TW watches Toy Soldiers

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

1991 saw the release of Toy Soldiers. An action movie written by Petrie and David Koepp and directed by Daniel Petrie Jnr. it saw terrorists taking a school hostage in order to secure their leader’s father’s release from prison. It brought together a team of actors that were familiar to audiences and have sci fi links.

Louis Gossett Jnr (Enrmy Mine) played Dean Parker while the Goonies Sean Astin played Billy Tepper. Star Trek’s Wil Wheaton played Billy’s best friend Joey Trotta, estranged son of Mafia boss, Albert Trotta. Indiana Jones’ sidekick Denholm Elliott played the headmaster while Wishmaster baddie Andrew Divoff played the madman Luis. The rest of the gang comprised of Hank Giles (T.E. Elliott), Ricky Montoya (George Perez) and “Snuffy” Bradberry (Keith Coogan).

They are all staff and pupils of Regis High for boys. Their families are wealthy and influential but many including Billy and Joey have been expelled from other schools. Despite their antics, Dean Parker is protective of his boys and seems to spend his time battling Billy and the gang’s escapades.

But when Luis Cali takes the entire school hostage in return for his father’s freedom, teenage mischief becomes vital in order to save the lives of everyone at the school and defeat Luis and his men. The entire shool has been wired with bombs and Luis has the detonator on his wrist at all times. His men have made Regis a fortress and no one can get in. It’s an impossible scenario from which there will be seemingly no resolve but Luis has not counted on Billy Tepper.

This movie may have sounded cormy on reading but it is executed in a heart pumping fashion. No movie really succeeds without a heart at its very core and the heart here is the friendship between the five boys especially Joey and Billy. Anybody can make an action movie but without the human core then it is simply a paint by numbers exercise. While Toy Soldiers is a great action movie, you can’t help but feel for the characters.

All of them have rich parents and have been estranged from them for various reasons. This is showcased in Jpey’s character. He hates his father to the point of no return and this relationship will be key to the plot. It is not specified as to why he hates him but we can only assume with no mother figure his gangster father somehow maybe caused her death. Add to being sent away to Regis when he really needed love from a parent and you can feel Joey’s hatred. His complete and total loyalty is to his friends. He and Billy balance each other out. Billy tempers Joey’s hothead reactions and Joey encourages his buddy to plan his revenge against the teachers rather than act irrationally. Interestingly enough Dean Parker refuses to give up on these kids and is very protective of them. With him trapped outside when the school when it is taken over, he is helpless but is secretly betting that Billy will somehow come up with a way to contact the outside world. And he’s right.

Using the combined talents of the other students, Billy manages to get details of how many terrorists there are and where they are positioned including names and weapons. The military have taken up position nearby and trying to stall negotiations. In a heart in your mouth sequence, Billy escapes to the outside world using a secret drain they use to bunk off school into town. He has less than an hour to get back before the hourly headcount is done, If he isn’t back in time then five students will be executed. The military detain Billy but Parker helps him escape. He is chased by soldiers in jeeps and falls into the waterway. With only seconds to spare before the headmaster and four kids are murdered Billy rushes in wearing a towel saying he was in the shower and never heard the call. It’s great stuff that elevates this movie beyond a cheesy run through. You care about these people as the deranged Luis Cali (Wishmaster himself Andrew Divoff) whips Billy in the Dean’s office. This gives Billy a chance to scout the layout including an air shaft leading to the rest of the building.

But Albert Trotta is not happy his son is being held hostage and sends word out for his release. Luis cooperates but fails to see how dangerous it is for Joey not to be more heavily guarded. He refuses to leave without his friends and is furious that his father has arranged this. But he is manhandled out but without Billy, Joey assaults the terrorist accompanying him and steals his automatic weapon. He rushes outside and has no control of the weapon as it fires random shots. The others have to hold Billy back as Joey is shot repeatedly lying dead on the school’s steps.

This is really the heartbreaker of the movie. It really shows the bond between these kids and now the fun is suddenly very real. Billy is distraught and forced to pull himself together by the others. The tragedy is felt on many levels as Joey dies for nothing. His father is devastated even knowing his son hates him beyond repair. The lone trumpet soundtrack makes you well up especially when Dean Parker has to go to the school to retrieve Joey’s body. Louis Gossett Junior underplays his fury and grief at one of his own being killed. He is tough with his kids especially with Billy and his vodka scam but he will die for them. You can the griEf and hatred in his face but his years as Dean of the school let him hold it together so he can look Luis in the eye and warn him. His words are not lost on Luis who know his days are numbered. It is clear along with the haunting solo trumpet backtrack that the Dean’s loss is killing him as surely as if Joey were his own. He warns Luis in a level, calm voice that they will bring him down but he is too busy being terrified at the retaliation from the Mafia for this. Rightly so, as his father is murdered in prison taking away his only reason to not kill everyone.

This triggers the run to the heart stopping finale as we get the kids fighting back as helicopters battle the roof machine guns. Navy Seals use the secret storm drain to gain entrance along with Dean Parker but an accidental grenade stops them leaving Dean alone with the wounded. Snipers take out the roof top terrorists and soldiers drop from helicopters as the terrorists are shot dead. Luis is freaking, knowing this is the end and detonates the bombs. However he is unaware Billy has swopped the chips in the detonator with a toy plane. Luis shoots Parker before being shot in the head. The kids are released and Billy and Parker have a new understanding.

There isn’t a poor performance here and even now the tension and the heartbreak is still as poignant as it was on the first viewing. Wrapped in this rollercoaster hostage movie is a story about family and what constitutes that. Family is supposed to be blood but on the absence of that, family will find you in people you never expected.

Amazing movie.