Leofwine_draca
Sharpe's Eagle was the first book in the bestselling series by Bernard Cornwell, and one of my favourites. It had it all: danger, heroism, massed battles, adventure, and plenty of peril. Sadly, this television movie lacks a decent budget, so every action scene from the book suffers, and many are missed out. The huge marching French column at the end of the novel is nothing more than a few French stragglers, the whole "cut off on the other side of the river" scenario is simply excised, and the final confrontation between Sharpe, Harper, and a couple of huge axe-waving heavies is totally missed.I could cope with the lack of excitement if the rest of the film was done well, but it's not. The acting seems to be a bit of a mixed bag. Bean, Box, O'Malley, and Troughton all put in very good performances, as does a youthful Daniel Craig playing a roguish bad guy. But the rest of the cast seem to give hammy turns, especially Michael Cochrane's excruciating Simmerson. The movie is heavy on talk and dialogue and moves at a sluggish pace. The Portuguese locales look very nice, as do the costumes and sets, but it's not enough to save the film. Even though Bean does his best, SHARPE'S EAGLE is a disappointment.
katiepoppycat
**SPOILER**I'm not sure if we're still supposed to like Sharpe, given that we aren't supposed to hate the French any more, but isn't he just wonderful? I defy any woman not to develop a thing for Sean Bean after watching one of these. He's such a hero! And it's not just for the girls. There's enough macho, gung ho do or die battling to please even the bloodthirstiest guy. Cornwell's descriptions of battle in the books are extremely vivid, and seeing them onscreen really brings home just how horrific battles were in those days. It's terrifying to see men being butchered by the incompetence of their leaders; and perhaps even more terrifying to realise just how constrictive the class system was at the time.Once again, Sean Bean smoulders his way through the film as the dangerous Sharpe ably supported by Teresa and Harper. I was a little disappointed with the depiction of Leroy in this one - I think he was betrayed a little and made out to be less noble than he really was. And I can only hope that the choice of the name Josefina was purely coincidental, because the Josefina of Sharpe's Eagle is vastly inferior to the Josefina of the books.
izzy98765
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...
JJCA
The action and, let's face it, Sean Bean are what brought me to this series, but the wit and humor are what make me watch it over and over. One of the best one-liners from "Harper" requires you to know the historical context behind it, but mostly you can enjoy this series without knowing much history at all. Sean Bean is wonderful as the romantic hero who is not afraid of anyone or anything as he takes on the daring missions his superiors set for him. And Brian Cox is a real standout as the finageling Irishman who pulls many of Sharpe's strings. Daragh O'Malley is a rare find as Sharpe's sargeant too. The production quality is good and the locations and set dressing are very realistic. I especially appreciate that the actors actually get dirty when they fight (something you don't always see in these period pieces). A great episode chock full of 'eye candy'. It's going to be hard not to wear out the DVD with this episode.
AD
