Sharpe's Siege (TV 1996)

Jane and Sharpe are married in Spain but he must leave her stricken with the fever that is sweeping the camp to join an invasion force led by inexperienced but arrogant young Colonel ... See full summary »

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Bernard Cornwell (novel), Eoghan Harris,

Stars:

Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Abigail Cruttenden

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Major Richard Sharpe
Daragh O'Malley	...	Sgt. Major Patrick Harper
Abigail Cruttenden	...	Jane Gibbons
Hugh Fraser	...	Lord Wellington
James Laurenson	...	Major General Ross
Féodor Atkine	...	Major Pierre Ducos
Christian Brendel	...	Compte de Maquerre
Christopher Villiers	...	Colonel Horace Bampfylde
Amira Casar	...	Catherine
Philip Whitchurch	...	Capt. William Frederickson
James Ryland	...	Capt. Neil Palmer
Olivier Pierre	...	General Calvet
Danny Cunningham	...	Rifleman Robinson
Sylvester Morand	...	Colonel Henri Lassan
John Tams	...	Rifleman Hagman

Storyline

Jane and Sharpe are married in Spain but he must leave her stricken with the fever that is sweeping the camp to join an invasion force led by inexperienced but arrogant young Colonel Bampfylde to capture a strategic French chateau which the Comte Maquerre assures them will instigate a revolt against Bonaparte if taken. Bampfylde's incompetence leads to heavy losses in an ill-advised storming but Sharpe's regiment take the chateau by stealth. However Maquerre has led them into a trap for he is pro-Bonaparte and alerts the French,under General Calvet,to the British presence,tricking the stupid Bampfylde into leaving Sharpe and his men guarding a poorly defended and exposed building. But Sharpe's kindness to Maquerre's sister Catherine and her mother leads to Catherine helping Sharpe to beat her treacherous brother and wipe out Calvet's force. Sharpe returns to Spain to find Bampfylde court-martialled for his incompetence and Jane recovered.

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Plot Keywords:

general | castle | british | camp | battle | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

29 July 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Scharfschützen - Todfeinde

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carlton UK Productions, Celtic Films, Celtic/Picture Palace

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Of all the Sharpe books he wrote, 'Bernard Cornwell' claims that "Sharpe's Siege" is his favorite of the novels.

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Goofs

The tricolour on the eagle swaps from a blue to a red fly at random points.

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Quotes

[Anticipating battle, Harper hands Sharpe a cup of tea]
Sharpe: Thanks, Pat.
Harper: I was thinking. Things could be an awful lot worse, you know.
Sharpe: How the bloody hell could things get worse, Pat?
Harper: We could be without the cup of tea.

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Connections

Followed by Sharpe's Peril (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Martin Said to His Man"
Traditional
Performed by John Tams

User Reviews

One of Television's all time best movie series

If America only knew how good this was,it would be the highest rated Made-For-TV movie series of all time(hard to believe there are more people out there that would rather watch "The Columbo Mysteries" than Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe Chronicles- that just goes to show the power of major network name-brand advertising.

The Richard Sharpe movie series has been television at its finest. I have seen all of the BBC Sharpe series movies,"Sharpe's Waterloo" is my favorite of the films. However I tune in to PBS everytime they air the Sharpe movies. So far all the movies have been based on the Sharpe Chronicles - adventure novels written by Bernard Cornwell(the same author who wrote "Rebel"). Each Movie chronicles the on-going adventures of Richard Sharpe who is a Brittish Lt. in the Brittish military during the late 1790's-to early 1800's during the Napoleonic era in Europe. I sincerly believe that each one of these Films has been good enough to have shown at the movie theaters,if the producers had wanted to. Unlike other Made-For-TV films,The Hornblower films do not have that Made-For-TV feeling to them,like most television movies have. However each of the Sharpe Movies picks up exactly where the last one left off. The only negative thing I can say about this movie series is the use of an electric guitar as the background music- I have to take points off for that, because the sometimes screeching guitar noises can become annoying at times.

A common misconception that people who havent seen these movies have is that all of these films go to gether as a mini-series- that is not true. The Sharpe movies are not a mini-series,all of these films are individual movies about the same charactor, However they are sequels to each other each picking up where the last film left off.- with all the same actors playing the same roles in each film(EXAMPLE:think of the James Bond films-that same principle applies to the Sharpe movies,but unlike Bond, the Sharpe films are sequels)

If you have seen the Sharpe movies and you liked them and you wish to see more similar themed programing, I will suggest A&E's Horatio Hornblower movies(6 movies in all- same basic priciple as the Sharpe movie except Hornblower is in the Brittish Navy to whereas Sharpe is a ground soldier)

I give the entire Sharpe movie series 4 out of 5 stars. Its near Perfect entertainment- but you cant please everyone, so for those of you dont like epic Napoleonic era battles,classic historic style drama,high stakes adventure, and danger on the European battlefields,if you dont like stuff like that-there is always a Columbo re-run for you to watch.