'Toy Soldiers' - When All-Star Films Were Common (& Good)

Hello, and welcome back to Second Chances where I'm planning a joint assault on behalf of the maligned, forgotten, and ignored.

Let's face it. We just don't see that many all-star films anymore. You know, those movies that have a bunch of recognizable names and faces in them. Sure, there are the Marvel movies and disasters like Cats, but that's a far cry from the 90s when films regularly had famous ensembles. One of my favorite movies of all time, A Few Good Men, was like that, and the year before saw another all-star film in the form of the action thriller Toy Soldiers.

Toy Soldiers is a 1991 film based on a novel by William Kennedy. It is overloaded with then-current and future star power, both in front of and behind the camera. The cast included Sean Astin when he was still known as Mikey from The Goonies, Wil Wheaton when he was still Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, R. Lee Ermey after impressing the world as the tough-as-nails GySgt Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, and the ever-reliable Louis Gossett, Jr. Behind the camera is writer David Koepp just two years before his breakthrough writing Jurassic Park, and director Daniel Petrie, Jr., who wrote Beverly Hills Cop, #4 on my favorite movies list. Yet, despite the amount of talent involved, the movie barely broke even at the box office and received middling reviews from critics. Fortunately, it gained a much-deserved cult following later, and I find it still worth watching now.

The movie almost entirely takes place at and around the Regis School, an exclusive prep school in Virginia known for being where boys get sent after they've been kicked out of other prep schools. Sean Astin plays Billy Tepper, the leader of a group of "Rejects" known for trying authority at every opportunity, especially Dean Parker (Louis Gossett, Jr.) and Headmaster Gould, played by Denholm Elliot from the Indiana Jones films. One day, the school gets taken over by Colombian terrorists led by Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff) who threatens to kill the students unless his drug kingpin father is released from federal custody. Now, the kids who've made a career out of breaking rules have to coordinate with the authorities on the outside to save everyone.

While the plot admittedly has few surprises, it stays engaging throughout its runtime. There have been movies like Die Hard and Home Alone that dealt with invading forces. However, in most of those movies, the people on the outside tended to be portrayed as incompetent. Here, both the students on the inside and the military on the outside rise to the challenge quite well. There was one moment when the military had a dumb idea that almost led to casualties, but that's a far cry from the utter stupidity seen by most of the LAPD and FBI in Die Hard. Also, while modern action movies seem to think people would get bored if there isn't a battle or explosion every few minutes, the action scenes here are spaced out, providing plenty of room for tense atmosphere and a great number of funny quips.

The abundance of star power was certainly not just a marketing gimmick. Everyone turns out excellent performances. Sean Astin provides the bravery and irreverence that feels like a mix of Mikey from The Goonies and Samwise Gamgee. Wil Wheaton's hot-headed Joey Trotta is light-years away from Wesley Crusher, thank God. Louis Gossett, Jr.'s no-nonsense portrayal of Dean Parker pleasantly reminded me of his starring role in Iron Eagle. In fact, I think the greatness of the established stars bled over to the then-relative nobodies who were also present. One of the best performances came from Andrew Divoff who played the main villain Luis Cali. While he does go a little over-the-top with his yelling, he mostly plays Cali as just a desperate man. When he revealed that he was ready to die along with the hostages if his father isn't released, he doesn't act like a stereotypical jihadist. It comes off as very believable. This role, which Divoff named his favorite, led to plenty of villain roles afterward.

Toy Soldiers is an all-star film where the star power added something more than a bloated budget. The acting is great, the plot is familiar but engaging, and the action scenes are exciting without going over-the-top. Though it's not currently available for streaming, I found a bargain-bin DVD easily enough, and it's also available for digital rental from iTunes and Amazon. Check it out!

What do you think? Any other movies that should be spotlighted here? Let me know. Class dismissed!