I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I saw this wonderful film in two versions when it was first released. The first was with sub- titles, and in the second English was dubbed in. The sub-title version was much better, as it more closely followed the actual language used. But I thoroughly enjoyed the film on both occasions, and later added a copy to my collection.The performances of the boys was uniformly superb, and the "war" progressed naturally and logically to its inevitable disastrous conclusion. I was, as I am sure everyone was, totally captivated by the performance of little Martin Lartigue as Petit Gibus, the smallest member of Lebrac's gang. I will never forget his checking of his "qualifications" for leading the gang, and his sad conclusion that he would "Never be the leader!"All in all this is a delightful film which I still enjoy watching as much as I did when I first saw it.

Yves Robert died a few days back and I write this comment as a tribute to him:"la guerre des boutons" is a timeless brats movie,which can be watched forty years after with the same pleasure:a blockbuster when it was released in France in 1961,French kids enjoy it at least as much as their parents or grandparents today.Of course,Louis Pergaud's Rabelaisian novel,written at the beginning of last century, was watered down (but not cheapened),or else it would not have been accepted by the censorship:there are lines in this book that would make blush the well-meanings.The words are crude and not prudish at all.The story was much more than a funny joke though:actually,the children aped the grown-ups and THEIR wars:("to think,that later,we will be as stupid as'em!"-this is the last line of the movie).Yves Robert transposed the action to the rural sixties.He gathered lots and lots of children whom he directed masterfully."Magna cum laude",first class honours,for young "Petit Gibus"!anyone who watches the movie will love him:he's so funny when he gets drunk!Shot in black and white,the movie will remind you of your schooldays.Louis Pergaud died in 1915.The war he was waging was not a war of the buttons.

This unforgettable movie about poor, rural French kids who battle each other as representatives for the "republic" or for the "monarchy" in the woods after school. The loser has his buttons knifed off by the winner; since the loser has only 1 pair of trousers he must ask his mama to sew on his buttons.... This "simple" outcome has stuck with d me for 20 years--this great simple film that explores how children unwittingly play out their parents' point of view and how that affects their developing identity. It is wondrously un-American: it's not about individuality triumphing over; it is a view of a world that America has never filmed or explored: one where poor people have character but are condemned to repeat unwinnable battles of the past.

A real delight. Wistfully nostalgic for the innocence and inspired creativity of childhood. Hilarious in parts. Why is this such an obscure film?