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"We are the Commando Elite. Everything else is just a toy!"
Major Chip Hazard

Small Soldiers is a 1998 action/comedy film directed by Joe Dante, best known for his work on the Gremlins franchise.

The plot begins at the Heartland Toy Company, a conglomerate that gets swallowed up by GloboTech Industries, an organization that deals primarily in high-tech military hardware. The members of the board of Heartland deduce that implanting military AI chips into their newest set of action figures would grant kids a more interactive experience; however in doing so, manage to grant the two lines (the Commando Elite and their enemies, the Gorgonites) literal intelligence. The Gorgonites have a pacifist mindset while the Commandos are basically of the warmongering variety, who will stop at nothing to destroy the Gorgonite scum, and anyone who allies with them. Their battle takes place in suburbia, where young Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) befriends the Gorgonites due to his being left in charge of his father Stuart's (Kevin Dunn) toy shop, and he vows to help them achieve their goal before the Commando Elite can find and take them apart. He gets help from his neighbor and love interest Christy Fimple (Kirsten Dunst).

The film also stars Jay Mohr as Larry Benson, Phil Hartman (in his final role) as Phil Fimple, David Cross as Irwin Wayfair, Ann Magnuson as Irene Abernathy, Denis Leary as Gil Mars, Frank Langella as Archer and Tommy Lee Jones as Chip Hazard.

Not to be confused with Toy Soldiers. Or the trope Child Soldiers, for that matter.


Small Soldiers provides examples of:

  • Accidental Hero: Alan manages to take down Brick Bazooka while biking home. He was completely unaware that Brick was even on the bike let alone after Archer.
  • Actor Allusion:
    • Tommy Lee Jones voices Major Chip Hazard, who at the end of the second act gets horrific burns down one side of his face. The Commandos all bear some resemblance to their voice actors.
    • A scientist played by Robert Picardo who creates AI-based technology that succeeds beyond one's wildest dreams? Yeah, THAT'S never happened before...
    • Director allusion — Alan is shown with a Gremlin skull on his desk, the password to access the Globotech requisition site is 'gizmo' and there's a toy of Gizmo in the dumpster behind the toy store. Joe Dante directed Gremlins and its sequel. There's also a piranha toy next to the fish tank. Joe Dante had also directed Piranha.
  • Actually Pretty Funny: Gil Mars is legitimately amused by Flatchoo, a toy that produces fart and belch sounds which was previously designed by Irwin and Larry.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Subverted. The chips enhance programming that is already present, so the militant Commando Elites become bloodthirsty, monstrous warriors and the weaker Gorgonites become cowards who only hide from battle. (They're obeying their programming to the letter; the fault actually lies in the guy who programmed them and had no idea the chips would do that.) The Gorgonites eventually grow beyond it because they're programmed to learn, but the Commandos only think up new ways to fight.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Nick Nitro, who gets a very painful death which his fellow commandos are deeply saddened by.
  • Amusing Injuries: Most injuries are played seriously, even those that happen to the toys. However, Brick Bazooka getting torn in two is made rather funny by the fact that he has to crawl over to his bottom half to reply to his built-in radio. If he didn't get fully repaired in the next scene, maybe not so much.
  • And Starring: The opening cast roll ends with "and Tommy Lee Jones as the voice of Chip Hazard".
  • Arc Words: "There will be no mercy."
  • Armies Are Evil: Invoked, as the Commando Elite are programmed to be bloodthirsty maniacs.
  • Arrowgram: The Commando Elite send Alan and the Gorgonites an arrow with a video tape of Christy telling Alan to surrender the Gorgonites or else the Commando Elite will kill her.
  • Artistic License – Physics: In-Universe. When the chip's designer explains that they're vulnerable to EMP attacks, he sarcastically adds that even the toy industry isn't competitive enough to worry about the effects of nuclear explosions. Irwin and Larry take this literally and think that's the only way to produce one until Fimple explains how elecro-magnetism works (making it very clear that he thinks they're idiots).
  • Badass Pacifist: Due to their initial intent to be peaceful knowledge-seekers along with the fact that they were designed to be the losers, the Gorgonites spend the majority of the movie not fighting back against the Commandos. In the climax, however, they decide they're done hiding and fight back. And they win.
  • Bait-and-Switch: When Ralph (Robert Picardo), the X-1000 chip's creator, mentions that there was a problem with the chips, Irwin and Larry immediately assume it's that said chips caused the weapons they were inserted into to rebel. In actuality, the problem was that the chips were vulnerable to Electro-Magnetic Pulses, and the government didn't want to fork out the extra cash for the necessary shielding.
  • Battle Baton: Christy beats the living crap out of a bunch of animated dolls with a cheerleader's baton. The dolls themselves put it nicely.
    "Run, she's got a baton! It's a baton death march!"
  • Beauty Equals Goodness: Enforced. Gil Mars decides to rebrand the Gorgonites as the villains for the Commando Elite because he thinks they're "hideous, ugly freaks".
  • Beware the Nice Ones:
    • Christy seems to get a little overly excited about the prospect of tearing apart the baddies with whatever household objects she happens to have on hand.
    • The Gorgonites, when they decide to fight back, easily overwhelm the Commandos' superior numbers.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Alan and Christy have theirs at the end, which even gets a smile from Gil Mars as he takes off in his helicopter.
    "Too bad, this would've made a hell of a commercial."
  • Bland-Name Product: "Gwendy" dolls.
  • Body Horror: Since the Gwendy dolls initially lack the same internal mechanisms that the Commandos do, they undergo some "plastic surgery".
  • Bound and Gagged:
    • Happens to both Christy and her little brother, separately, in order for hostage taking.
    • Happens again to Joe the truck driver near the end. Major Chip Hazard ties him up and makes him deliver all of the recalled Commando Elites to the Abernathy and Fimple homes.
  • But Now I Must Go: Archer and all the Gorgonites leave at the end of the film, hoping to find Gorgon.
  • Buy Them Off: At the end, once the forces of Chip Hazard have been defeated, Gil Mars, C.E.O. of GloboTech arrives to survey the damage that's been done, he orders the truck driver that Chip forced to deliver the toys to the Abernathy and Fimple households, to load up the truck and drive it away before the press arrives. When he mentions that the injuries sustained (having his hands taped to the steering wheel, and his mouth taped shut) may not be covered by his job's health insurance, Mars' secretary gives him a check, and the driver happily gets to work. When Mr. Fimple demands to know that Mars will do about the damages to his house, Mars' secretary hands him a check. When Mr. Abernathy declaes he doesn't have enough money to cover the emotional trauma that his family suffered, the secretary hands him a check and he responds: "okay, maybe you do."
  • Casting Gag: The Commandos are voiced by numerous stars from The Dirty Dozen.
    • Similarly, the Gorgonites, save for Occula, are Spinal Tap, but in toy form.
    • Also, this is not the first time where Phil Hartman has portrayed another annoying neighbor.
  • Celebrity Paradox: More like "Merchandise Paradox". During the scene of Larry Benson giving a press release to the investors, the T-shirts and swag behind him, which are in-universe supposed to be of the Commando Elite and Gorgonites, instead display the tag "Small Soldiers". Likewise, the Gorgonites display includes Freakenstein rather than Troglokhan.
  • Chainsaw Good: "Dibs on the chainsaw!"
  • Chekhov's Gun: A few.
    • The creator of the X-1000 mentions that the chips can be shorted out by an electromagnetic pulse.
    • The power pole. In the climax, it's used to cause the short-circuit that takes out the Commandoes)
    • Phil's satellite. It saves the Gorgonites from being killed off alongside the Commandoes.
  • Christmas Rushed: The in-universe explanation for what happened with the toys; the company's new owner gave them what they insist is an insanely short development window to produce a revolutionary new product. The designers used what they thought were off-the-shelf parts without looking into the source (the Department of Defense) and quickly slapped together a product by combining two toy lines developed independently with incompatible backstories. The problems went unnoticed because they had no time for product testing.
  • Cliché Storm: Invoked with Chip Hazard's mode of speech. A perfect example occurs when Hazard activates the other Commandos; he gives a speech that is literally composed entirely of cliched famous quotes from war movies.
  • Communications Officer: Link Static serves this role in the Commando Elite.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: In the finale, an entire store line of Commandos are defeated by half a dozen Gorgonites with no casualties; the only part with any suspense is the showdown with (one) Chip Hazard.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Invoked with Gil Mars, CEO of GloboTech, who pushes for the Gorgonites to be used as little more than the 'ugly evil mutant freak' foes of the Commando Elite and is stated to generally be pretty heartless; however, he doesn't specifically tell the designers to use military-grade hardware in toys, he merely states that he's sick and tired of products that don't deliver on their advertising and whilst he plainly doesn't give a crap about the devastation caused by Chip Hazard and the Commandos, he does make amends with a big cheque payoff.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: It's implied in the ending that the CEO of GloboTech plans to resell the hundreds of thousands of recalled Commando Elites to the military for use as mercenaries against The Cartels.
  • Damsel in Distress: Christy gets captured and tied up to convince Alan to give up the Gorgonites. Alan and Archer rescue her, and she becomes an out and out Action Girl.
  • Designated Hero: In-Universe, the Commandos. They're supposed to be bold hero figures fighting the monstrous Gorgonites but they are ruthless.
  • Designated Villain: invoked At the same time, Gorgonites are clearly peaceful despite their appearance. Due to Executive Meddling below, it did not bode well with the original creator.
  • The Determinator: A villainous example: no matter what you throw at Chip Hazard, he's going to come back.
  • Disney Death: After Alan sets off an EMP to take out the Commando Elite, he finds Archer lying in the yard, inanimate.
    Alan: Archer? Archer, speak to me. Halt, who goes there?
    Archer: Greetings, I am Archer, emissary of the Gorgonites. Greetings, I am Archer, emissary of the Gorgonites. Greetings, I am Archer, emissary of the Gorgonites.
    Alan: Oh, man, your chip got fried, just like the Commandos.
    Beat.
    Archer: The Commandos... are dead? Gorgonites... We won!
  • Distressed Dude:
    • Timmy gets tied up and locked in the closet as the Commandos infiltrate the Fimples' house.
    • Alan himself gets surrounded by Commandos and Gwendy Dolls in the final battle until Christy pulls Big Damn Heroes with a lawn mower.
  • The Ditz: Ok, so your new boss gives you a tight deadline to roll out some new toys, so you're desperate to get something on the market before you get fired, that much is understandable. But at what point does it become a good idea to take military hardware, stuff it into your toy, and then to completely skip the safety testing for the sake of time and not think that shit is going to completely hit the fan? Larry is pretty much called an idiot by multiple characters in the movie. In the part about the toys' creation it's clear that he doesn't even realize that the AI chips are military hardware; he did a search for what the company had in stock and just grabbed the most powerful chip available.
  • Double Entendre: All the lines spouted by the Commandoes when they discover the Gwendy dolls such as: "Fully poseable!"
  • Dull Surprise: Alan accepts the fact that Archer is a Living Toy pretty quickly without any initial freak out. Later even Christy looks more confused and annoyed in response to the corrupted Gwendy Dolls coming to get her, instead of screaming in horror.
  • Establishing Character Moment: An In-Universe example. When Joe and Alan test out the Commandos and the Gorgonites, Joe activates Major Chip Hazard, and Alan activates Archer. Archer's phrase ("Greetings, I am Archer, Emissary of the Gorgonites.") leaves an impression on Alan that the gorgonite leader is "awfully polite for a monster".
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • Chip Hazard may be programmed to destroy the Gorgonites, but he was given an honorable and loyal personality as a heroic soldier. The trouble comes when his programming allows for no mercy to the Gorgonites or their allies.
    • In fact all of the Commandos have heroic personalities as brave, dedicated soldiers — which is half the problem since they just don't give up.
    Chip Hazard: "An Officer and a Gentleman does not strike a lady."note 
    • The rest of the Commandos are visibly horror-struck when Chip Hazard pulls off Nick Nitro's head and removes his processor — his brain. One of them admits to being ready to vomit.
  • Evil Plan: The Commando Elite are programmed with one goal in mind: Destroy the Gorgonites. Though the start of the conflict is Mars' plan to program them as such for greater profits.
  • Exact Words: When Larry is searching for processors in the beginning what he wants is a large supply. What he actually writes in the search is "surplus". Keep in mind his parent company is a weapons manufacturer...
  • Executive Meddling: In-universe example. Originally, the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites were going to be completely separate, with the Gorgonites going for a more "educational" view, as they only want to explore the world, learn more about it, and socialize. The Commando Elite, meanwhile, were somewhat generic, G.I. Joe-esque characters. The director decided that the concepts on their own weren't interesting, and decided to put the toylines together.
  • Expelled from Every Other School: Christy believes that Alan moved to town because of being kicked out of ten different schools. Alan asserts that it only happened twice.
  • Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Irwin and Larry are discussing Alan's call about the rampaging toys:
    Irwin: What if this kid's telling the truth? We can't have toys out on the market that may be dangerous.
    Larry: [lackadaisical] How can they be dangerous? Everything on them is standard. The design is standard, the materials are standard... the mechanicals are standard. Even the... [sudden Oh, Crap! face] Oh.
    Irwin: What's "Oh"?
    Larry: What?
    Irwin: You just said "Oh".
    Larry: No, I said "Oh!"
    Irwin: You mean "Oh" like, "That's interesting" or "Oh" like, "We're screwed"?
    Larry: No. I mean, "Hey! Whoa! Oh!". Look, forget the "Oh", all right? I'm going to go down to legal and get the ball rolling on the countersuit.
    Irwin: The chips! That's the "Oh"!
  • Faceless Eye: Ocula.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Christy opens her front closet to put her coat away, and completely misses her little brother Bound and Gagged inside.
  • Fantastic Racism: The Commando Elite's entire goal is to strictly destroy the Gorgonites, nothing practical.
  • Fastball Special: Punch-It launches Scratch-It from his horns like a slingshot.
    • Brick Bazooka is similarly hurled onto the back of Alan's bike. And blink and you'll miss it, but two of the Gwendy dolls cheerleader-throw a third one to better attack Brad.
  • Fell Off the Back of a Truck: How Alan "buys" the toys off the delivery guy.
    Alan: What, you're telling me that, in all the time you've run deliveries, nothing has ever just... fallen off the back of the truck?
    Joe: Hey, I don't like your tone.
    Alan: S-sorry.
    Joe: [leans closer] It's too loud.
  • Fingore:
    • When Alan tries to save Archer from the garbage disposal, Nick cuts his hand.
    • At the end of the film, Chip plunges his dagger into Alan's fingers while he's attempting to create an electromagnetic pulse.
  • Flag Drop: Chip Hazzard stroll in front of an American flag... or rather, a jigsaw puzzle of one, since the Commando Elite are all in a toy store at this point. The speech he gives is composed entirely of quotes from famous patriotic speeches.
  • Foil:
    • Between the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite. The Gorgonites may look grotesque and monstrous, but were designed to be peaceful explorers who want to return to their homeland. Meanwhile, the Commando Elite may look like humans, but are violent and actively live to kill the Gorgonites. Most prominent is between Archer and Major Chip Hazard during their final confrontation. Archer (if crossly) has it in him to address the Major by his full name and title, indicating honor and respect. Major Chip Hazard, on the other hand, only calls Archer the "Gorgonite Scum", showing he refuses to think of Archer as an equal. At one point, Archer demonstrates the humility to point out he and the Major are cut from the same cloth, while his opponent shoots down this idea.
    • There's also a notable one between Irwin and Larry, as demonstrated at the board meeting in the opening scene. Irwin is the creative mind behind the Gorgonites and designed them with the express purpose of helping kids learn. However, as a trade off for his imagination, he's rather clumsy at presenting his idea, to the point he has to hastily improvise his presentation of the Gorgonites as he goes along. By contrast, Larry may not be as brilliant as his cohort, and goes with the safe approach of making the Commando Elite action toys. Although his ideas aren't original, he makes up for it in presentation, as demonstrated in his model of Major Chip Hazard and his commercial for the Commando Elite.
  • Gay Moment:
    • Irwin diving into Larry's arms in the computing lab's airlock.
    • Brick Bazooka's damaged wrist giving out mid-salute, leaving him in the classic ooh-get-you pose.
  • General Ripper: Chip Hazard. He's obsessed with exterminating the Gorgonites, since that's what he was programmed to do: wipe out the enemy.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: The Commando Elite wear Liefeldian amounts of pouches, holsters and straps. Link Static even has a huge pair of welder's goggles, for even less apparent reason than usual.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Putting AI into toys, programming them as soldiers and giving them a specific enemy? They become more dangerous than full sized human soldiers. It's worth noting that numerous times Larry and Irwin both admit that there's nothing wrong with the intelligence chips.
    • Subverted by the end of the movie. Instead of selling them to children, Mars decides to sell them to the Department of Defense, at a much higher price.
  • Gonk: MAJOR points for many of the Commando Elite and Gorgonites. Best examples are Nick Nitro and Brick Bazooka with their giant, ever showing mouths of teeth and Scratch-It with her own chompers and strange looks.
  • Grow Beyond Their Programming: The Gorgonites. They were programed to lose but at the climax Archer declares "No more hiding." Then they go out to win.
    • The munitions chips can eventually do this as they go along.
  • Gulliver Tie-Down: The Gwendy Doll "reinforcements" start to use this tactic on Cindy after tripping her up with a string.
  • Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Archer's initial interaction with Alan is asking his name is similar to what video games normally do, and as typical of the trope, the unfortunate part of the response got included in the name.
    Archer: What's your name?
    Alan: Alan. Now shut up!
    Archer: Greetings, Alan Now-shut-up.
  • Heroic Build: Somewhat inverted, The Commando Elite are made out to have muscular, almost G.I. Joe-esque designs, and they're the villains of the film.
  • Humans Are Bastards: The Commandos are all human soldiers (with a dash of Armies Are Evil as well), while the good ones are nonhumans. The fact that the peaceful Gorgonites were designed as aliens from the start seems to indicate that Irwin at least holds this opinion. Then again, the two lines (Commando and Gorgonite) were not originally intended to be used together, adding an in-universe case of Executive Meddling to the mix.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Chip doesn't take kindly to officers and gentlemen hitting women, but has no trouble shooting at them if they are helping the Gorgonites. Also consider their use of the ladies in question, the Gwendies.
    Major Chip Hazard: Yo, Maggot! An Officer and a Gentleman does not strike a lady!
  • Improvised Weapon:
    • The Commando Elite are experts at this. Among the household implements they convert into weaponry are a toaster that fires flaming CDs, a tennis-ball launcher firing kerosene-soaked balls, and a catapult made from a mousetrap and a spoon.
    • The CEO, seeing the havoc the toys created (And giving everyone truckloads of cash not to press charges or talk about it), decides the best thing to do with the obviously-dangerous toy line is to add some zeroes on the end of the price and sell them as automated weapons instead.
    • Also, Christy destroys the troop of Gwendy dolls using a riding lawn mower.
  • Insistent Terminology: "We're not dolls... We're action figures!"
  • Instant A.I.: Just Add Water!: the X-1000 microchips make any machine they're installed into sapient. It enhances any programming to it's limit, and then begins learning how to do its job better. Its creator is actually offended when Irwin asks him if that means that he (the scientist) cracked AI, snapping "No. *Actual* intelligence." When added to the animatronic soldiers and monster toys, they become nearly human. The fact that the Gorgonites don't blow a fuse when they win (they'd been programmed to lose) proves that it's extremely adaptable.
  • Ironic Echo:
    • "Way to stay heads up". Stuart first says this to Alan when the latter finds out he left his ticket at the shop, to which Alan raced home and handed it over before his business trip. However, there's an undertone that Stuart doesn't truly think Alan is capable. Later, Alan says this to Archer when the Abernathy and Fimple families are being attacked by the Commandos and Archer points out the electrical pole needed to generate the electromagnetic pulse to defeat the Commandos. Unlike his father, he means it.
      • Meaningful Echo: Alternatively, father and son's "Way to stay heads up" line is meant to low-key show how Archer has become Alan's charge just as much as he's his father's charge.
    • "Everything else is just a toy." Gil Mars first brings it up as a potential slogan for the Commando Elite, meant to sound better than most toys. It's next said when Major Chip Hazard declares that the collective human cast are now considered "Gorgonites" as well. The slogan has becomes the Major's ominous justification for killing both the Gorgonites and their human allies.
    • "There will be no mercy." This is more-or-less Major Chip Hazard's dying words between the EMP blast and being electrocuted. What is normally his and the Commandos' battle cry becomes ironic, as it reflects how their collective lack thereof mercy has cost them greatly.
  • Irony: Gil Mars shoehorned the peaceful but grotesque Gorgonites to be antagonists to the violent but human-looking Commando Elite. The climax has the Commando Elite become so dogmatic over wiping out the Gorgonites that their human allies get caught in the cross-fires, making their roles as villains come full circle. Meanwhile, the pacifistic Gorgonites overcome their hide-and-lose program in order to protect Alan, coming into their own role as brave heroes.
  • It's a Small World, After All: Chip Hazard says this when he happens upon Alan's home.
  • Karma Houdini: The CEO of GloboTech manages to get away with authorizing the mass-production of untested, highly destructive military toys without any punishment by cutting checks for everyone involved. He even goes on to authorize the toys to be remade (except this time they'll be repurposed to bring down South American drug lords). Though technically Larry was the one to blame for using the military chips.
  • Kill the Lights: The Commandos cut off the electricity to the Abernathy residence, and the final battle begins.
  • Lady Drunk: Marion Fimple spends the final battle still tripping from having sleeping pills launched into her gin and tonic. She even Squees when the Commandos play the Spice Girls.
  • Language Equals Thought: Mixed with a truly subtle bit of foreshadowing: Initially, they plan to market the Commando Elite with the slogan "Anything else is just a toy", but more of that In-Universe Executive Meddling changes that to "Everything else is just a toy". As a result, when the Commando Elite become sentient, they can freely attack human beings, as their worldview is that everything else around them is part of their programmed conflict.
    • There's also a Poor Communication Kills variation. In a way, this trope also applies to Archer when he tries to warn Alan that the Commandos would attack the Gorgonites. As such, his warning only comes in the form of "Beware, there will be no mercy", which Alan mistakes as either a catchphrase or a low-key threat. It's only the next day that Alan sees the store wrecked and the action figures missing that he belatedly understands what Archer was trying to tell him.
  • Large Ham: Most of the toys, especially Chip Hazard, who gets most of the best one-liners.
  • Laughing Mad: Insaniac, but he's one of the good guys.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Alan has been trying to avoid this trope after getting kicked out of two schools for his near dangerous pranks. However, when the Commando Elite kidnapped Christy and sent him a ransom/torture video, the gloves come off.
    Alan: Major Chip Hazard wants a war, we'll give him a war.
    • The climax of the movie has the Gorgonites override their programming and take the fight to the Commandos instead of running and hiding. The Commandos are easily taken down.
  • Literal Genie: The Commando Elite. They follow their orders to kill the Gorgonites to the extreme.
  • Literal-Minded: During the conversation where Alan tries to explain to both his parents and the Phimples the sentient nature of the Gorgonites, Phil brushes it off, only for Kristy to come to Alan's defense. Believing his daughter has somehow been brain-washed, he tells her they'll get "the best deprogrammer money can buy". To this, one of the Gorgonites (Slamfist) responds "You can't change programming."
  • Living Toys: About as alive as the finest military AI chips can make them, anyway.
  • Loud of War: The Commando Elite blast "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls to demoralize the Abernathys and the Gorgonites. The tipsy wife of the electronics geek exclaims "I love this song!" Christy even alludes to the fact that the US Military used the same tactic to force the surrender of Manuel Noriega (dictator of Panama in the '80s; except they used hard rock/heavy metal IRL).
  • Low Count Gag: Alan's mother asks him to empty the cash register. There is a snarky joke about not enough cash in it.
    Mrs. Abernathy: Did you empty the cash register?
    Alan: Both quarters and all six pennies.
  • Major Chip Hazard is About to Shoot You: An in-universe promotional image for the Commando Elite line uses this very heavily.
  • Majorly Awesome: Chip Hazard is a baddie version.
  • Manly Tears: With the exception of Chip Hazard, who simply wipes away a Single Tear, the Commando Elite blub unrestrainedly as Nick Nitro ceases to function.
  • McNinja: Kip Killigan has two outsized shuriken prominently displayed on his chest. Almost certainly intended as an in-universe bit of silliness on the part of his designers.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Chip Hazard, Major Chip Hazard.
    • The CEO of Globotech, a weapons manufacturer that has begun producing kids' toys, is named Gil Mars.
  • My Little Panzer: Toys with military-grade computer hardware built in. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  • Nail 'Em: The Commando Elite bring along a rapid-firing nailgun along for fire support on their second try. The trope name is the exact command used to order it to be fired.
  • No Flow in CGI: The Gwendy Dolls notably have long hair before the Commandos bring them to life, but are all bald afterwards. This is obviously because animating long hair with late 90s CGI would have been a nightmare. One Gwendy Doll with hair is obviously a puppet.
  • Novelization: By screenwriter Gavin Scott.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Larry, followed by Irwin, has this when he realized he accidentally put military chips into the the toys.
    • The Commando Elite start to worry when the Gorgonites finally chooses to fight back against them.
  • The Operators Must Be Crazy: Alan tries to call Globotech to complain about the Commando Elites coming to life and wrecking his dad's toy store, but the operator is actively unhelpful to the point that he ultimately asks to be transferred to a machine — right before the operator gets his gender wrong.
  • The Password Is Always "Swordfish": When Larry and Irwin are handed their Globotech database passwords, Irwin's turns out to be "gizmo", which is both too short and a dictionary word. Worse yet, we learn this because he immediately blurts it out, which later allows Larry to use it to log in with the authorization to choose the military-grade AI chip that starts the plot.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • The Commando Elite mourn after one of their troops dies, although subverted later, as they raise an army of evil Gwendy dolls using what is technically the brain of their fallen comrade. Outside of Chip Hazard, the rest of the Commando Elite seem deeply uncomfortable when Chip takes the "skin" off and crack open the head.
    • Gil Mars gives a sincere smile when he sees Alan and Christie kissing at the end.
  • Police Are Useless: Taken to ridiculous extremes. Not only do they dismiss Christy's statements about the Commando Elites when she calls 911 and consider it a nuisance call, but when she tries to make them come by admitting she made a nuisance call (a rather serious crime in itself), they simply hang up.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "An Officer and a Gentleman does not strike a lady."
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
    • Stuart says "Now, stick this in your pipe and smoke it!" as he uses the broom to destroy the Commando Elite's flamethrower.
    • Alan says "Have I got a shock for you! You stupid toy!" just before he short-circuits Chip on the power pole.
  • Rage Breaking Point: "Don't tell me to calm down; calm was killing me."
  • Robotic Assembly Lines:
    • Begins with a production line of the titular toys being manufactured (including Terminator-style skeletons and Uncanny Valley-ish rubber "skins").
    • Then a second time during the 'recruitment' of the Gwendy Dolls.
  • Rooting for the Empireinvoked: Enforced. The Commando Elite were the guys who mesmerised the marketing executives, and came to the opinion that the kids would be as well — after all, "it's not violence, it's action, and kids love action". So, they got all the focus and the poor Gorgonites, who were a rejected concept with nothing to do with the Commandos, got awkwardly shoehorned in as their "enemies".
  • Scotty Time: Larry and Irwin are both taken aback when the CEO orders that the new toy line be ready for shipment within three months, when it takes at least six months to go through product testing and focus groups.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The CEO spends his second scene handing out cheques to every disgruntled party, all of whom immediately stop complaining when they see the numbers. Alan's dad puts his foot down and refuses to be paid off after what they witnessed. Then he sees how much money the check is for.
    I don't think even you have enough money to pay for... (cue the Mars' assistant handing out a cheque) Okay... maybe you do...
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Christy's boyfriend Bradley tries to save Christy from the Gwendy dolls, gets attacked by the Commando Elite, sheds his burning pants, runs out of the house, and escapes.
  • Selective Obliviousness: Chip Hazard clearly knows how he works, but loudly proclaims that "Everything else is just a toy" and completely rejects Archer's "Not So Different" Remark in the final act.
  • Shout-Out:
  • The Singularity: The Commando Elite learn how to reverse-engineer their chips and create an army of Franken-Barbies.
  • Slasher Smile:
    • Nick Nitro and Brick Bazooka sport these, but the winning candidate is undeniably Kip Killigan. Cheerful though he may be, that cigar-chomping grin is scary smile number one, hands down.
    • Insaniac is a rare non-villainous example; he's always sporting a big grin.
  • Slipping a Mickey: The Commandos put Marion and Phil out of commission by launching sleeping pills into their drinks.
  • Smooch of Victory: After Alan helps Christy fight off the Gwendy dolls the Commandos "recruited":
    Christy: You rescued me! [kisses him]
    Alan: [very surprised] Anytime!
    Christy: [kisses him again]
  • The Stinger: A dedication to Phil Hartman, accompanied by an outtake of the "A nuclear warhead?" line, with everyone laughing.
  • Stock Scream: Brick Bazooka utters a Wilhelm scream as he falls from Alan's bicycle, and another Wilhelm is heard as Alan's father kicks off the one trying to kill him at the end.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: The Commando Elite all have ridiculously manly names. And builds. And attitudes.
  • There's No Place Like Home: The In-Universe backstory for the Gorgonites is that they're stranded on Earth and want to return home to the Land of Gorgon. Even though they know they're toys and that story is fictional, the Gorgonites still want to find a homeland to call Gorgon.
  • Toilet Humor: The reason GloboTech acquired Heartland Play Company is their successful line of monster dolls who burp and fart when you push their bellies, called "The Belch Brigade."
  • Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Christy says Led Zeppelin are her favorite band, knows how to ride a moped and is quite ruthless when taking out the toys. She also collects Gwendy Dolls, and seems to be ashamed of it.
  • Tornado Move: Insaniac rapidly spins in a Taz-esque style, which turns lethal when he uses his Epic Flail.
  • Toyless Toyline Character:
    • Two major villains, Butch Meathook and Link Static, were never released in real life except in the Burger King tie-in line.
    • In addition, Troglokhan had no figures released in his original likeness.
  • Ugly Hero, Good-Looking Villain: Archer and Chip.
  • Verbal Tic: Link Static, Commando Elite communications specialist, bookends his sentences with white noise.
  • Warning Mistaken for Threat: One of the first lines Archer the Gorgonite speaks to Alan is the Arc Words "There will be no mercy." Alan actually inquires if this was meant to be a threat, but Archer can only repeat the line, as he hasn't learned enough English to be conversant. Alan soon learns the "no mercy" part applies to the Commando Elite, whose only purpose is to attack, fight, destroy the Gorgonites and their perceived allies.
  • We Can Rebuild Him: Troglokhan is reconstructed as Freakenstein.
    Punch-It: We fixed him!
    Slamfist: We tried to fix him...
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Needless to say, we never do see the reactions of the neighbors when the EMP happens, nor when GloboTech and Mars survey the damage to the neighborhood. Though it can be presumed they were also paid off.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Subverted with the Gorgonites. But the toy company enforces them to be the bad guys because of their alien appearance, so there's a degree of this in-universe.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: After Larry mentions the micro-processing chips he put into the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite, Irwin demands to know where he got them from, and when he doesn't get a straight answer, he looks up the model number on his computer, which leads to this:
    Irwin: They were designed for the Department of Defense. You put munitions chips in toys?!
  • Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell: In the trailer for the film it's explicitly pointed out that Globotech decided to expand into the toy business due to the decrease in military hardware demand after the end of the Cold War.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Parodied. Chip Hazard scolds Brad for throwing one of the Gwendy Dolls against the wall ("an officer and a gentleman does not strike a lady"), never mind they were attacking him first.
  • Writer Revolt: In-Universe example. Larry kept most of Irwin's ideas for the Gorgonites' personalities in place even though they'd been made the villains of the toyline.

 
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Larry realizes his blunder

Larry dismisses the idea that the toys could pose a threat until realizing mid-sentence on what makes them dangerous.

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