Sharpe - The Complete Series (15 Disc Box Set) [1993]

With great action, decent scripts and good acting and effects this is compelling and entertaining viewing. All set in the Napoleonic Wars on the continent, following the career and adventures of Richard Sharpe; raised from the ranks to officer class, through to the Battle Of Waterloo.

There are 15 feature-length episodes here, with the 15th a bonus episode of clips recalling Sharpe's exploits. The box set has a very attractive, neat design.
EXTRAS: Not a lot compared to some DVDs, but there is a 25 minute behind-the-scenes featurette and photo galleries. There is a lovely booklet to accompany the DVDs and also a glossy colour map of the continent charting where each episode/battle from the Sharpe series takes place.
A simply brilliant set!


Brilliant   September 24, 2006
Spider Monkey (UK)
31 out of 31 found this review helpful

Here are all the episodes of this great series (up to date) in one box set, what more could you ask for? Each episode is so full of charm and adventure that you can't help but watch them again and again. You get battles, betrayal, love and friendships all with a slice of history thrown in for good measure. Superb!


Just click "Add to Cart" and move on...   September 23, 2006
J. T. Hooker (Albion)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful

What can I say about Sharpe?

An utterly fantastic series that is sorely missed by all. Sharpe's Challenge was a great taster for (I hope) things to come, ie, another series!

There are plenty of Cornwell novels to go round, so they should definitely make three or four more into films :)

The set includes all fourteen Sharpe films, and a bonus DVD (I've yet to watch that one), as well as a cool, informative booklet and fold-out colour map of the Iberian peninsula; so you can see where all the historical battles featured in the series took place.

A brilliant buy for fans of Bean, history or just great television alike.

Jim


Oh dear   September 7, 2007
Mr. Stephen Carre
24 out of 48 found this review helpful

There are many criteria that may be used to review this series, and I have chosen a couple.

Conformance to the books: anyone who has read, and is a fan of, Cornwall's excellent Sharpe novels will immediately recognize that very few of the episodes bear any resemblance to the novels of the same name. The screen-writers have played fast and loose with history, even more so than Cornwall himself did in writing the novels. At least Cornwall acknowledged his 'artistic licence' in the Historic Notes sections of the novels, but no such things seem to exist on the DVDs of the individual episodes. The time-line of the novels is destroyed, and there are inconsistencies (Harry Price, in the TV series, dies at Badajoz, but is miraculously reincarnated in time for Waterloo, amongst others). Admittedly, Cornwall himself is prone to inconsistencies, especially with regards to the cause of Sharpe's flogging in India, with the chronologically later Peninsular series contradicting the later-written India series.

Historic accuracy: The 'Military Advisers' in the series should be shot. No, not shot. They should be forced to load a Brown Bess musket, in line, with bayonet fixed. Then, having ripped their hands to shreds doing that, they should be made to stand behind a Napoleonic era 12-pound cannon when it fires, to understand what "recoil" means. Then, if they're still alive, they should be shot. The armies of the time, according to this series, have no concept of round shot, canister, or shell. Instead, they have cannons firing rounds that explode on hitting the ground! Amazing! How many times do we see cannon firing with no or little recoil (Sharpe's Eagle, and Sharpe's Waterloo are prime examples)? How many times do we see the bayonet fixed during volley fire from British lines, and yet no bayonets during the line's advance, and the muskets being used as nothing more than bludgeons? Let alone the demotion of Nairn and others!

I can excuse, on grounds of cost, whole regiments parading at less than company strength (thousands of extras would have been out of the question for a commercial production company, and at the time CGI would also have been far too expensive).

The above could be considered mere pedantry on my part, but Sharpe's Waterloo was the straw that broke the camel's back. Cornwall wrote "no plot I could devise could ever rival the sheer drama, the cliff-hanging suspense, of the real thing. The battle of Waterloo was as dramatic as any author could wish [...]" (foreword, Sharpe's Waterloo). The screen writer of that particular episode disagreed, and made a mockery of the whole event!

So, given the above criticisms, why have I given this 3 stars? Quite simply because, if you ignore the dross, they are still enjoyable yarns. I hope that people, watching these DVDs, will be drawn to Cornwall's novels, which are much much better, and thence to learn what really happened on the Peninsular. If more people come to know of how Wellington's army of drunkards and criminals, the "scum of the earth", became the finest infantry in the world of the time, then the series is worth its price.


TV AT ITS BEST   December 4, 2005
John Page
23 out of 27 found this review helpful

Set in the later years of the Napoleonic wars through Wellingtons Peninsular campaign up to and including The battle of Waterloo. Based on the Bernard Cromwell books, Sean Bean stars as the title character Richard 'Sharpe', a soldier in Wellingtons army. The DVD contains all 14 feature length episodes that aired throughout the 90s.

Its not often that a quality period drama like this comes along, Sean Bean is excellent in a role he was born to play. The story follows his rise through the ranks and his struggle to gain the respect of other officers who through wealth are born into positions of command.

Daragh O'Malley gives great support as Harper and the chemistry between him and Bean makes the show work. The supporting cast is great aswell with Pete Postlewaite, Hugh Fraser and Liz Hurley in an early role.

Its hard to fault it but there are a couple of sub standard episodes, Sharpes Gold??? and some episodes do seem to be the same story with different characters. I found the episodes after the war disapointing. But dont be put off this is TV gold.

The directing is good and disguises the obviously small budget well. It ends on a high at Waterloo and it has been rumoured that the series will continue with Sharpes campaign in India, watch this space.