YMMV / Small Soldiers

• Accidental Aesop: When creating something, try to put some thought and effort into it. The primary reason the Commado Elite cause so much trouble is due to their creator's giving them no other motivation beyond defeating the Gorgonites, who unlike them had actual lore and characterization along with the capacity to learn and understand.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The Commandos aren't necessarily evil. They're just programmed to eliminate the Gorgonites and anyone who helps them. Aside from Chip Hazard, who has a very sadistic attitude towards the enemy, the rest seem to at least care about each other. Who knows if they could be taught to fight their programming like the Gorgonites did?
  • Larry is treated like an idiot for programming the toys in the first place, but consider his situation. He was just told by his new boss to get the toys ready in three months, which is only half the time it usually takes for the process. Likewise he and Irwin are literally the only two members of staff left, as Mars fired everyone else in the merger. So while his decision was idiotic, he was operating under a lot of pressure and the fear of being fired too. He was also under the mistaken impression that he was using off-the-shelf processors instead of AI in a box. On the other hand, Irwin tries to explain that the process takes longer and Larry is the one who cuts him off and lies that it can be done in three months - rather than at least attempting to explain to Mr Mars the risks. He also could have avoided the mess if he'd properly done his research.
  • Gil Mars also doesn't seem like that bad a boss if you think about it. He says in his first meeting he hates the idea of false advertising and doesn't want to promote a toy that can't do what it does in the commercials - he's just inexperienced with the process of getting toys ready for the market. And despite claiming he won't remember Larry's name after the first meeting, he actually does. And in the end, he goes to the scene of the crime personally to compensate everyone very generously judging by their reactions. Larry doesn't even suffer ill consequences from the whole thing; Mars just tells him to perfect the formula to be used in a different way.
• Anvilicious: Joe Dante isn't exactly subtle in how he views "war toys" like G.I. Joe.
• Awesome Music:
  • Courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith: Assembly Line.
  • The soundtrack is also pretty great, featuring remixed versions of famous songs:
    • There's Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's take on Edwin Starr's War, which also features Henry Rollins, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Red Hot Chili Peppers's Flea.
    • Queen's Another One Bites The Dust, remixed by Wyclef Jean and featuring news vocals by Jean, Free and Jean's fellow The Fugees's member Pras.
    • Billy Squier's The Stroke, remixed by Dallas Austin.
    • Pat Benatar's Love Is A Battlefield, remixed by Kay Gee and featuring new vocals by Queen Latifah.
    • Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll (Part 2), remixed by Dutch (aka Rick Cousin).
    • The Cult's Love Removal Machine, remixed by Mickey Petralia.
    • Pretenders' My City Was Gone, remixed by The Butcher Bros. and featuring new vocals by Kool Keith.
    • Cheap Trick's Surrender, remixed by Rich Costey.
    • Rush's Tom Sawyer, remixed by DJ Z-Trip.
    • and the original version of War by Edwin Starr.
• Cliché Storm: Parodied with Chip Hazard's entire mode of speech. While it doesn't exactly fit the definition of the trope, a definitely non-YMMV version occurs after Hazard activates the other Commandos. He gives a speech that is literally composed entirely of cliched famous quotations.
• Ending Fatigue: One of the film's biggest criticisms is that it goes through two Final Battle climaxes. Many felt that the movie could have ended after the Commandos were defeated during the bike chase. Instead, the movie goes on for another 20ish minutes with Chip Hazard returning with an army of Commandos. This is more divisive though, as some feel that ending the movie there might have been anti-climactic - and the second battle gives the majority of the film's funniest moments.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Most viewers love Phil Fimple, thanks to Phil Hartman getting some great one-liners ("I think World War II was my favorite war"). As noted below, many flocked to the movie to see his final performance.
  • Talkative Loon Insaniac and The Big Guy Slamfist are mostly offscreen for the first half of the film, but are probably the most colorful and well-remembered of Archer's Gorgonites.
• Evil Is Cool:
  • The Commando Elite are badass military soldier toys who, despite being at a disadvantage due to their small size, overcome it due to their ingenuity, charisma and ability to create cool improvised weapons like flamethrowers and general coolness due to being voiced by famous tough guy character actors.
  • Major Chip Hazard, leader of the Commando Elite, is badass, charismatic, highly intelligent, chivalrous and constantly keeps the heroes on their toes. His awesome speeches, where he quotes various old school military films and being voiced by Tommy Lee Jones, add to the appeal.
• Foe Yay Shipping: The Gwendy Dolls; much like the commandoes their lines are more or less the Valley Girl Cliche, but when attacking Alan or Christy's boyfriend Brad their lines sound more or less like pickup lines that border on this.
  Gwendy: "Oh look, a man! Alley-oop!" (gets cheerleader-thrown up to Brad's shoulder).
• Ham and Cheese: Tommy Lee Jones, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci are obviously having a lot of fun hamming it up as the evil toys.
• He's Just Hiding: Some of Chip's men may have survived the bike crash, given that a couple of voices are heard screaming in the flames, but no bodies are shown, and they were near water.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Irwin protests against the 'Commandos vs Gorgonites' plot in the toyline, mainly because of the violence. Which mirrors complaints some critics had about the movie itself being too violent for children. To which Gil Mars responds - "Call it action. Kids love action."
  • Kevin Dunn plays the father of a kid who gets in over his head trying to impress a girl, and their house gets destroyed by a group of toys. Then he gets paid off so he won't tell anybody about it. Both stories also have the teenaged son kill the Big Bad, and even more hilariously, Alan defeats Chip with a power transformer.
  • The Commando Elite comprise a hard-as-nails veteran who pretty much embodies every war movie trope in existence, a massive, buzz-cut-sporting heavy weapons expert, a sniper who also carries several varieties of flamethrower, a slimy chain-smoking backstabber, a pint-sized scout wearing a mic and earpiece, and a suicidality enthusiastic demolition guy. They're all expert engineers and brilliant-but-unethical medics. Who start out with ordinary military kit, but then build themselves increasingly crazy weapons out of stuff they find lying around. Whew. Sounds like prime material for a game adaptation doesn't it...
    • Also these lines would be very funny to any Team Fortress 2 fan, given the game's many Cool Hats
      Gil Mars:"Now these guys are soldiers, right? And what do soldiers need?"
      Irwin Wayfair: "Hats?"
  • A bunch of artificially intelligent toy-like characters aimed at kids, many of which with Terminator-esque endoskeletons and unnerving appearances deep from the Unintentional Uncanny Valley, that prove to be far more intelligent - and dangerous - than expected? Sounds a lot like Five Nights at Freddy's.
  • Chip Hazard is an older but muscular and active commanding soldier with a white crew cut who is a fountain of military might catchphrases and speeches, wants to wipe out a peaceful non-human race, and ultimately battles the film's hero one-on-one with a knife. After the release of Avatar, Hazard could pass as a Colonel Miles Quaritch action figure.
  • In promotional materials, like the Burger King promotion, Chip Hazard was voiced by Jim Cummings. This wouldn't be the last time Cummings would lend his voice to a franchise about living toy soldiers.
  • The opening depicts a computer pretty much making the skin of the robots from whole-cloth, it's presented as fictional here. But several years later, 3D printing would become a thing.
  • The Commando Elite's exaggerated faces and 'roided-out physique make them look like precursors to another set of soldiers who fight aliens.
• Just Here for Godzilla: At the time of release, some people claimed they only saw this movie because Phil Hartman was in it and this was one of the last things he did before he was murdered.
• Magnificent Bastard: Major Chip Hazard is a charismatic, hammy toy soldier brought to life by a rogue AI chip who seeks to destroy the Gorgonites. Chip is a master at laying traps in order to capture or defeat the enemy and use various tactics such as using Allen's crush as a hostage to draw out the Gorgonites. Improvising weapons to knock out any adults or building new soldiers using his ingenuity, Chip constantly keeps the heroes on their toes as he comes very close to beating them on multiple occasions. Chip also has empathy and genuine care for his men and swears revenge for their defeat, hijacking a new army to do just that. Finally, Chip lays siege to Alan's house using various tactics like cutting the power to ensure their opportunities to escape are curtailed and using loud music to avoid the neighbors hearing the siege and interfering.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Archer's introductory quote, "Greetings, I am Archer, emissary of the Gorgonites." is often jokingly used among internauts as a way of introducing themselves to other individuals.
  • The Commando Elite being compared to the classes of Team Fortress 2 is quite common.
• Misaimed Merchandising: This movie deconstructs the concept of war toys like G.I. Joe by portraying the Commando Elite as fascistic, bigoted, and destructive. Naturally, the company that made G.I. Joe, Hasbro, thought this would be the perfect movie to produce a toyline, and their commercials focused on the Commando Elite over the Gorgonites most of the time.
• Narm: Alan's line right before he does away with Chip Hazard by thrusting him into the power transformers is, "Y-you stupid toy!".
• Narm Charm: How do the manly Commando Elites use psychological warfare to threaten their enemies to kick off the third act? By blasting "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls! It's equal parts ridiculous and awesome.
• Nightmare Fuel: What the Commandos do to the Gwendy dolls. The idea is silly, but the sight of dozens of tiny half-dressed, mutilated, brainwashed plastic women crawling over Christy as she screams is still skin-crawling.
  • Special mention to the one headless Gwendy doll with only eyes attached to it. What the actual hell?
• No Problem with Licensed Games: While some of the film's tie-in video games fell victim to the opposite trope, the PlayStation third-person shooter and PC Real-Time Strategy game were mostly considered pretty decent. The PlayStation version in particular got some mileage from being set within the universe described in the toyline's backstory rather than just adapting the film, and featuring some nice atmosphere and Michael Giacchino delivering another great score.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Gil Mars only shows up twice in the movie, and still manages to be one of the most memorable characters (being played by Denis Leary certainly doesn't hurt.)
  • Robert Picardo as the AI chips' creator shows up in just one scene, but certainly makes it count.
  • The Gwendy Dolls don't have that much screen time but they sure are memorable, especially Sarah Michelle Gellar.
  • Marion Fimple is mostly a Living Prop until the final battle, and even then she spends most of that hiding in the closet. But she's still loopy from being drugged, and Wendy Schaal has a lot of fun with her scene. Particularly when she Squees at the Spice Girls being played as they're being attacked.
• Paranoia Fuel: Intelligent robotic toys with the capacity to learn, some of whom just happen to be psychotic killers? After watching this film, you may never look at your Furby the same way again.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Gregory Smith, who played Alan, would later be better known for appearing in the series Everwood and Rookie Blue.
  • Timmy's actor Jacob Smith (no relation to Gregory Smith) would later be better known for playing an older Owen in Party of Five and Jake in the Cheaper by The Dozen movies.
• Rooting for the Empire: Note to Hollywood: If you don't want people sympathizing with your villains, you probably shouldn't give them several times as much screen time, almost to the point of making them Villain Protagonists. Also, don't then only release three of them in toy form (two in the UK) as opposed to an entire set of Gorgonites and Flatchoo, who wasn't even a Gorgonite. Given that, in universe, the Commando Elite were originally designed as the good guys, it makes sense they would be cool. It was the creator of the Gorgonite line who did a little tinkering so that his Gorgonites would be the heroes instead, and the Commandos the bad guys. Even then, though, this trope may still apply.
• Signature Scene:
  • A part of the movie that's considered iconic is when the Commandos begin the final battle by playing "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.
  • Another highly memorable moment is Alan and Christy smashing up the Gwendy Dolls (the latter getting very into it) and climaxing with a Big Damn Kiss.
  • The Commando Elite unleashing their arsenal of homemade weapons to the tune of Edwin Starr's "War" is another fondly remembered moment.
• Special Effects Failure:
  • While the blend between animatronic and CG is usually decent (for its time, at least). There's a few moments where it's obvious, like when Chip climbs the rock near the end of the film.
  • When the Commandos are falling apart, you can see that some of them are just solid pieces of geometry put together, as their internal components are not visible.
  • Some of the animation itself is lacking at times, such as the choppy movements of Insaniac during the finale.
• Spiritual Successor: To Dante's Gremlins films which also focused on a man's son unwittingly unleashing small creatures who wreak havoc on an unsuspecting neighborhood. Small Soldiers shares the Gremlins films' commentary about American culture's dependency on technology, but in a much more overt way.
• Tear Jerker: Nick Nitro gets a surprisingly sad Alas, Poor Villain death, having his legs shredded and dying in pain surrounded by his comrades, who mourn him.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The final battle at the house doesn't quite take advantage of having multiple Commandos of the same toy fighting alongside one another. Chip Hazard in particular, since one can only wonder how it would have turned out had there been multiple Chips leading the army.
• Ugly Cute: Many of the Gorgonites, but especially Ocula, who amounts to a little eyeball on a stick with legs and yet somehow manages to look absolutely huggable.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • When Archer looks up Alan's computer for Gorgon, he uses Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia which declined in the 2000s due to the rise of Wikipedia as well as other internet encyclopedias.
  • The Commandos blare "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls for psychological warfare. The film was released after Geri "Ginger Spice" Haliwell left the group in late May of 1998, which was the beginning of the end of the "Spicemania" phenomenon. These instances date the movie to 1998, more so when The Commandos use a song from a craze that was starting to fizzle out.
  • Alan, of course, has a stereotypical 'curtains' hairstyle.
  • The last line of the film is a Titanic (1997) joke.
    "I hope we don't hit an iceberg."
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The Commando Elite all have very exaggeratedly masculine features, and end up looking more monstrous than the non-human Gorgonites. Chip is the least Gonk of the bunch.
• Values Dissonance: Gil Mars' dismissal of the Gorgonites' original pitch as educational toys fits right into a 90s flavor of anti-intellectualism. Back then, nerds were targets of mockery and Mars was likely worried about alienating other demographics.
• Values Resonance: This 2018 article explains in great detail why the film's criticism of multinational monopolization (specifically how giant corporations profit from the military) holds a lot more relevance today than it did in 1998.
• Vanilla Protagonist: Alan is there as the Audience Surrogate - the Nice Guy trying to do a good thing and help out his dad's small business - and his past as a Former Teen Rebel is just to prevent his parents from believing him sooner. He's then surrounded by the more outlandish living toys, and even his parents and neighbours. Christy is in fact a more colorful character, despite being the love interest; a tomboy ashamed of her girly streak who happily becomes an Action Girl in the third act.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Scratch-It shows no visible signs of her sex.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
  • Surprisingly dark and violent for a kids' movie. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be, but tell that to the people who marketed the film and made the toy line. Dante was told to make the movie more kid-friendly far too late into production to remove all the darker stuff (and the movie was rated PG-13 anyway). There's also a couple of uses of the word 'bastard' and 'ass'.
  • In-universe, most of the Gwendy dolls are dressed in stripper costumes.
  • Burger King actually got in trouble over a tie-in toy line for a PG-13 movie, which they blamed on DW promising them the movie would be rated PG (DW replied they had never promised that). They had to put a disclaimer and certain franchises offered replacements.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: The villains are violent toys that resemble American soldiers, who automatically become dangerous and evil simply by gaining sentience, and are hunting down far more peaceful ones. Suffice to say, some critics were suspicious of the director's motives.

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