Bernard Cornwall's Napoleonic hero Richard Sharpe dominates land warfare in the way Hornblower dominated the sea until Aubrey and Maturin came along to steal his crown. In the 1990's British based Carlton television turned 14 of Sharpe's Napoleonic war adventures into a highly praised series of dramas, each around an hour and forty minutes long. Now you can buy a box containing the complete series: 14 episodes and over 24 hours of viewing.
Sean Bean stars as the eponymous rilfeman who worked his way through the ranks, starting as a sergeant and finishing as a lieutenant colonel at Waterloo via battles and intrigues in Spain, Portugal, Britain and France. While the plots vary – Sharpe starts as a sort of nineteenth century SAS agent before becoming a company commander, sometimes leading his units and other times going undercover – almost all have battles, enemies and women for Sharp to 'tangle' with (the exception is the disappointing Sharpe's Justice, where the character is somewhat marooned in industrialising Britain). As you might have guessed, strong female characters are generally lacking, but there’s a fair attention to historical detail. Indeed, aside from watching Sean Bean being excellent, the joy of this series is watching small episodes from the Napoleonic wars played out: uniforms, tactics, battles, equipment, social issues...
Of course, some things have been distorted: Sharpe wasn't the first person to capture a Eagle standard, nor did his actions win Waterloo! Some people complained about the obvious budgetary limitations, and Sharpe's Waterloo obviously doesn't compare with films using tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of extras. However, I had no problems and when the critically acute journal
First Empire supports a television show, you know it's done something right. Others have complained that the stories differ too much from the books, a common problem, but I felt the series stood up on its own to offers a good visual alternative.
Unfortunately, the Region 1 release has one major problem: price. My region 2 boxset has 14 dvd's (one with documentary) in 7 double cases in a sturdy cardboard box, while the region 1 has 15 dvds (the documentary is separate) in 15 cases in a wooden box with antique Unfortunately, the Region 1 release has one major problem: price. My region 2 boxset has 14 dvd's (one with documentary) in 7 double cases map; the region 1 costs twice the price! This clearly isn't acceptable and I feel the American market has been vastly overcharged for unnecessary gimmicks.
If you like the Napoleonic Wars or old-school military adventure (where the guns have to be reloaded after each shot and helicopters won’t be appearing to rescue anyone) then you should be as enthralled by these 14 quality stories as I was. And if you liked Sean Bean as Boromir in Lord of the Rings, this is essential!
Note: although I'm reviewing the complete boxset, every episode is available singly. With the exception of Sharpe's Justice – one for completists – all are worth watching. The 14, based on the book of the same name, are:
