Small Soldiers [Blu-ray]

Director: Joe Dante Joe Dante

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/02/2021
UPC:	0032429258199
Original Release:	1998
Source:	Paramount
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	4,336

Special Features

Available for the first time on Blu-ray, 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.

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gregory Smith	Alan Abernathy
Denis Leary	Gil Mars
Phil Hartman	Phil Fimple
David Cross	Irwin Wayfair
Jay Mohr	Larry Benson
Kirsten Dunst	Christy Fimple
Kevin Dunn	Stuart Abernathy
Ann Magnuson	Irene Abernathy
Wendy Schaal	Marion Fimble
Alexandra Wilson	Ms. Kegel
Dick Miller	Joe
Robert Picardo	Ralph
Tommy Lee Jones	Maj. Chip Hazard,Chip Hazard
Frank Langella	Archer
Ernest Borgnine	Kip Killagin
Jim Brown	Butch Meathook
Bruce Dern	Link Static
George Kennedy	Brick Bazooka
Clint Walker	Nick Nitro
Christopher Guest	Slamfist/Scratch-It
Michael McKean	Insaniac/Freakenstein
Harry Shearer	Punch-It
Christina Ricci	Gwendy Doll
Sarah Michelle Gellar	Gwendy Doll
Jonathan Bouck	Actor
Archie Hahn	Actor
Julius Tennon	Toy World Supervisor
Belinda Balaski	Neighbor
Rance Howard	Husband
Jackie Joseph	Wife
Cheri Oteri	Globotech Telephone Operator
Marcia Mitzman Gaven	Globotech Announcer
Jerry Goldsmith	Composer

Technical Credits

Adam Rifkin

Ted Elliott

Terry Rossio

Zak Penn

Gavin Scott

Joe Dante	Director
Adam Rifkin	Screenwriter
Ted Elliott	Screenwriter
Terry Rossio	Screenwriter
Michael Finnell	Producer
Colin Wilson	Producer
Alexandra Altrocchi	Special Effects
Jim Arnett	Stunts
Leslie Barnett	Special Effects
Denise Chamian	Casting
Erik Mattson	Special Effects
Amanda Montgomery	Special Effects
Walter F. Parkes	Executive Producer,Producer
Kenneth Pepiot	Special Effects
Michele Spina	Special Effects
Stan Winston	Special Effects
Nancy Barker	Sound Effects
Ron Bartlett	Sound Effects
Thom Brennan	Sound Effects
Norval D. Crutcher III	Sound Effects
Zak Penn	Screenwriter
Steven Spielberg	Producer
Al Laverde	Key Grip
Gavin Scott	Screenwriter
Norval D. Crutcher III	Sound Editor
Ken King	Sound/Sound Designer
Paul Deason	Producer