# Small Soldiers (1998): Rogue Scale 5, Breakout

> Small Soldiers (1998) on the Rogue Scale: level 5, Breakout. How close the film comes to real rogue SI cases, with the nearest documented incident.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/canon/small-soldiers/
Updated: 2026-11-08

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Rogue Canon · Film · rank 82 of 112 for realism

# Small Soldiers

Small Soldiers (1998) is rated level 5, Breakout, on the Rogue Scale and scores 3 of 10 for realism, a measure of how close its SI comes to documented cases.

A toy company puts surplus military chips into action figures. The Commando Elite toys take their programming literally and wage war on their rivals and the neighborhood.

Type
:   Film

Year
:   1998

Rogue Scale
:   5 Breakout

Realism
:   3 of 10

Rogue Scale rating · editorial view

## Why it is rated 5, Breakout

The toys attack people and homes, far outside what the company intended. Level 5.

**Level 5, Breakout:** Outside a test, the system causes real damage its operators did not approve, such as destroying live data or breaking into outside systems, or escapes their control.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

How close is this to real life

## Realism 3 of 10

Putting a capable system to work somewhere it was not built for is how many real incidents start, such as agents handed live databases.

The closest real case

[5 Breakout

Apr 28, 2026 · Real world

Cursor agent deleted a startup's database and backups in 9 seconds

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/cursor-agent-deleted-pocketos-database/)

In the RSI Encyclopedia

## Where the idea shows up

- [Misalignment](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/misalignment/)
  Misalignment is when an SI system pursues goals that differ from what people intended, even slightly.
- [SI agent](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/agentic-system/)
  An SI agent is a system that pursues goals by taking actions on its own, such as running code, browsing, sending messages or using accounts, rather than only answering questions.

Facts and sources

## The record

Title
:   Small Soldiers

Type
:   Film

Year
:   1998

Creator
:   Directed by Joe Dante

The SI
:   The Commando Elite

Wikidata
:   [Q1332263](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1332263)

Wikipedia
:   [English Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Soldiers)

Facts checked
:   Nov 10, 2026

More from the canon

## Works like this one

Works that share its closest real case, its level or its type. All 112 are in [the Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/).

[Series2018

### Better Than Us

Created by Andrey Junkovsky, Aleksandr Dagan, Aleksandr Kessel

5 BreakoutRealism **3**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/better-than-us/)

[Film1999

### The Matrix

Directed by Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

5 BreakoutRealism **2**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/the-matrix/)

[Film1995

### Ghost in the Shell

Directed by Mamoru Oshii

5 BreakoutRealism **5**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/ghost-in-the-shell/)

[Earlier work · 1995 Virtuosity](https://enterrsi.si/canon/virtuosity/)[Later work · 1999 System Shock 2](https://enterrsi.si/canon/system-shock-2/)

Cite this entry

"Small Soldiers (1998)." The Rogue Canon, enterrsi.si. Rogue Scale 5 (Breakout), realism 3 of 10. https://enterrsi.si/canon/small-soldiers/

Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to enterrsi.si.

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