Sharpe's Eagle (1993) (TV)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Bernard Cornwell (novel)
Eoghan Harris (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1993 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History | War

Plot:

Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle...

Plot Keywords:

Shirtless Male Bondage | Fictional Biography | Sequel | Military | Blood

Cast

Sean Bean	...	Capt. Richard Sharpe
Brian Cox	...	Maj. Michael Hogan
Daragh O'Malley	...	Sgt. Patrick Harper
Assumpta Serna	...	Teresa Moreno
Michael Cochrane	...	Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson
David Troughton	...	General Sir Arthur Wellesley
Martin Jacobs	...	Col. William Lawford
Katia Caballero	...	Countess Josefina
Michael Mears	...	Rifleman Cooper
John Tams	...	Rifleman Daniel Hagman
Jason Salkey	...	Rifleman Harris
Paul Trussell	...	Rifleman Isaiah Tongue
Lyndon Davies	...	Rifleman Perkins
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Captain Leroy
David Ashton	...	Major Lennox

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Spanish | French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Celtic Films Entertainment

Trivia:

Historically, there was no Eagle taken at the battle of Talavera, though it was a victory for the British.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after Simmerson gives the order to destroy the bridge, Leroy spurs his horse on. The horse at this point is a bay with a star, but when he canters down on the other side of the bridge he is riding a chestnut with a stripe

Quotes:

Maj. Hogan: [Sharpe has just taught the South Essex to fire three rounds a minute] Sharpe.
Richard Sharpe: Yes, sir?
Maj. Hogan: Stop showing off, Sharpe.
Richard Sharpe: [grins] Yes, sir.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Sharpe's Sword (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Over the Hills and Far Away

Justice for the Story

Sharpe's Eagle, especially for those historical buff's out there,is a good feature-length TV show, but that's all it is. If it was given the same sort of budget that, say Lord of The Rings was, then sure it would have had success parallel to that film. This is because the scripting, production and casting (especially with Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley) are on an equal par with it.

The problem with a Sharpe series on TV was always going to be it's scale,and so it turned out. The short action sequences always seem crude, rushed and drastically under budgeted. For people that don't read very much, this is as good a historical drama you can get on TV. For those of us that do, and have read the books, the TV series pales sourly in th light of the book. The emotion, action and mostly scale involved in the Sharpe series can only be justified in the mind's eye.

A Sharpe book for the big screen? Now there's something...