Sharpe's Eagle (1993) (TV)

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Bernard Cornwell (novel)
Eoghan Harris (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1993 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | 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:

Blood | Whipping | Shirtless Male Bondage | Fictional Biography | Historical

Cast

Sean Bean	...	Capt. Richard Sharpe
Brian Cox	...	Major 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	...	Colonel Lawford
Katia Caballero	...	Countess Josefina
Michael Mears	...	Rifleman Cooper
John Tams	...	Rifleman Hagman
Jason Salkey	...	Rifleman Harris
Paul Trussell	...	Rifleman Tongue
Lyndon Davies	...	Rifleman Perkins
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Capt. Leroy
David Ashton	...	Major Lennox

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Spanish | French

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

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

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:

Revealing mistakes: When Sharpe promises to capture an eagle, the dead Major Lennox's eyes blink/flutter twice before the end of the scene.

Quotes:

[During Sir Henry's toast at a dinner party in camp]
Countess Josefina: I'm getting some air. Good night, Major. Enjoy yourself.
Maj. Hogan: [whispering] I will! I've laid ten guineas with Leroy that Sir Henry will talk for a full hour. Five minutes more, and I'll have won my bet.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

The Rogue's March

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...