Sharpe's Battle (1995)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

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.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Sharpe's Battle is in my humble opinion, one of the finest entries in the entire movie series and despite the slight hiccup of Sharpe's Gold, shows the team behind them going from strength to strength. For while the formula of Wellington having a problem, sending to Sharpe to solve it, a beautiful woman getting involved and everything culminating in a massive pitched battle was well and truly in place by now, Sharpe's Battle takes pains to develop its characters further. The finished film, is nothing but satisfying.For one thing, this is one of the most action packed episodes of the lot. The battles are a lot smaller scale than normal and have more of a guerrilla war flavour to them, but they are still as gripping as ever and the fights come fast and frequent. One minute they're engaging in bitter street fighting, ducking and diving from alleyways to doors and back again, snatching off rifle blasts at their darting foes. The next they're defending their fortress from the massed ranks of French infantry, engaging in bloody hand to hand combat as the fires of battlefield immolation roar around them. And while it may be a small point, they're given a subtle veneer of freshness by the absence of the standard red and blue infantrymen uniforms, replaced by the green and white of the palace guards and the fantastic looking French wolf pack with their grey uniforms decorated with wolf fur.What's more, Sharpe's Battle goes some way towards developing the characters beyond their normal roles. Sharpe will of course be familiar to any fan of the series but here, is a tad more weary of the endless fighting and more embittered than usual, the lack of a romantic female lead for him to bed this time around revealing the creative teams willingness to toy with the familiar pattern. Daragh O'Malley meanwhile puts in perhaps his finest turn to date as Sergeant Harper. As per normal, he is a genial and charming man who can put a smiling face on the war, but late in the episode this changes and he is overcome by a berserk rage, but at no point does this feel forced.Best of all though is Jason Durr's performance as Lord Kiely, commander of the Royal Palace guard and a man obsessed with making his name and the name of his regiment go down in military history. Kiely could very easily have been another pompous gentleman for Sharpe to clash with, but while he may fit the bill somewhat, he is far less stereotypical than the likes of Henry Simmerson, the slimy brute from Sharpe's Eagle. Instead, Kiely is a conflicted persona who simultaneously loves and hates his wife, unable to bed with her thanks to a disastrous miscarriage that has stained their relationship. At turns you will loathe him, at others you will sympathise and once or twice its even possible to admire him, Durr putting in a fine job as the tormented man.Elsewhere, we get another tremendously unlikable villain in the form of Brigadier General Loup, a one-eyed, mustachioed French scumball and even Rifleman Perkins getting a much needed boost of characterisation. You also have the Royal guard themselves, men of pride who have to come to terms with the knowledge that they are the laughing stock of the army and as they grow in the art of war, it's hard not to cheer for them. Best of all though, you get another hour and forty minutes of dashing heroism, unchecked violence and daring-do, but with a bit more humanity this time around. Highly recommended.

Totally good episode in the Sharpe series! Entertaining to the last minute! But like Sharpe's gold this episode doesn't really fit in the main storyline (the war against Napoleon)! Although Sharpe fights against the french (under command of Lupe) it is not really a mission part of Lord Wellingtons big scheme!*spoiler* The heroic death of Perkins was a surprise and it was good to see Harper and the other chosen men cry! He and Sharpe really cared about their chosen men! I say this because I missed the tears and drama about Sharpe's faked death (they thought he was dead)in Sharpe's Honour! I guess they didn't want do overdo it,it is war and everything! Soldiers should be able to control their emotions!The action was superb! Although the battle was not a big one it was great to watch Sharpe and his men fighting again like soldiers did in those times! I read some reviews and came across one of comparing this episode to a bad B movie! If you saw this as a stand alone movie than it is not really clear of who Sharpe is and what he does! But I think you have to see this as part of a series,at least you have to seen enough episodes to know the background of the story otherwise much will not make sense!

Sean Bean and Richard Sharpe are in top form here. The film is gritty, it gives Sharpe some of his classic "I'm going to make soldiers out of you" speeches, the supporting characters among the Riflemen have a lot to do, and there are some fairly hard-hitting, realistic looks at politics, war, and the "Irish Troubles" along the way. Plus Sharpe does not end up bedding every woman in sight, which is a lot closer to the books than some of the other Sharpe films which end up making Sharpe a Napoleonic era James Bond who sleeps with every woman within 1000 miles. The Sharpe films are very variable, and some of them are lot weaker and cheesier than others. This one is one of the good ones.

If America only knew how good this was,it would be the highest rated Made-For-TV movie series of all time(hard to believe there are more people out there that would rather watch "The Columbo Mysteries" than Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe Chronicles- that just goes to show the power of major network name-brand advertising.The Richard Sharpe movie series has been television at its finest. I have seen all of the BBC Sharpe series movies,"Sharpe's Waterloo" is my favorite of the films. However I tune in to PBS everytime they air the Sharpe movies. So far all the movies have been based on the Sharpe Chronicles - adventure novels written by Bernard Cornwell(the same author who wrote "Rebel"). Each Movie chronicles the on-going adventures of Richard Sharpe who is a Brittish Lt. in the Brittish military during the late 1790's-to early 1800's during the Napoleonic era in Europe. I sincerly believe that each one of these Films has been good enough to have shown at the movie theaters,if the producers had wanted to. Unlike other Made-For-TV films,The Hornblower films do not have that Made-For-TV feeling to them,like most television movies have. However each of the Sharpe Movies picks up exactly where the last one left off. The only negative thing I can say about this movie series is the use of an electric guitar as the background music- I have to take points off for that, because the sometimes screeching guitar noises can become annoying at times. A common misconception that people who havent seen these movies have is that all of these films go to gether as a mini-series- that is not true. The Sharpe movies are not a mini-series,all of these films are individual movies about the same charactor, However they are sequels to each other each picking up where the last film left off.- with all the same actors playing the same roles in each film(EXAMPLE:think of the James Bond films-that same principle applies to the Sharpe movies,but unlike Bond, the Sharpe films are sequels) If you have seen the Sharpe movies and you liked them and you wish to see more similar themed programing, I will suggest A&E's Horatio Hornblower movies(6 movies in all- same basic priciple as the Sharpe movie except Hornblower is in the Brittish Navy to whereas Sharpe is a ground soldier)I give the entire Sharpe movie series 4 out of 5 stars. Its near Perfect entertainment- but you cant please everyone, so for those of you dont like epic Napoleonic era battles,classic historic style drama,high stakes adventure, and danger on the European battlefields,if you dont like stuff like that-there is always a Columbo re-run for you to watch.