Sharper's Peril (BBC/UK/DVD)
BBC has released SHARPE’S PERIL, all 138 minutes of it, on DVD. If that’s too long for you, they’ve also included (as a bonus) the 100-minute version. Both were shown on ITV in the UK in November, 2008.
Having never seen (or heard of) the series, PERIL is (perhaps) the 15th in the SHARP adventures, based on Bernard Cornwell’s book series. Not unlike the B-series of the 1930s and ‘40s, wherein a hero is brought back time-and-again, Sean Bean continues to be the British officer in the army of pre-Victorian Britain, having marvelously manly adventures. Bean’s a fine actor who makes his characters simple and real.
Beautifully shot and directed, this last one, a continuation, they say, of SHARP’S CHALLENGE (2007), and set in 1818, has our now decidedly middle-aged hero having to delay his (and best friend, Patrick Harper ((Daragh O’Malley)) trip home to England, after how many years in India and other exotic locales, in order to take a spoiled, rich young lady, Marie Angelique (Beatrice Rosen), to meet her fiancé, a French lieutenant. After more violent adventures, they finally meet the young man, only to find out he is a treacherous villain. The soldiers, a motley lot, do well in battle and Sharpe does his duty by the mademoiselle.
It’s hard to be terribly critical of this latest version, but if you’ve never seen any of the others (SHARPE’S COMPANY, SHARPE’S BATTLE, SHARPE’S ENEMY – well, you get the message), it is a tad difficult to follow. This one is well-made, although the decision to shoot it in a dusty, desert-like setting offers very little in the way of colorful travelogue, but does allow director Tom Clegg his choice of fine actors, including Raza Jaffrey, Caroline Carver, Steven Speirs, Pascal Langdale, etc. Russell Lewis has either adapted one of Cornwell’s novels, or used his characters to build a new plot on, but you can’t tell from the credits.
If one is very much into the series, this is a fine addition to one’s collection, but if you don’t know them, best to see some of the earlier episodes to fill you in on what they assume you already know. A built-in problem with series, isn’t it?