Sharpe’s telefilms
– Part Three
Revenge/Justice/Waterloo
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: B
In our
third and concluding review on the fourteen-part Sharpe’s series, we offer the last three telefilms, first broadcast
in 1997:
Revenge offers the final weeks of battle
between the British and French, and as the battle that will make or break Napoleon
approaches; Sharpe is ready to go head on with his own arch nemesis,
Ducos. However, the bitter Spy has yet
another trap for Sharpe, this time framing him as a thief.
Justice has Sharpe returning to England in a post-war change, but he is
still in the military and there is clean-up work to do. There is both new corruption and new
complications, and the assignment does not sit well with Sharpe to begin with.
Waterloo is the inevitable wind-up of a
series as the Napoleonic Wars have their surprise final chapter and the Emperor
makes one last bid for glory and power.
I really enjoyed this conclusion, especially thanks to a great
performance by Paul Bettany as The Prince of Orange.
There is
still the usual fighting and Sharpe’s realist character. As for the final battle, it may not be Barry Lyndon, but this is still a final
good show. The series got back to the
actual history towards the end, something it did not do in the beginning enough
for this critic.
The full
frame, color image is continues the vague improvements on the transfers in the
initial DVD titles. Whether this is a
production or transfer issue is unknown, but the “sharper” the image is, the
better it is to enjoy. The Dolby Digital
2.0 remained simple Stereo to the end, with no real surrounds. The music is the same, fair, simple score
with odd electronics that still
brings to mind Highlander, the 1980 Flash Gordon theatrical film, and the
band Queen. This still does not fit well
with this series, however limited or however many times you hear it. Fourteen films were enough! Not one of the DVDs turned out to have any extras
and the preview for the series the DVD mastering forces you to scan through or
watch makes no difference.
All of
these installments continue to be directed by Tom Clegg, who has a knack for
keeping things moving, and is able to get more into the material. The show completed the upward narrative arch
we noticed from the last batch we looked at to make any viewer want to continue
watching after the rough start.
As for
Bean, this helped further launch his career as an internationally known star,
making him the greatest beneficiary of all.
Since it gets better as it goes along, something few mini-series manage
to do these days, no wonder it is gaining a following.
- Nicholas Sheffo
