Toy Soldiers (1991)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by David Koepp & Daniel Petrie, Jr., based on the novel by William P. Kennedy
Directed by Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Starring Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Keith Koogan, Andrew Divoff, R. Lee Ermey, and Louis Gossett, Jr.

Anamorphic: Nope; presented in glorious full-screen
My Advice: Rent it

Billy Tepper (Astin) is a bad boy at a boarding school for rich kids who have, shall we say, discipline problems. This school is inhabited by several kids whose parents happen to hold very high-level government positions, too. Anyway, Colombian terrorists take over the school and hold everyone hostage, so it's up to Tepper, along with his friend Joey Trotta (Wheaton), to come up with a plan to help save their classmates.

There was a time in American Film History when it was acceptable to portray a terrorist situation involving kids. This is a good no-brainer movie where the good-guys win (I hope I didn't spoil it for you, but really, c'mon) and the bad guys get what's coming to them. If you watch this movie expecting anything really deep and fulfilling, then you're missing the point entirely. This was made with one demographic in mind: teenage boys who want to have a good escapism flick where they (or some teenage boys just like them) get to save the day. When you keep that in mind, this is really not that bad a movie. The acting is not all that great, but then again, it's not Shakespeare they are working with here.

Don't expect much from the DVD, though. There is nothing on it, certainly not a commentary or the like. Granted, David Koepp's got huge buzz off of Spider-Man and Astin's got the same off of Lord of the Rings--but it's not like Petrie's been up to a great deal recently. But still, the emphasis (or lack thereof) is apparent when you consider it's not even presented in widescreen. There are no featurettes, no interviews with the cast (even in retrospect), not even any photo galleries of shots from the film. I guess, for some reason, none of the people involved with this one wanted to remember doing it.

So, pick this one up as a rental sometime if you want a good movie to just veg out with. But in this edition, it's not worth adding it to your collection permanently.