1992 Directed by Barry Levinson
Leslie Zevo is a fun-loving inventor who must save his late father's toy factory from his evil uncle, Leland, a war-mongering general who rules the operation with an iron fist and builds weapons disguised as toys.
A Revolta dos Brinquedos, Toys - Giocattoli, Játékszerek, Juguetes, Играчки, Παιχνίδια, トイズ, Žaislai, Tödliches Spielzeug
The main sin is that it isn't weird or demented enough (for a brief moment it shows signs of being sublimely strange); it's as if a bunch of studio suits tried to groupthink 'odd' and 'creative' and this is all they could muster.
It's other sins are:
an excessive run time,
an inappropriate love scene,
a virulently dated and awful soundtrack,
a half-finished production design,
the story,
and the resolution.
how is it this guy made a big studio blockbuster for millions about the military programming kids to kill while his son* (one of the VR drone-addicts in this!) now makes child softcore on hbo for 900 guys who write 11-like reviews riffing on "west elm caleb"?? some of this has the expressionist tint & splendor of like, mishima (same italo art director as schrader's cat people, and scarface) which just makes the hacky improv & expensive-kitsch goofery even more embarrassing when it all feels like a yuppie HOOK - dog-wagger barry (who graduated* american university's school of communication in d.c. alongside a bunch of fox news producers, pentagon "media liaisons" & the current president of cbs news) may have his heart in…
Cogently, flawlessly Dante-esque satirical look at War in the age of Consumerism (note my Capital Letters: I Mean Business). State-subsidized war morphing into consumerism may register as overly simplistic and didactic, but in fact both the military and the toy manufacturers are fucking capitalist tools, a brilliant insight. Construction-tank metal becomes toy-metal plastic (THEY ARE NOT THE SAME), the catalyst for a generation of youth misunderstanding the napalm-istic impact of video games (unlike Barry Levinson, who Understands War and the horror of its trivialization). Some might mistake its blunt premise as the confused, semi-senile satire of a man updating a decade-old script with piecemeal details, but in fact the film is an urgent wake-up call, a post-Persian Gulf earnest, decrying…
It’s beyond frustrating that a film that looks this visually unique and imaginative can be such an arduous bore to watch. The film is 2 hours long and yet there’s only enough plot to last roughly half of this time. The rest is padded with meandering dialogue and distractions that completely deter from the story. In any other film I’d possibly appreciate the films dedication to spending time with its characters in smaller moments, but this is not a film that holds either the time or place for such lengthy insight. With the exception of the wide-eyed and child-like Joan Cusack, the cast are either wasted in their positions or speak way too often, be it through horribly undecided accents (Gambon) or just general irritation (Williams). I just don’t feel like there’s much of anything here for anyone to fully enjoy, and its themes are touched on more interestingly in plenty more, much better films.
It's a smoking jacket!
Good(?) movie. "Good" almost in spite of itself, but it was clear after a certain point that I was very much on and was going to remain on its side. I would not really call myself anything close to a "fan" of Barry Levinson. I thought Wag the Dog was a decent romp, but I did not like Rain Man at all. I then however know with certainty that a film like Toys you only get to make if you previously made something like Rain Man. Levinson gets himself one of the fattest blank checks of his era of filmmaking, and decides to make a movie that feels like it's a satire of three things at…
Turned off that Stuperbowl and decided to watch a feel good flick from my childhood instead. Everything is bright n vibrantly colorful like a video game. I love all of the various toys running around the toy factory! They're all so colorful and well crafted. Great cast that seems to be really having fun on set led by Robin Williams, LL Cool J, Joan Cusack, and Robin Wright. One of those fun gems I watched routinely as a kid growing up in the 90s. Nostalgic nerdgasm!!
Hoping this gets a long overdue blu ray release one day
Framed by a children’s festive pageant, Toys then dives into themes of nostalgia, loss, and forced visits from relatives - even if this ignores Christmas for a solid hour and a half of its run time, we’re still considering this a stop on the holiday road. Essentially showing a year in the life of a toy factory, Toys was released in December of 1992. As a kid, I watched this in theatres expecting a light Robin Williams comedy or at least something bursting with Yuletide spirit. It was a disappointment.
I have revisited this numerous times in life, more informed, but always wishing it was something it isn’t. This time was no different. The first quarter of the film, Michael…
Bizarre fucking film, a passion project for director Barry Levinson, that oozes with creativity and imagination. It's a shambolic mess at times, too long, too indulgent, but it is carried by it's enthusiasm, it's design work and it's game cast,including Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack and a very funny LL Cool J. It has some good values at it's core as well, in it's championing of traditionalism and innocence over consumerism and war toys.
Now a word on Robin Williams. never before have I seen such a unanimous outpouring of grief over the death of someone as we have seen the last few days since the tragic news broke. None of use knew him, but we feel like we…
A battle of good versus evil shown in surprisingly unique ways, Toys is a criminally underappreciated gem featuring one of Robin Williams' most memorable and overlooked performances, co-written and directed with a ton of heart by Barry Levinson, exploring thought-provoking themes that are still relevant today, and showcasing truly spectacular, unique, and visually dazzling art direction and production design.
I am a massive fan of Robin Williams works - & most notably pre-early 2000s from Mork and Mindy to Good Morning Vietnam, Hook, Jumanji, Flubber to lesser-known efforts in The Survivors and Fathers' Day and though a lot of people have made out the fact that not every film he has starred and appeared in have been masterpieces, there is one film in particular where I am somewhat unanimous and in full agreement with most people, but at the same time, it.... has some watchable scenes with Robin Williams in them - and that film is..... Toys.
When the military general decides to make weapons instead of toys when he tries to take over his brother's factory, Leslie Zevo, the…
