial intelligence chip, susceptible to EMPs.
Following Alan home, the Commando Elite interrogate Archer, but Alan intervenes and is wounded by Nick Nitro whom he partially destroys in the garbage disposal. His parents hear the commotion, but refuse to believe his explanation about the toys. The next day, Alan and Archer find the Gorgonites hiding in the store's dumpster; unlike the militant Commando Elite, the Gorgonites were programmed with Irwin's original friendly and inquisitive personalities, and merely seek their home, which they believe to be in Yosemite National Park after seeing an image on Alan's computer. Tapping the Abernathys' phone line, the Commando Elite learn of Alan's interest in Christy. Infiltrating her house, they capture her younger brother Timmy, sedate their parents, and use Nick Nitro's AI chip to transform Christy's "Gwendy" fashion dolls into reinforcements. Taking Christy hostage, they demand that Alan surrender the Gorgonites.
Alan and Archer sneak into the Fimples' house and rescue Christy. The Commando Elite pursue them with improvised vehicles built in the Fimples' garage, but are destroyed in a fiery crash; only Chip Hazard survives. At the Abernathys' house, Alan, Christy, and the Gorgonites try to convince their families of the truth about the toys, and Irwin and Larry arrive to talk to Alan about his voicemail.
Chip Hazard arrives with a new army of Commando Elite and more improvised vehicles and weapons, having hijacked a recall shipment driven by Joe, and lays siege to the house, cutting off the electricity. When Irwin suggests an EMP, the group realizes they can overload the nearby power lines. Christy, Irwin, and Larry make their way to the Fimples' house to ensure a larger surge, and the Gorgonites emerge and fight back against the Commando Elite. Climbing the utility pole, Alan is attacked by Chip Hazard, who battles and defeats Archer, but Alan thrusts him into the power transformers as Larry and Irwin wedge open the breakers, triggering the EMP blast and destroying the toys.
In the morning, as the authorities clean up, Mars arrives and pays off Joe and both families for the damage. He then instructs Larry and Irwin to repurpose the Commando Elite to assist the South American rebels. Alan and Christy start a relationship and he discovers the Gorgonites survived the EMP underneath the Fimples' satellite dish. Alan brings the Gorgonites to Yosemite, sharing a goodbye before sending them off in his father's toy boat to find their home.
Cast
Gregory Smith as Alan Abernathy, a boy who befriends the Gorgonites
Kirsten Dunst as Christy Fimple, a girl and neighbor who is Alan's love interest
Jay Mohr as Larry Benson, a toy developer at Heartland Toy Company and creator of the Commando Elite
Phil Hartman as Phil Fimple, the father of Christy who has an obsession with technology
Kevin Dunn as Stuart Abernathy, the temperamental father of Alan and proprietor of a toy store
David Cross as Irwin Wayfair, a toy developer at Heartland Toy Company and creator of the Gorgonites
Ann Magnuson as Irene Abernathy, the mother of Alan
Denis Leary as Gil Mars, the CEO of GloboTech Industries
Dick Miller as Joe, a delivery truck driver for Heartland Toy Company that later gets "drafted" by Major Chip Hazard who commandeers the Commando Elite on his truck
Wendy Schaal as Marion Fimple, the mother of Christy
Robert Picardo as Ralph Quist, a technician who designed the chips that were placed in the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites
Jacob Smith as Timmy Fimple, the younger brother of Christy
Insaniac, a spinning hyperactive Gorgonite who is the residential problem solver
Troglokhan/Freakenstein, a navigator for the Gorgonites that was dismantled by the Commando Elite and was put back together by his fellow Gorgonites with misplaced body parts and a damaged radio
Harry Shearer as Punch-It, a Brontotherium-type Gorgonite and advisor of Archer who is friends with Scatch-It while serving as her occasional mode of transportation
Also featured is Ocula, a one-eyed shy Gorgonite with a long neck and three long legs that can speak in whistles and serves as their lookout.
Note: Excluding Langella, the Gorgonites are voiced by cast members from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap.
Note: Excluding Jones and Dern, the Commando Elite are voiced by cast members from the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen. Dern replaced The Dirty Dozen actor Richard Jaeckel who died before shooting began. The film was the last role for Walker before his retirement from acting.
Others
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci as the Gwendy Dolls owned by Christy that are animated by the Commando Elite to serve as their reinforcements.
Marcia Mitzman Gavin as Globotech Announcer
Production
The film was shot between November 1997 and March 1998 in locations throughout California.[3] It was co-produced by Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures (both run by Steven Spielberg) and Universal Pictures. DreamWorks, then a new company, were given the North American rights to the film, whilst the international rights were allocated to Universal. The film's script was co-written with Adam Rifkin. Rifkin had also written the script for Mouse Hunt, which was one of DreamWorks' three initial film releases from 1997.[4] 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."[5] As an example of the deleted content, he mentioned that at the end of the movie, the Abernathy's house explodes. The explosion was shot, but the studio did not want to show it on-screen. Dante believes that the studio had hopes that Small Soldiers would be the start of a film series.[6]
For the film's effects shots, Dante stated that the original idea was to use mostly puppets provided by Stan Winston, who was also involved with Mouse Hunt. However, Dante said that while shooting, it was "much simpler and cheaper" to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) after the scenes had been shot, so the film is "one-third puppetry and the rest CGI."[7]
Release
Promotion
In November 1997 (the month Small Soldiers began shooting) DreamWorks partnered with FreeZone, a youth-focused online platform, to create interactive websites for three of its upcoming films: Small Soldiers, Paulie, and Mouse Hunt. Mouse Hunt had completed shooting in July 1997 and would be released in December 1997, while Paulie had finished shooting the previous month and was in post-production, eventually being released in April 1998. The collaboration was intended to serve as an online promotional campaign, with each film receiving its own dedicated site featuring games, film clips, and contests. The website for Mouse Hunt was the first of the three to launch.[8]
Box office
Small Soldiers opened in 2,539 theaters and earned $14 million on its opening weekend, ranking third behind Lethal Weapon 4 and Armageddon.[9] At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $55.1 million in the United States and Canada and $16.6 million internationally, totaling in $71.8 million worldwide.[1]
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Small Soldiers has an approval rating of 52% based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Small Soldiers has plenty of visual razzle-dazzle, but the rote story proves disappointingly deficient in director Joe Dante's trademark anarchic spirit."[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[11]
Siskel & Ebert gave it Two Thumbs Down on their syndicated TV show. In his print review for The Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying the core concept was interesting and the effects were exceptionally good, but he was bothered by the fact Small Soldiers was essentially a violent action movie disguised as a family film: "The toys are presented as individuals who can think for themselves [...] For smaller children, this could be a terrifying experience."[12] Caroline Westbrook of Empire gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and said: "It's Gremlins with toy soldiers, except not quite as dark or funny."[13]
Lawsuit
In 2000, filmmaker Gregory P. Grant filed a suit against Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures, alleging that they had infringed on the copyright of his 1990 short film Ode to GI Joe. Grant claimed that he had met with Amblin Entertainment in 1991 to discuss the potential to expand his short film into a full feature. The project went as far as commissioning a treatment from Grant and a 16mm copy of the short film at Spielberg's request but, according to Grant, Amblin dropped the project. However, Grant added that Amblin pushed another film, at the time titled Toy Soldiers, into development nearly a month after Grant's project was passed on. Grant's attorneys stressed that several scenes and ideas from Small Soldiers were too similar and taken outright from Grant's short film and treatment.[14]
The 2020 shooter game Hypercharge: Unboxed, developed by Digital Cybercherries, drew inspiration from Small Soldiers. The development team conceived the game's idea while watching the movie on television.[15]
Burger King created a line of kids' meal toys to promote Small Soldiers. They were met with some controversy after the film received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. Burger King executives claimed this caught the company by surprise as they were led to believe the film would receive no higher than a PG rating. According to Joe Dante, the film received a PG-13 rating due to the scene in which the Commandos put drugs in Phil and Marion's drink. The pamphlet accompanying the toys included the disclaimer "While toys are suitable for children of all ages, the movie Small Soldiers may contain material that is inappropriate for younger children." Some restaurants accepted an exchange for Mr. Potato Head toys.[17][6]
Home media
In North America, the film was released on VHS and DVD in December 1998 by DreamWorks Home Entertainment.[18] During 1999, it also received LaserDisc releases in the US, the UK, France and Japan. All of these non-US LaserDisc releases were handled by Universal Home Entertainment, with the US LaserDisc handled by DreamWorks Home Entertainment.[19]
In February 2006, Viacom (now known as Paramount Skydance) acquired the North American rights to Small Soldiers, along with the rights to all 58 other live-action films DreamWorks had released since 1997, following its $1.6 billion dollar acquisition of the company's live-action film assets and television assets.[20][21]Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in the US on February 2, 2021.[22] Paramount Home Entertainment then released a 4K Ultra HD steelbook edition on July 25, 2025.[23] In North America, Paramount made the film available on its subscription streaming service Paramount+,[24] as well as on its free streaming service Pluto TV.[25]
Cancelled remake
A remake of Small Soldiers was in development by 20th Century Fox called Toymageddon. The script was purchased in January 2014, and director Justin Lin was set to produce the film. The story was described to be set in a "toy factory that begins to run amok." At that time it was not explicitly stated to be a remake of Small Soldiers.[26]
Due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney on March 20, 2019, Disney later in August cancelled the film along with over 200 other projects, which revealed the film was intended as a remake of Small Soldiers.[27][28]
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