Director Tom Clegg
Starring Sean Bean, Daragh O’Malley, Hugh Fraser
Rated M
Score 2/6

Sharpe is sent on a mission to exchange rifles for deserters with a strange band of Spanish guerillas. He also has to chaperone two women looking for their missing husband.

I don’t like this one. I have a question. How many of you out there in the internet know of a Marvel or DC fan who has cried bloody murder about the adaption of their favorite superhero to the big screen? There is more then a few right? Well I have an example of novel to screen adaption that has most of your petty criticisms beat. That example was the adaption of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe’s Gold into the sixth installment of the Sharpe series by Nigel Kneale is on record in his biography Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale on how he adapted the script for Sharpe’s Gold “I didn’t use much of [the book]. I used the first ten pages, I think. Then I had an idea which would be more fun to do. It was all about magic by the time I was through with it.” The novel is over 300 pages long. A word of advice for any aspiring writers working on an adaption, now that we are in the age of social media, don’t try and pull a stunt like that.

Director Tom Clegg
Starring Sean Bean, Daragh O’Malley, Hugh Fraser
Rated M
Score 5/6
When Sharpe is ordered to whip the King of Spain’s Irish Royal Brigade into shape, he faces dissent from the men who believe the British are slaughtering their relatives in Ireland and a spy from within.

Movies in the franchise have had what could be described as having a rinse and repeat quality to the plot. However, Sharpe’s Battle is one of the few movies in the franchise that end on a sad note and yes I actually shed a few tears. Lyndon Davies who portrays Rifleman Ben Perkins gave a great performance. Usually Perkins didn’t have a noticeable role in any of the other movies though he ended up being the emotional catalyst for a rather memorable moment involving Sergeant Harper.