Toy Soldiers (1991)

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Toy soldiers is one of those movies that make you hold your breath from start to finish; the actors do their jobs very well, both the protagonists and antagonists, and the story is original and very well written and displayed. Although I cannot say it is a great film, but films do not need always to be great. Sometimes I just want to watch a movie that is enjoyable, and has a story that makes sense and toy soldiers without doubt has that. I feel sad for the team that worked in this film as they deserved more recognition for their excellent job, but I believe this is part of life not being fair. If you want to enjoy a 2 hours film filled with action and suspense scenes, then I would definitely recommend toy soldiers.

I remember seeing TV spots for Toy Soldiers in October 1991. I had recently seen The Goonies and I was surprised at how much Sean Astin had matured since then. It made me wonder how I would look once I stopped being a child. I didn't actually see the film until now (the 15 certificate meant I could not see it at the cinema and I just never got around to renting it later) but I seem to associate it first with that particular memory.I was expecting it to be an action comedy, something along the lines of Home Alone meets Die Hard. How wrong I was. Toy Soldiers is surprisingly grim and serious. Directed and co-written by Beverly Hills Cop creator Daniel Petrie Jnr the film features a lot of well shot and staged action. The opening scene in particular has a memorable freefall stunt and there are innumerable blood squibs aplenty (a dying art in an age of awful CGI blood effects). Billy Tepper and his gang of misfit Rejects draw the ire of Dean Parker at their prestigious boarding school, but he refuses to expel any of them as he sees their potential and wants to make real men of them. One of the kids is taken away by the FBI for protection when a terrorist group attempts to put pressure on his dad. Said terrorists promptly take over the school and are dismayed that their target has vanished. Instead they make do with the crop of students that they have and begin making demands. Billy and his gang do not take well to this plot and plan to strike back using whatever limited resources they have at their disposal.It's here that Toy Soldiers sort of disappoints me. Instead of taking place in a concise time-frame it drags on for a few days and nights and features low-octane plotting for the most part. It would have been much more exciting if the gang were efficient and ready for action instead of fighting back with trickery and subterfuge. I guess it does ultimately work and hang together but the suspense could have been ramped up significantly further.There is a great supporting cast featuring Louis Gossett Jnr, Denholm Elliot, Jerry Orbach, R. Lee Ermey, and the terrific Andrew Divoff who doesn't get as much recognition for his many bad guy performances. The movie also features a lot scenes with the boys hanging around in their Y-fronts. I am not sure to whom the director was trying to appeal with this but it feels very unnecessary. There's not much surprise in the fact that it's fallen out of popularity and become a cult movie. Toy Soldiers had a high concept but is too low-key for it's own good. Certainly a good movie to discover but not as good as it should have been.

"The Regis School (better known as the 'Rejects School') is where America's most powerful families send their wayward sons after they've been kicked out of the better prep schools. But faced with certain death at the hands of the terrorists, the toughest of the troublemakers surprise the dean (Louis Gossett, Jr.) with a brilliant and daring plan to save their classmates. Led by Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton and Keith Coogan, the 'Rejects' show their true colors, using both brains and brawn in a fatal race to defuse the terrorists' explosives," according to the synopsis scribers at TriStar Home Entertainment.Catch the step-son and grandson of two "Addams Family" stars in one film (one picking his nose)...Except for a sad scene (or two), this is a funny and suspenseful thriller. The script is sometimes stupid, but the characters somehow ring true - climbing into rooms through the roof and drinking alcohol from mouthwash bottles in a school basement are still being done. And, the situation regarding terrorists taking a university should be considered a realistic premise, as well as students becoming part of the solution; more implausible scenarios have happened since "Toy Soldiers" premiered. Director Daniel Petrie Jr. does a great job keeping the excitement up, in his first feature - why doesn't he direct more? ******** Toy Soldiers (4/26/91) Daniel Petrie Jr. ~ Sean Astin, Louis Gossett Jr., Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan

These kinda movies just don't get the credit they deserve. This is my 2nd all time favorite movie, (Stand By Me being 1st.) The reason I watched this movie was because Wil Wheaton was in it and he is my most favorite person in the whole world and I think he done an amazing job in this movie and so did Sean Astin. I just watched it last night actually and it just amazed me. Everything in the movie is very exceptional. The script, the acting, the screenplay. I was on the edge of my seat 80% of the time, and if my mom wasn't in the room I would have absolutely balled whenever Joey Trotta (Wil Wheaton) died. I did not see that coming!! At all!! I was real surprised when I heard that it wasn't real popular back in the 90's. I was born a few years after it came out so, of course, I didn't go see it in the theaters, but im sure I would have if I would have been alive. If any of my friends watched this, they would be like, "uhh okay?" but thats just cause their not cool enough to appreciate work like this. If you haven't seen this movie, or are wanting to watch something that is the bomb, this is the movie for you to watch.