Small Soldiers

Play trailer

Small Soldiers

PG-13

1998

1h 50m

Comedy

Action

Fantasy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

53%

Tomatometer

49 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When teenager Alan (Gregory Smith) buys a set of Commando Elite action figures, he's unaware that they have been programmed with military technology. The toys, including leader Chip (Tommy Lee Jones), spring to life and start taking their directives seriously, beginning by "killing" their enemies, the toy Gorgonites. But Archer (Frank Langella) and the Gorgonites won't go down without a fight. Alan gets caught in the middle of the war, as does his neighbor and crush, Christy (Kirsten Dunst).

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Small Soldiers has plenty of visual razzle-dazzle, but the rote story proves disappointingly deficient in director Joe Dante's trademark anarchic spirit.

Read Critics Reviews

Jennie Punter

Toronto Star

Feb 19, 2025

2/5

Small Soldiers is no Toy Story, but director Joe Dante delivers a moderately entertaining movie with high production values and low-brow parody.

Go to Full Review

Jane Horwitz

Washington Post

Dec 7, 2011

A clever mix of real-life actors and special effects.

Go to Full Review

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Apr 12, 2002

2/4

...this smells like a script slapped together around a toy-product launch.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 11, 2025

2/4

The special effects are the selling point, and even they’re not always easy on the eyes.

Go to Full Review

Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

Jul 31, 2025

You’d be forgiven for not being aware of this particular title, but, for some, it remains a good time between its outstanding cast, memorable moments, and killer official soundtrack.

Go to Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Jul 22, 2025

3.5/5

Small Soldiers is a bold genre mashup that doesn’t always hit its targets, but there’s no denying its ambition or craft.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Jamie F

@FilmJoyJF Oct 20, 2026

What a thoroughly enjoyable watch! A highly intelligent script and storyline. Super entertaining. A Wonderful Epic Cast, both live humans/adults and children, and animated dolls/voice-overs. Well written, funny, charming, and endearing. Kid friendly, but a bit more edgy, so good for adults as well. Filled with tons of action and great fight scenes, very amusing. Great characters, writing, and delivery, and directing. The CGI was really well done. Just watched it again recently and loved it--made in 1998 and still great!

See more

Robert P

@Superbad Sep 14, 2026

Small Soldiers = a 2.5* star Movie!

See more

Carlos M

@CarlosMZ Jun 28, 2026

Esta película es de mi infancia y en su tiempo prefería esta que toy story por lo "realista" que era ya que tomaban bandos los muñecos jajajaja era algo que hoy en dia no se ve ya.

See more

Jessi S

@SadWizardJessi Jun 26, 2026

This movie is badass. It looks awesome, the voice acting is awesome, the sets are awesome just an all and all fantastic movie

See more

Jonathan O

@RT41230270 May 31, 2026

What if Toy Story in a live action but Andy is not in it but some how there's a Gremlins connection or universe in it and is little intense for smaller children about AI using bad/evil soldiers to take over mankind but there's some laughs especially the late Phil Hartman in he's final acting role did bring some laughs and also there's foreshadowing to Michael Bay's transformers.

See more

Bharat A.

@pandugadu7 May 24, 2026

Such a fun movie.. now would be a perfect time to remake this one.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Joe Dante

Director

Kirsten Dunst

Christy Fimple

Gregory Smith

Alan Abernathy

Jay Mohr

Larry Benson

Phil Hartman

Phil Fimple

Kevin Dunn

Stuart Abernathy

View more videos

Mystery Men

58%

57%

Mystery Men

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Mystery Men

The Medallion

17%

27%

The Medallion

Watchlist

Hancock

42%

59%

Hancock

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Hancock

Bulletproof Monk

22%

38%

Bulletproof Monk

Watchlist

R.I.P.D.

13%

38%

R.I.P.D.

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Weekly News Ketchup: Adam Sandler’s "Chuck and Larry," "Delta Farce," Anthony Hopkin’s "Slipstream," and More!

Filmmaker to Wear Multiple Hats on Prehistoric "Erectus"

Courteney Cox to "Zoom" into Superhero Flick

View more photos

Synopsis

When teenager Alan (Gregory Smith) buys a set of Commando Elite action figures, he's unaware that they have been programmed with military technology. The toys, including leader Chip (Tommy Lee Jones), spring to life and start taking their directives seriously, beginning by "killing" their enemies, the toy Gorgonites. But Archer (Frank Langella) and the Gorgonites won't go down without a fight. Alan gets caught in the middle of the war, as does his neighbor and crush, Christy (Kirsten Dunst).

Director: Joe Dante
Producer: Michael Finnell, Colin Wilson
Screenwriter: Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Distributor: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: DreamWorks SKG, Amblin Entertainment, Universal Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $55.1M
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Scope (2.35:1)

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings