Toy Soldiers (1991)

Directed by Daniel Petrie Jr. Starring Sean Astin, Louis Gossett Jr., Andrew Divoff, Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan, Denholm Elliott, Mason Adams, T. E. Russell, George Perez, R. Lee Ermey, Michael Champion, Shawn Phelan, Knowl Johnson, Jerry Orbach. [R]

After Colombian terrorists seize control of a prestigious all-male prep school to demand the release of an imprisoned drug kingpin, student troublemaker Astin and his buddies devise ways to fight back by aiding the army and law enforcement presence surrounding the school grounds. The screenplay, credited to David Koepp and director Petrie, is pretty dumb and predictable even by these standards, giving way to cornball heroics in the final act, but this gimmicky thriller—borrowing heavily from the likes of Die Hard, Taps, and more—is made with more earnest conviction than one might expect. Not exactly “edge of your seat” stuff, but the actors get the job done (especially Gossett as the school dean, an appreciable balance of discipline and affection when it comes to the student body), and the action/suspense may be routine, but at least it’s not dull. One distracting missing ingredient: aside from a single “staged” scene, we’re not privy to the reactions/emotions of nearly anyone outside the campus besides Gossett and top military and FBI brass. Based on a novel by William L. Kennedy. Orbach went unbilled as the father of one of the student hostages.

55/100