Sharpe

The Sharpe series is a very enjoyable piece of historical fiction. Sean Bean is excellent as Sharpe. He is one of the finest actors of modern times. Everything he is in is great. His great strength is portraying flawed (and very human) characters either heroic or evil. The other actors in the show are also very good- with some going on to greater fame.

The stories range from very good and gripping to the somewhat silly but even the worst will keep you watching. The best part of the show is the dialog and the interactions between the characters. The worst is the combat action which is quite laughable in some instances ( with the classic pick up the enemy soldier and toss him over your shoulder scene). Everyone is killed, few are wounded except our heroes.

Also particularly annoying is the two main characters, Sharpe and Harper constantly running around outdoors with out some form of headgear. At that time, a man was considered indecent and in a state of undress to be out of doors with his head uncovered. Most of the other characters follow this convention, so I'm not quite sure why this is the case with Sharpe and Harper.

But overall a enjoyable and fun " guys soap opera" as the wife of my best friend calls it.

Bernard Cornwell is my favorite writer of historical fiction. He does meticulous research and gives a sense of time and place, but also never forgets to tell a rip-roaring good story. The 20-plus Richard Sharpe series is his masterwork - a land-based counterpart to the naval stories of C. F. Forester and Patrick O'Brian. This series of sixteen feature length TV movies simplifies the Sharpe saga somewhat but lovingly recreates its major plotlines and characters. You don't have to read the books to enjoy the series, but readers will appreciate some of the detail even more. The casting is mostly spot-on, with Sean Bean near perfect in the title role.

(In fact, Sean Bean is so perfect that I was surprised to learn that Richard E. Grant was originally cast in the role and that Bean was a last minute replacement after Grant injured himself. From what I have seen of Grant, he is pretty good but I think Bean turned out to be a much better choice for Sharpe.)

The entire series is now streaming on Britbox, which at seven bucks a month is a treasure-trove of classic and contemporary British TV. Do what I did and drop that 14 buck Netflix in favor of Britbox - if you love British TV you won't be sorry. Be aware that not all of the Britbox offerings show up on the menu on your smart TV. You have to drill down a bit in the website and click the "see all" buttons to see everything.

I saw a couple of the early Sharpe films on DVD years ago, and they were in 4:3 ratio. However, the versions streaming on Britbox are all in 1:33 widescreen and don't appear to me to be cropped. So I am assuming they were filmed in widescreen and cropped to 4:3 for broadcast back in the nineties before widescreen TVs were common. In any case, the versions streaming on Britbox look teriffic and have optional English subtitles which may help you follow the characters and plotlines.

Watching in 2021, this is just an amazing film series. The movie, or long episode, series type used in the UK is king. Many web-based shows are using this method nowadays. A method that hasn't been used much in the US. The old Stephen King (and others) "made for tv" series types shows, many times based on books Sharpe's Rifles is an amazing example of such. The acting is great, history is great, and just enough action. This is a hard 8-10 rating show. I'm happy tp have come across it.

Something awesome to follow the leader of a small bataillon of men during Napoleonic war, Sharpie charismatic and physical lead representation by Sean Bean with a perfectly cast support that grow as each episode progress.

The soundtrack is well appropriate, the vilains are nasties, many outdoor scenes, it accomplished well under its budgets i presume.

I guess this is a series about valors, dramatic, some social classes and geographic commentaries. Advemtures and mortal dangers, outdoor locations, and decent soundtrack.

This and Horatio Hornblower are totally well cast and well preesented with good soundtrack and operatic at time sutuations.

Maybe more of a guy men type of series.

Long before Alec Trevelyan, Boromir or Ned Stark it was the role of Richard Sharpe that made Sean Bean famous. In recent years Bean's portrayal of Sharpe has unfortunately been largely forgotten and overshadowed by his later roles which is unfortunate because it is arguably one of the greatest roles of his career.

Sharpe is based on the book series of the same name by Bernard Cornwell and just like the books, the show tells the story of the fictional working class British rifleman as he fights in the Napoleonic Wars, rising in the ranks and facing off against his prejudiced superiors.

Despite being produced on a 90s British TV budget, the show is beautifully shot on location in Ukraine and manages to feel cinematic in places, though if you're expecting to see epic large scale battles then you will be left disappointed.

Where the show really shines is in it's excellent cast of actors. In addition to Sean Bean as Sharpe, there is Daragh O'Malley as Sharpe's patriotic Irish right hand man Patrick Harper, Jason Salkey as well spoken bookworm Harris and John Tams as singing sharpshooter Hagman making up the supporting cast. The show also has a revolving guest cast of top tier British acting talent, some of whom were unknowns at the time but would later go on to have illustrious careers of their own, including Brian Cox, Daniel Craig, Pete Postlethwaite, Mark Strong, Philip Glenister, Douglas Henshall and Paul Bettany to name a few.

Some stories are noticeably weaker than others (most notably Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Gold) but overall Sharpe is a very strong series with great acting and writing despite the budgetary limitations of the time and is definitely worth checking out if only to see Sean Bean shine in this forgotten early role.