Review of Toy Soldiers (1991) by Harry W — 03 Feb 2013

When I first watched Toy Soldiers in 2010, I was at a low point in my life. I felt weak, abused and hopeless. Then I watched Toy Soldiers, and I picked my life right up. Toy Soldiers was inspirational to me, and combined 2 of my favourite film genres, so it's not hard to understand why i'd call this the greatest film of all time.

Although it doesen't have the filmmaking qualities of a Quentin Tarantino or Paul Thomas Anderson film, it has many others that are very strong.

For one thing, 2 of my favourite film genres are teenager action films such as Red Dawn, and escape films like The Great Escape, and the combination of the 2 of these genres as well as serious teenage drama into the story makes Toy Soldiers just such a fun adventure.

It features excellent rebellious teenage characters with a perfect cast, and they appear more realistic here than in other Teenage dramas because Toy Soldiers displays a level of internal smarts and street smarts in it's characters.

It's tale is even inspiring, because since the rebellious characters are using their instincts in a skillfull manner, it inspires the viewer to be able to rise up and fight back against conformity and superiority.

Toy Soldiers features many scenes executed well with good cinematography and heart pounding intensity which strongly overshadow the lack of realism in the plot and make it a thrilling ride.

Although the screenplay isn't incredible especially with Wil Wheaton's lines, it does have it's moments and introduces several interesting ideas to the viewer.

The strong point is that the performances of the cast are incredible.

Sean Astin plays a strong lead and his rebellious character development is executed very well, along with his ability to cry on command. Billy Tepper is an awesome character thanks to him, and it just unforgettable to me.

In a supporting role, Wil Wheaton gets stuck with many weaknesses in the script but plays his complex character Joey Trotta so successfully that when his character left the film I cried the first time I watched this, and had to hold back my tears the second two times.

Louis Gosset Jr. plays his stereotypical wise-soldier character role again, and he does it good enough to be compared to Morgan Freeman in some of his work.

Keith Coogan, George Perez and T.E. Russell all succeed at playing convincing students and each present positive support to the main characters.

Luis Cali plays a very indimidating villain, and his character's devotion to his father and lack of remorse makes him a strong character, and Cali's performance is well executed.

Michael Champion's villainous character doesen't require him to act very much, but the dodgy look on his face and the evil stare he glares at the screen is strongly intimidating.

R. Lee Ermey plays another army soldier as he's seemingly typecast into the role, but although he doesen't stick out he felivers his lines just fine.

So Toy Soldiers isn't a masterpiece, but a film doesen't need to be so that the viewer can enjoy themselves. Toy Soldiers is awesome just because of the fact that it's such a fun adventure with an interesting plotline and excellent character development, as well as the fact that it's inspiring to the right person, and since i'm the right person, I consider it the greatest film of all time.