6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- Inquisition bad, Sharpe good, 4 February 2007
Author:
ExpendableMan from United Kingdom
Sharpe's Honour for the uninitiated, is the fifth entry in a series of
TV movies focusing on an English army rifleman during the Napoleonic
wars and based on the books by Bernard Cornwell (which I strongly
recommend reading). If you were to start by watching this particular
one though, you'd get the impression that Sharpe is not so much a
soldier as the very centrifugal force which the rest of the army
revolves around. Should that be the case, I'd recommend starting with
earlier chapters like Sharpe's Eagle or Sharpe's Company, but this is a
worthy choice for a second viewing.
The story this time is all about the espionage side of things. With the
French army retreating in disarray from Spain, Major Ducos, the slimy
spy master spots an opportunity to turn the situation round. By pinning
the murder of a Spanish Marques on Richard Sharpe, hero of the British
army, the fragile British/Spanish alliance will start to crumble and
things will turn around again. When the Spanish nobles come to
Wellington crying for Sharpe's blood though, the English general is
less than willing to hang his best soldier so fakes his death and soon,
he's off on a secret mission behind enemy lines to find out who
masterminded the plot. Surprisingly enough for a Sharpe film as well,
there's a gorgeous woman to be rescued along the way, fancy that.
What this results in of course is a more adventure style approach. The
concentration is less on the workings of the English military with
Sharpe as the figurehead and concentrates more on his escapades in the
countryside, dodging French patrols, hob nobbing with the Spanish
guerrillas and getting involved in daring escapes from fortified
military positions. Sergeant Harper, his loyal right hand man
accompanies him naturally but the rest of the riflemen remain in the
camp unaware their leader is still alive. Strangely enough though, they
actually receive more attention than usual as they wind up in their own
subplot involving the delivery of Harper's baby.
This slightly different approach makes for an intriguing episode but is
only a good thing in the long run. And should anyone be worried that
there won't be the standard battle at the climax fret not, because once
again the poor old French get a right kicking. Furthermore, Ducos makes
a fantastic successor to Obadiah Hakeswill as the bad guy you love to
hate. He is a duplicitous, malicious and absolutely evil son of a
female canine and is also strangely reminiscent of that guy in black
from out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Elsewhere, Hagman stands out quite
prominently as he gets the chance for more screen time and comes across
as the sort of man you'd want to deliver your first born, even if he
does look like a member of Iron Maiden who got catapulted backwards in
time by accident.
In short then, another strong chapter in the Sharpe series. Sharpe
remains as heroic as always but considerably more bitter and angry this
time given the events in the previous film. It's not the best
introduction if you've not seen any of the other chapters but it does
show a side to Sharpe that we don't normally get to witness: the action
hero rather than the professional soldier. And if that's not enough to
get you tempted, it's also worth watching just for the rather surreal
sight of an enraged Sean Bean swinging a live chicken at a group of
nuns.
5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- One of my favorites, 9 April 2003
Author:
Karen Schmidt (klschmidt) from Virginia
The banter and humorous rescue scene help to make this one of my favorites
of the 14-movie series. Wonderful acting, great cast. And this movie
contains one of the few oft-noted facts about Sean Bean's career. The
part
where he and Alice Krige fall off the horse into the water was not
scripted
but was left in since they both went right on acting after it
happened.
This is a good follow-up to the intense ending of Sharpe's Enemy.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- Richard and the Borg Queen, 1 August 2005
Author:
onysia from West Coast
This is one of the most satisfying of the book to TV adaptations. The
actress who make us believe that a Borg could be sexy makes us believe
that a spy and traitor can have some redeeming qualities.
The TV plot line does not follow Cornwell's story exactly but is both
exciting and rewarding as a retelling of a darn good yarn. If you have
a yen for romance in uniform there is a lot of sexual energy sparking
between our man Sharpe and the lying hussy. Made me wish her role was
closer to that in the books. But no matter there is enough hero
wronged, hero redeemed, hero in rage, hero in flight and hero in battle
to keep you clued to your DVD play.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- Another Excellent Adaptation, 21 September 2000
Author:
Chris Horry from Deltona, FL USA
In my opinion the last of the good adaptations, unfortunately the series
went into a slow decline after this Episode. Sean Bean and Daragh
O'Malley
again shine through as the main characters - this pair should be allowed
to
work together more often! Special mention also to Féodor Atkine who is
suitably evil as Ducos.
If you get a chance, read the book as this adaptation follows it
particularly well. Superb.
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Sharpe's Honour (1994) (TV)
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-

Inquisition bad, Sharpe good, 4 February 2007
Author: ExpendableMan from United Kingdom
Sharpe's Honour for the uninitiated, is the fifth entry in a series of TV movies focusing on an English army rifleman during the Napoleonic wars and based on the books by Bernard Cornwell (which I strongly recommend reading). If you were to start by watching this particular one though, you'd get the impression that Sharpe is not so much a soldier as the very centrifugal force which the rest of the army revolves around. Should that be the case, I'd recommend starting with earlier chapters like Sharpe's Eagle or Sharpe's Company, but this is a worthy choice for a second viewing.
The story this time is all about the espionage side of things. With the French army retreating in disarray from Spain, Major Ducos, the slimy spy master spots an opportunity to turn the situation round. By pinning the murder of a Spanish Marques on Richard Sharpe, hero of the British army, the fragile British/Spanish alliance will start to crumble and things will turn around again. When the Spanish nobles come to Wellington crying for Sharpe's blood though, the English general is less than willing to hang his best soldier so fakes his death and soon, he's off on a secret mission behind enemy lines to find out who masterminded the plot. Surprisingly enough for a Sharpe film as well, there's a gorgeous woman to be rescued along the way, fancy that.
What this results in of course is a more adventure style approach. The concentration is less on the workings of the English military with Sharpe as the figurehead and concentrates more on his escapades in the countryside, dodging French patrols, hob nobbing with the Spanish guerrillas and getting involved in daring escapes from fortified military positions. Sergeant Harper, his loyal right hand man accompanies him naturally but the rest of the riflemen remain in the camp unaware their leader is still alive. Strangely enough though, they actually receive more attention than usual as they wind up in their own subplot involving the delivery of Harper's baby.
This slightly different approach makes for an intriguing episode but is only a good thing in the long run. And should anyone be worried that there won't be the standard battle at the climax fret not, because once again the poor old French get a right kicking. Furthermore, Ducos makes a fantastic successor to Obadiah Hakeswill as the bad guy you love to hate. He is a duplicitous, malicious and absolutely evil son of a female canine and is also strangely reminiscent of that guy in black from out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Elsewhere, Hagman stands out quite prominently as he gets the chance for more screen time and comes across as the sort of man you'd want to deliver your first born, even if he does look like a member of Iron Maiden who got catapulted backwards in time by accident.
In short then, another strong chapter in the Sharpe series. Sharpe remains as heroic as always but considerably more bitter and angry this time given the events in the previous film. It's not the best introduction if you've not seen any of the other chapters but it does show a side to Sharpe that we don't normally get to witness: the action hero rather than the professional soldier. And if that's not enough to get you tempted, it's also worth watching just for the rather surreal sight of an enraged Sean Bean swinging a live chicken at a group of nuns.
5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-

One of my favorites, 9 April 2003
Author: Karen Schmidt (klschmidt) from Virginia
The banter and humorous rescue scene help to make this one of my favorites of the 14-movie series. Wonderful acting, great cast. And this movie contains one of the few oft-noted facts about Sean Bean's career. The part where he and Alice Krige fall off the horse into the water was not scripted but was left in since they both went right on acting after it happened.
This is a good follow-up to the intense ending of Sharpe's Enemy.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-

Richard and the Borg Queen, 1 August 2005
Author: onysia from West Coast
This is one of the most satisfying of the book to TV adaptations. The actress who make us believe that a Borg could be sexy makes us believe that a spy and traitor can have some redeeming qualities.
The TV plot line does not follow Cornwell's story exactly but is both exciting and rewarding as a retelling of a darn good yarn. If you have a yen for romance in uniform there is a lot of sexual energy sparking between our man Sharpe and the lying hussy. Made me wish her role was closer to that in the books. But no matter there is enough hero wronged, hero redeemed, hero in rage, hero in flight and hero in battle to keep you clued to your DVD play.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Another Excellent Adaptation, 21 September 2000
Author: Chris Horry from Deltona, FL USA
In my opinion the last of the good adaptations, unfortunately the series went into a slow decline after this Episode. Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley again shine through as the main characters - this pair should be allowed to work together more often! Special mention also to Féodor Atkine who is suitably evil as Ducos.
If you get a chance, read the book as this adaptation follows it particularly well. Superb.
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