Roger Ebert Was Worried That This Hit '90s Kids Sci-Fi Movie Would Terrify Children

Family movies, whether universally adored or cult classics passed down from generation to generation, can sometimes share a very special element that some people choose to ignore: the brief chunks of nightmare fuel that are wedged in between them. From the Wheelers in "Return to Oz" to the tunnel in essential '70s classic, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," there's a lot that has scared kids out of their minds.

In the eyes of legendary movie critic Roger Ebert, one movie that was for all the family became a cult classic, but not without elements he believed would scare the snot out of younger audiences. After turning towns upside down with movies like "Gremlins" and "The Burbs," director Joe Dante delivered more miniature madness with "Small Soldiers," a 1996 movie that saw G.I. Joe-like action figures turn into killing machines with choking-hazard accessories.

What followed was an action-packed siege on suburbia boasting the vocal talents of Tommy Lee Jones, Ernest Borgnine, and Bruce Dern, to name a few. Even with all that star power, though, there were some parts of it that didn't click with Ebert. He expected kids to run from the aisles in fear of what was on show — a family film somewhere between "Toy Story" and '80s horror movie, "Critters." That probably explains why Ebert wasn't the only critic who thought "Small Soldiers" wasn't much of a big deal when it debuted.

Despite its impressive puppetry and set pieces that stretched beyond the backyard, Ebert didn't know what to make of "Small Soldiers." In his review, he deemed that "'Small Soldiers' is a family picture on the outside, and a mean, violent action picture on the inside." He went on to describe the violence as a strange thing to handle, but that wasn't the only thing that could've held the movie back. "Small Soldiers" was stamped PG-13 because of one scene involving drug use, which was but a fragment of the movie's tone that was edging on the other side of family-friendly.

"Since most of the violence happens to toys, I guess we're supposed to give it a pass, but I dunno: The toys are presented as individuals who can think for themselves, and there are believable heroes and villains among them," said Ebert. "For smaller children, this could be a terrifying experience." In the past, Ebert had been known to give films a second chance ("Blade Runner" got another go from the critic), but "Small Soldiers" on its first try was met with the same reaction from other critics.

With a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes, this "Gremlins"-like movie just didn't hit the mark. Years later, 20th Century Fox played with the idea of remaking the film, until the 2019 merger with Disney saw some 200 projects in development get canned, including "Small Soldiers." Perhaps in this case, this was a story that was meant to stay in its original packaging.