Sharpe's Waterloo (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Bernard Cornwell (novel)
Charles Wood (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History | War

Plot:

Based on the novel by Bernard Cornwell, "Sharpe's Waterloo" brings maverick British officer Lt. Col...

Plot Keywords:

Apostrophe In Title | Military | Punctuation In Title | Sequel | Napoleonic Wars

Cast

Sean Bean	...	Richard Sharpe
Daragh O'Malley	...	Patrick Harper
Abigail Cruttenden	...	Jane Sharpe
Alexis Denisof	...	Rossendale
Cécile Paoli	...	Lucille
Hugh Fraser	...	Wellington
Paul Bettany	...	Prince William of Orange
Oliver Tobias	...	Rebeque
Neil Dickson	...	Uxbridge
Nicholas Irons	...	Harry Price
Martin Cochrane	...	Macduff
Jason Salkey	...	Harris
John Tams	...	Hagman
Martin Glyn Murray	...	Doggett
Owen Brenman	...	Witherspoon

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Celtic Films

Trivia:

The yellow Spencer worn by Abigail Cruttenden (Jane Sharpe) at the Cricket match is the same costume worn by Helena Michell (Sarah Dubreton) in Sharpe's Enemy (1994) (TV).

Goofs:

Continuity: Hagman is shot in the head, and he falls on his front with his head facing the left. When Harris crawls over to grab his hand one last time, his head is now turned to the right.

Quotes:

Richard Sharpe: What do you want?
Paulette: More pay would be nice.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Sharpe's Challenge (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

La Marseillaise

Sharpe's Armageddon

It was always going to end like this. After four years and thirteen movies, battling all over France and Spain, it was inevitable that Richard Sharpe and the chosen men would find themselves fighting at Waterloo, one of the most famous battles in military history. Given that the previous two episodes had been a bit lacklustre, the pressure to give Sharpe a good send off must have been tremendous but they needn't have worried, as Sharpe's Waterloo is a glorious culmination to the initial run.

Considering what an epic clash Waterloo was, all that needed to be done for this particular film was take the familiar characters and drop them into the thick of it and by and large, that's what they do, but that isn't to say there's no storyline here. Promoted to Colonel, Sharpe comes face to face with his treacherous wife Jane and her lover, the pathetic Lord Rossendale once more. Tempers flaring, Sharpe demands his money back and soon, Jane is plotting to have Rossendale kill him in the confusion of the coming battle. At the same time, Sharpe must deal with his new commanding officer, the inept Prince of Orange who seems determined to pay no attention to advice whatsoever. And the armies of Napoleon are marching ever closer.

Okay, it might not be the most in-depth narrative but nevertheless it delivers on everything you'd expect from a Sharpe movie. The officer class who disapprove of Sharpe are toffee nosed imbeciles all, Abigail Cruttenden's heaving breasts appear to have become even larger and nearly half the episode is dedicated to the titanic battle itself. Come to think of it, the only ingredient missing is a woman in peril...

All of this talk though is just window dressing for what is the chief appeal of this chapter: the battle of Waterloo itself. The production team had worked wonders with their limited budget before but they outdo themselves on this one. You might not see thousands of men massacring each other on the killing fields, but nevertheless there is a tremendous sense of scale this time around. The skirmishers clash in rifle exchanges in the woods before withdrawing to their main regiment for some bloody brawls around farmhouses. Gun smoke drifts across the field, shells explode amid packed formations to tear men to pieces, bodies fly from rooftops and massive French marauders swing axes into the fray, giving the carnage a sense of total chaos. Elsewhere, cavalry runs down fleeing infantry and the recurring sight of corpse strewn plains make this the most apocalyptic fight of the series. It really feels like the world is ending.

In short then, a triumphant end to a great set of movies. It might not exactly have a storyline worthy of Shakespeare, but it succeeds partly because of this. After all, it's a story about Waterloo and the men who fought there, so all that was ever necessary was a massive fight and reliable old characters. It's not the best entry (Sharpe's Company and Sharpe's Battle are still superior) but the reputation remains intact...provided nobody points out the glaring pot hole of Harry Price magically coming back to life after getting his head blown off earlier in the series.