Toy Soldiers

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Cast & Crew

Sean Astin
William "Billy" Tepper

Wil Wheaton
Joseph "Joey" Trotta

Keith Coogan
Jonathan "Snuffy" Bradberry

Andrew Divoff
Luis Cali

Louis Gossett Jr.
Dean Edward Parker

Denholm Elliott
Dr. Robert Gould

T.E. Russell
Henry "Hank" Giles III

George Perez
Ricardo Montoya

Mason Adams
FBI Dep. Asst. Dir. Otis Brown

Michael Champion
Jack Thorpe

Daniel Petrie Jr.
Director

Jack E. Freedman
Producer

Patricia Herskovic
Producer

Wayne S. Williams
Producer

Daniel Petrie Jr.
Screenwriter

David Koepp
Screenwriter

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Critic Reviews for Toy Soldiers

Audience Reviews for Toy Soldiers

• Nov 24, 2013

  Ah the ever popular brat pack type casting line up, a selection of young Hollywood faces either on the edge of becoming major stars or falling into obscurity. In this forgotten action thriller its Gomez Addams son Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton who are the main rising stars, the rest of the youngsters have fallen by the way side. But unlike some other young gun lineups this film also includes various adult stars to add that bit of quality to the film. Dare I say it? the plot is basically Die Hard in a boarding school? sure it is. Group of terrorists take over a posh school for kids of rich families. Their purpose is solely to see the release of the terrorist leaders father who is some kind of drug kingpin. So its up to this small band of plucky smart ass teens to take back control of their school from the nasty bad guys with automatic weapons. The similarities to that certain Bruce Willis franchise are clear to see. If you take the basic premise of Die Hard and mix it with 'The Goonies' and 'The A-Team' you see what I mean. The teens in the story use their skills, knowledge of the school and cheekiness to somewhat outwit the bad guys and slightly disable them for the special ops guys to mop up. There is a very fine line between a happy go lucky boys own adventure flick, and in your face bloody squibbed violence which is a bit odd actually. Its difficult to know what the film is trying to be, an adult action film or a light-hearted teen flick. The young cast are clearly enjoying themselves in their roles which gives off a vibe which clashes badly against the older actors. The bad guys and their leader played menacingly by Divoff are really going for broke and being damn ruthless gunning innocents down and chucking them out of helicopters etc...Problem is these two sides just don't gel too well together, seeing Astin playing an older version of 'Mouth' from 'The Goonies' and Denholm Elliot playing an old lovable professor set against Divoff's cold blooded killer feels uncomfortable (Divoff really relishing his gritty evil Colombian drug lord role). Its like two different films. Yet despite the moments of bloodshed the action is so predictable and almost childish as it unravels. The special ops guys at the end come across as inept, plus there is like a whole army of them and it takes them some time to take out just two bad guys. There are only twelve bad guys and it really feels like there needed to be more to make the ending more exciting. The action and soundtrack was reaching such a crescendo in the finale...but because there are so few bad guys in the end it feels totally deflating. Also the way the special ops storm the school, they could of just done that straight away! apparently it would of made no difference. I love how all the Colombian bad guys are dressed up as sweaty, dirty, vest wearing guerrilla fighters with headbands and lots of stubble. Not too stereotypical then. The very end is also terribly corny and unoriginal, surely Divoff could of gone out in a slightly more exciting way? Oh yeah there's even a crawling in an air duct homage to 'Die Hard'. This was one of those films that I enjoyed back in the day when I was much younger mainly because the young cast were appealing. I kinda looked up to them as I did with other similar brat pack flicks (wanted to be them) and I was around their age when I first saw it (or a bit younger). Looking back now the film isn't really too good, its actually really dumb, looks silly and has an even sillier title. It sounds predictable I know but it really does feel as if they wanted to make a 'Die Hard' for teens.
  Phil H Super Reviewer
• Sep 14, 2008

  Another in the "Die Hard in a..." series finds terrorists seizing control of a prep school for troublesome teens. While the military forms a perimeter outside the school, the students decide to take a stand against their captors. While it sounds utterly ridiculous, the movie works because the students (with the exception of wussy Wil Wheaton trying to play a tough NY mobster's son) are believable, and the threats against them credible. The Goonies' Sean Astin is the lead "Reject", as they are nicknamed, who amass as much information as they can about the terrorists, and attempt to get it to the military without getting caught. Louis Gossett Jr is the no-nonsense dean of the school who tries to convince the military leaders that if these kids have some kind of plan, they should listen. More of tension filled cat and mouse game, than a guns blazing action movie, it does have its fair share of action. When the Army finally unleashes their assault, it comes across as a believable attack, not a cartoonish shoot out. It's leads to an exciting finale that ratchets up the tension to the boiling point in the final moments. It makes the most of the school grounds, and the students knowledge of it as they sneak around, spying on the terrorists, and trying to save themselves in the process. The film wisely allows the kids to be kids, and shows that you should never count them out when they are determined. Even Rejects.
  RJ M Super Reviewer
• Nov 02, 2007

  Good. When you are a kid you want your school to be taken over by bad guys because you have seen so many movies with the same senario that you would know how to save the day. I know I do.
  Jason S Super Reviewer
• Oct 12, 2007

  A great premise, dumb film, yet it's undeniably fun in a sort of dumb way.
  Michael S Super Reviewer

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