SMALL SOLDIERS
Dark, violent toy warfare with moral elements for older viewers.
Should You Watch It?
Small Soldiers delivers lots of action, scares, and occasional humor through a dark story about violent toys coming to life. Its special effects are admirable, and the movie includes moral elements involving trust, protecting family, confessing wrongdoing, and familial love.
The cost is substantial. Although there is no bloodletting, the toys use tactics associated with horrible war films. They are unrelenting, fearsome, and sadistic, causing great harm to two families. The movie also contains many obscenities and seems to gloss over the problems of violence in media, toys, and games.
For older children and adults who can handle the content, Small Soldiers is worth seeing, but it is not for small children.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESTwo toy designers create action figures designed to play back with their owners. After defense-department munitions microprocessing chips are installed, the toys become the Commando Elite, rough-neck fighters led by Chip Hazard, and the peaceful but grotesque Gorgonites, led by Archer.
Teenager Alan and his neighbor Christy give the Gorgonites a haven. Soon, the Commando Elite launch an all-out assault on their home and families.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a movie with real entertainment value but clear weaknesses. Small Soldiers offers lots of action and scares, along with moments of humor. Its special effects are admirable, and the toy-centered premise gives the movie an unusual way to explore violence.
The writing is less impressive. The movie can feel clichéd and dumb in the manner of many summer action films. Its moral elements of trust and protecting family give the story some substance, but they do not fully overcome the film’s excesses.
The Worldview
The film presents a pagan worldview of combative toys, with the toys shaped by munitions technology and military thinking. The Commando Elite are rough-neck, unrelenting fighters, while the Gorgonites are peaceful creatures who become targets. This creates a mixed picture: the movie condemns some cruelty and celebrates protecting family, but it also turns violent toys and warfare into the center of its entertainment.
The story contains moral elements of confessing wrongdoing, preserving family, trust, and familial love. It also seems to gloss over violence in the media and violence with toys and games. The result is a film that recognizes the value of trust and family while not fully confronting the violence it makes exciting.
The film’s longing for familial love and protection aligns with Scripture’s call to love faithfully: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Pagan worldview of combative toys with some moral elements of confessing wrongdoing, preserving family, trust, & familial love; 13 obscenities (mostly mild), 3 profanities (mild) & numerous vulgarities & name-calling; heavy & sometimes scary action violence including toy cuts boy, toy ties up girl, toys knock out parents with sleeping pills, toys attack home with an all out assault, toys burn boys pant leg, & girl mows toys down with mower, toys become electrocuted, some war violence on television, & humans fight back; no sex; no nudity; brief alcohol use by parents; no smoking; and, miscellaneous immorality including stealing, former rebellious behaviors implied, & some eerie images of mutant female dolls.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The toys are shaped by military technology and violent thinking. How should we think about the violence we welcome through toys, games, and media?
Philippians 4:8 · Psalm 101:3Alan and Christy protect the Gorgonites. What does protecting vulnerable people look like in your family or community?
Proverbs 31:8–9 · Psalm 82:3–4The movie includes trust and confessing wrongdoing among its moral elements. Why is confession necessary for restored trust?
Proverbs 28:13 · James 5:16The story emphasizes preserving family and familial love. What responsibilities do family members have toward one another?
1 Timothy 5:8 · Galatians 6:2The Final Word
Small Soldiers is an exciting, scary, sometimes funny movie with admirable effects and worthwhile themes about trust and family. Its heavy action violence, obscenities, and troubling treatment of violent toys make it unsuitable for small children. For older children and adults who can handle the content, WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
