Sharpe (TV Series) Sharpe's Waterloo (1997) User Reviews

Rousing end to the Sharpe series

[AJS218 · 9/10 · 15 February 2005]

Richard Sharpe fights the Battle of Waterloo. This is a dense, action-packed, fast-paced conclusion to the Sharpe series and a very worthy capstone. I'm tremendously sorry to see it end and would love to see more.

The producers stretched their TV budget to the limit in order to mount convincing battle scenes for the finale, with considerable success (although this series will never rival a Hollywood studio production). We are given enough information about Waterloo to appreciate the dramatic events and feel very much in the middle of the fighting. Sharpe is in fine form as are Harper, Harris, Hagman, Wellington, Lucille, Jane and Lord Rossendale, who are all present along with a slew of guest stars and faces from earlier in the series. Rossendale in particular gets a share of the spotlight and his character is developed in unexpected ways. The central plot device is that Sharpe has returned to the army and been assigned to the staff of Prince William of the Netherlands, but becomes disenchanted with the prince's incompetence and roams the battlefield saving the day hither and yon. It works.

I won't comment on the central issue of what becomes of Sharpe at the end except to say that there is a very moving and intelligent resolution of his military career.

The only negatives are: First, with so much action, so many characters and so many stories being concluded, the whole thing sometimes seems a bit dizzy. Second, the British accents are often very tough for American ears to decipher, and important dialogue and plot points can be missed. (This is a problem with the Sharpe series as a whole but here, with so much shouting and guns blazing in the background, the problem is magnified.)

There is one shot of Jane Sharpe in a negligee that is nothing less than awe-inspiring.

Highly recommended, as is the whole series. The Sharpe series will remind you at various times of War and Peace, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the Horatio Hornblower stories, Vanity Fair, The Dirty Dozen, The Red Badge of Courage and All Quiet on the Western Front.

P.S. - I can't help being puzzled at the over-the-top reactions to my comment about the British accents. I have no complaint about the accents (any more than I'd have a complaint about a character speaking French in a Truffaut film), so there's no need for outrage. I was simply warning U.S. viewers about the issue so they won't be surprised when they have to rewind to catch missed words. (And "British accents" is a perfectly proper collective shorthand expression for English, Scottish, Welsh, etc. accents. My source: Simon & Schuster College Dictionary (3d ed.).

Sharpe's Armageddon

[ExpendableMan · 8/10 · 18 March 2007]

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.

Sharpe finally meets Boni on the battlefield

[chrichtonsworld · 9/10 · 28 October 2006]

Spectacular ending of the Sharpe series. Very fast paced and sometimes chaotic. You really get the feeling a war is going on. 70% of this episode is full of action. Sharpe, now Lt. Colonel is more confident than ever. If I had been a soldier in his regiment, I would definitely follow him. It is also nice to see that the other officers listen to him when they are talking about strategy. It seems that he finally has gotten the respect he deserves. Paul Bettany, as the prince William, does justice to the name "Silly Billy". Very strange to see that they let him command his army even when it is obvious (his own subordinates laugh at him) because he is completely incompetent. Lord Wellington was forced to make use of foreign allies since most of the British were sent out to the colonies. (I bet the indigenous people would not have mind them returning to Europe.) That is the reason why they didn't object to "Silly Billy" being put in command of his Dutch army. (I don't know if this historically is correct. But like most things in the Sharpe series, it is about adventure and action. The historical accuracy is a bonus. Prince William is the direct cause of the death of Hagman and Harris when he orders them to open the gate so he can escape. Their death really got to me, because I liked them very much. That is what happens when you follow a series like this. You get to know them well and then when something happens it affects you. I loved the reaction from Sharpe when he hears about their death and the cause. I also liked how they left the ending open. Usually I am against these kinds of ending but in this case it was fitting. It made we wonder what had become of Sharpe and is an invite to future adventures. There were two episodes / films that came after. Not as good as the original ones but still decent. I hope that rather sooner than later they will make more. This undoubtedly is one of the best series that has graced the small screen. And if you have not seen it by now you should.

A fitting end for TV

[roundway · 17 July 2003]

Last of the Sharpe series (for TV anyway - there is one further post-Waterloo novel) and they all go out with a bang ! The only real way to have ended the story - a bitter, deadly but final episode.

From the other comments it's interesting how events 200 years in the past can still stir national rivalries in this day and age. For information, at Waterloo, Wellington was in command of a coalition army only the core of which was made up of British troops (the bulk of the Peninsular army had been disbanded or shipped to the colonies). The remainder (as Cornwell points out) was made up of German and Dutch/Belgian forces. Some of the German and all the Dutch/Belgian forces had been fighting for Napoleon as recently as 1813/4. There was every reason for Wellington to be cautious of them.

More please ITV!

[NEFARlOUS · 10/10 · 27 October 1998]

If you haven't seen the Sharpe series - you're either not from this country or you made the mistake of watching something else or going out on a Wednesday night! This series is based on a number of books set in the Napoleonic era from the Penninsula wars through to Waterloo itself. Richard Sharpe, the central character, is a professional soldier, promoted from the ranks to a commissioned officer. Blunt, honest, heroic, honorable and sarcastic (and god forbid - from Yorkshire!!!) he earns the admiration of his men and the distain and scorn of the upper classes that traditionally formed the Officer class. Throughout the series, he travels with a close knit bunch, from his Sargeant, Harper to Danny, one of his privates "...over the hills and far away" If you are interested in this period, track these 2-hour specials down. If not, check it out anyway - it's worth it! Sharpe's Waterloo was the last of the series and held to the generally excellent standard of its prequels, and in some cases even exceeded it (The Prince of Orange two fingers scene for example) - unfortunately, the budget could not stretch to a more convincing depiction of the battle in general - unsurprising considering the scale. Nevertheless - I'd certainly give it another viewing!

Dan Marcus

One of Television's all time best movie series

[TexasRedge · 10/10 · 17 April 2002]

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 sincerely 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.

Good but could have been monumentally epic

[grantss · 8/10 · 1 April 2023]

Napoleon has escaped from Elba and Britain is at war again. As Wellington's army assembles in Belgium, Richard Sharpe, now a Lt. Colonel, is placed on the staff of the Dutch Prince of Orange, commander of a large portion of Wellington's army. Sharpe quickly learns that the Prince has no grasp of simple military tactics and quickly loses all respect for him. This is unfortunate as a decisive battle is about to be fought...at Waterloo.

This episode had the potential to be brilliant epic finale to the Sharpe series. It's all set up, the ultimate showdown - Wellington vs Napoleon - and Sharpe is there, while history is being made! There's glimpses of this but unfortunately meaningless sub-plots turn what should have been a stirring, grand story into something that's entertaining but hardly epic.

We still have the Sharpe-Rossendale feud. While this sub-plot is largely unnecessary it doesn't detract too much from the main plot.

What does though is the Prince of Orange sub-plot. Entirely fictional - I'm surprised his descendants or the government of Holland didn't sue the producers for slander! - and it consumes way too much screentime, to the point that it is the main plot, not a sub-plot. It also leads to much time wastage as Sharpe flip-flops between serving under him and upping and leaving the battle altogether.

This said, there's enough of the historical battle of Waterloo captured to make for a decent grandness to proceedings. The writers did seem to borrow a fair bit from the film 'Waterloo' (1970) for the best dialogue.

Unfortunately, it's not quite the finale either - nine years later two more episodes were produced.

Sharpe's Waterloo...A few sighs

[regertz · 8/10 · 13 January 2015]

Spoilers ahoy...

This last major Sharpe episode in the original block of series ties things up nicely and given the limited TV budget does a neat job of portraying Waterloo. Best of all, for those of us who've grown to hate Jane Sharpe, it provides a satisfying end with Sharpe not responsible for her downfall but she having a disaster none the less. However...

The book tries not to fall into the trap of having Sharpe basically win the battle but as usual the TV series has him practically doing so despite the fact, plain and simple, that in a fit of anger at the incompetent command of the Dutch prince William, he leaves the field and abandons his men at a crucial stronghold and a crucial point. I can't imagine Sharpe going so far nor Wellington sparing him after the battle.

The French for once are allowed to fight fairly well not being gunned down by the dozen by Sharpe's chosen but would it have been so hard to admit that the battle was nearly lost at the farmhouse Sharpe and his men had been holding? Perhaps this relates to Sharpe's abandoning the place...It would look bad if the hero were shown to have nearly caused the loss of Waterloo in a hissy fit. While kudos to the series producers and director for being willing to show Sharpe shooting a superior officer he believes is killing his men, it would have been equally courageous for Sharpe to realize his lack of restraint nearly cost the battle. Sad to see two of Sharpe's last faithful chosen men killed after surviving so much. Nice to finally in this episode see Harper remembering that he has a wife after he'd seemed to have forgotten her in the last two and although he joins in the battle he pulls out soon as he's convinced the victory is won and he's had his peek at Boney.

Great. Just make it more like the book

[BobStage · 6/10 · 24 January 2006]

A great ending to the Richard Sharpe series. I am an enormous fan of the books by Bernard Cornwell, and I have read all 20 of them. I have also seen some of the episodes, Waterloo among them. Sean Bean is without doubt an amazing and talented actor, and Daragh O' Malley is the perfect sidekick. John Tams as Hagman is my favorite rifleman (besides Sharpe and Harper), episode and book.

Some minor things though. Waterloo would have made a ten out of ten had it been more like the book and more specific on some of the characters' fates.

The episode is awesome, but in some scenes, they would have made it look better had they involved more men, as in, more soldiers and battalions. But that is only a small thing. Another thing is that they wrapped up a few things without too much detail. For example, (spoiler) when the Prince is shot, they made it look as if he had died. Not true though. In the book and in reality, he was only wounded. Also, they could have put in the details (from the book) of Sharpe being approached, saying that Rossendale had died and Jane was waiting for the news about the battle. Sharpe laughs sourly, saying he wont be the one to tell, because he doesn't give a dime about her. That would have confirmed the fate of Jane better, and the Prince's.

All that aside, this is an incredible episode, and I recommend it to all who are wondering whether Sharpe is worth it.

it was OK

[richardwalters1990 · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

Sharpe's Waterloo is average. Thats all that can be said. It was an unfitting climax to an excellent series. Not to mention many historical discrepancies. One of most impressive features of Sharpe's Waterloo is the music by Dominic Muldowny. The alterations made to the "Over the Hills" tune were fitting for the supposedly last Sharpe. Also i would like to respond to the Americans who have claimed that the British actors should not have used accents that they could not understand. If I wrote a comment on an American film and said i could not understand it i think you would no what to say: "either use subtitles or don't watch it" .

I am glad that itv has chosen to rectify the shortfalls in Waterloo by commissioning Sharpe's Challenge.

Back in Action

[Rainey-Dawn · 7/10 · 19 December 2021]

Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe is to have his last fight against the French in June of 1815 - Waterloo. Sharpe rejoins his old friend and partner Sgt. Harper both who are assigned to Prince of Orange's staff for this final battle.

This is not historically accurate - it is a work of historical fiction meaning that it's a fictional story taking place in a historical event with some people from history.

7/10.

Degrades the brave men who fought at Waterloo

[Freedom060286 · 2/10 · 20 September 2017]

Rather than focusing upon one of the most significant battles in history, Cornwell's purpose seems to be to degrade the memory of the men who fought at Waterloo.

Much of this episode is dedicated to disparaging the man who would later become king William II of Holland. The opening scene shows him with a prostitute, and an ugly boil on his rear. Later, William's Dutch cavalry at Quatre Bras are portrayed as cowardly and refusing to charge when ordered to do so.

Cornwell gives William the nickname "Silly Billy" and portrays him as being a arrogant fool, but in reality, William's courage and good nature made him very popular with the British, who nicknamed him "Slender Billy".

The age 23 Prince William is shown as being responsible for losing the La Haye Sainte farm and the death of two of Sharpe's men. The fact is, William wasn't even in the farm when it was taken (about 6 PM). The farm was mostly burned by Napoleon's artillery and the area taken after an extremely fierce struggle. Sharpe is shown shooting William to get him off the battlefield, with MacDuff looking on from a wooden roof window at La Haye Sainte (but the French had just taken La Haye Sainte, and in reality, all the wooden buildings at the farm were burned by the time the French occupied the area). William was actually wounded about a half hour later, in a courageous but futile attempt to take back La Haye Sainte.

Cornwell and Clegg have Wellington say "humbug" five times in about 3 minutes. Although it is true Welington did say something like that (but not to Sharpe) it seems Cornwell wanted to over-emphasize that Wellington had been surprised by the speed of Napoleon's advance, by having him repeat it no less than FIVE times and sound foolish.

Later at the critical moment when the Imperial Guard was approaching the Allied lines, Sharpe makes the decision for the men who had been laying low on the ground to fire. The person who really gave the order at that moment was the allied commander Wellington.

They also portray as a pathetic coward Wellington's relative who recorded the times of the events of the battle. In reality, he was at the forefront of the battle facing the field and was eventually killed by cannon fire.

Typical of Cornwell, he does not portray Lord Uxbridge as courageous, despite the fact that at a critical time in the battle at 2:30 PM he led a charge that stopped a French advance. Uxbridge was extremely brave, he had eight or nine horses shot from under him during the Battle of Waterloo, and eventually lost a leg. But Cornwell for some reason usually portrays real historical leaders in a negative way.

And Cornwell and Clegg's portrayal of the very brave Frenchmen that day is also demeaning. He has Sharpe repeatedly refer to them as "frogs" and portrays them as slow marching, rigid, easy targets (even the Imperial Guard, considered the finest troops in Europe at the time). Several times, the episode shows French troops marching into fire without even trying to shoot back.

On a positive note, the costumes, locations and sets were very good, although what they show as La Haye Sainte looks more like the Hougoumont Château on Napoleon's left side, with the larger stone wall and the more extensive woods nearby. The initial battle at La Haye Sainte in the episode looks more like the historical description of the fighting at Hougoumont.

A book that covers the details of the Battle of Waterloo is 24 Hours at Waterloo by Robert Kershaw.

Paul Bettany - what a guy

[katiepoppycat · 1 March 2004]

**SPOILER**

His portrayal of Silly Billy is fantastic! Just as it should be. However, it's a bit too convincing - i really cannot imagine why Rebecque stands by him.

Waterloo is an excellent book and the adaptation doesn't disappoint. It is a little bizarre that Sharpe and Harper get to randomly ride around the battlefield, but it does make great television. After watching the Matrix I wanted a long leather coat - now i want a bashed up greatcoat like Sharpe's.

Some wonderful interaction between Sharpe and Harper in this one - their longing to see Napoleon, and Harper's attempts to emulate Hogan are particularly good. However, probably the strongest characterisation in this adaptation comes from Rossendale. His pant wetting scene at the Duchess of Richmond's ball is brilliant, and his obvious discomfort with his wife's murderous plans is clear. His death scene was a bit tame considering how he gets it in the book, but we can't have everything.

Price makes a welcome return from the dead, but is criminally underused. It's also nice to see the return of Hagman and Harris. I was gutted to see them go, I really thought that they might make it through. Great poignant death scene for them though!

Historically incorrect

[tburgers-1 · 1/10 · 24 February 2021]

Shameful how this only sustains what all the Brits keep thinking. Wellington beat Napoleon. Keep believing that and keep watching these kind of series, that only get some names right, but make up the rest. Take some history lessons and you will conclude that without the effort of Willem II and his general Chasse there would not have been a victory the next day for Wellingtons troops. The deciding battle was the day before.

Not the best Sharpe, but okay enough.

[Blueghost · 22 May 2013]

This is one Sharpe that I failed to see on TV when it first came out. And when I finally did see it I had mixed feelings about it. The film is a kind of reunion and last hurrah for Sharpe and what remains of his riflemen. The pros are of course the reunion of characters that we've come to know through the series of films, one of Sharpe's major subplots sees a resolution, and, for good or ill, we see the fates of our riflemen.

The film itself is rather kludged together. It feels like a patchwork, and the filmed story, not the actual story, but the shots themselves, totter on be incoherent at times, as well as some of the actions of the characters. My guess is that the production team were trying to wind up the film series as best they could, but in the end all they wind up doing is confusing the viewer with some incoherent actions on the part of the main characters.

That, and the battle of Waterloo is never fully realized. Considering that this is a made for TV movie, and one that has the limitations of a UK budget no less, it's no wonder things are a bit scaled down. We're told references to engagements by the characters here and there as they point to one clump of soldiers and then to another. That's not really a big deal. What is a big deal is that we never see the soldiers maneuvering like they're supposed to be. Again, this isn't Sergey Bondarchuk "Waterloo" with tens of thousands of cheap Soviet soldiers to act as extras, but ITV's version of the same battle on a shoestring budget. That's not really a big deal. But what is a big deal is that the Sharpe production team did need at least a couple hundred more people in costume to really fake the size of the armies. But, we can kind of get over that.

What I can't get over is that I'm a huge fan of the film series, have read a few of the books, and am at a loss as to what the story in this film is all about. Sharpe actually meanders here and there for no rhyme or reason, and we the audience are left scratching our heads. Certainly not a fault of the excellent thesping going on here, because all the actors hold their own and gives us excellent performances. If fault were to lie somewhere, then it's with both the screenplay artist and director; probably more the latter than the former.

The final scene and final shot are perhaps how the series should have ended (which it didn't), and is a nice segue into re-watching the films all over again, but the meat of the film could stand to use some tweaking. An interesting project would be to go back and insert scenes with soldiers, or to digitally add more soldiers here and there to really add size and scope to this production. Even so, that's not going to counter for a weak story.

It's not a film I'd recommend, even for Sharpe fans, but, like the infamous third season of 1960's Star Trek, it is what it is and isn't all that bad I suppose.

Give it a shot, and judge for yourself.

Try harder

[philphoto · 14 March 2005]

I loved the Sharpe series but I have to disagree with comments about 'how British actors will have to speak so that us USA folk can understand' I see this statement so often throughout this site

So I am totally irritated at the continuing Whining about 'Understanding British Accents, TRY HARDER !!! we have to as some N American accents (Parts of Virginia and the deep south ) are quite difficult to understand for us Brits but WE USE OUR INTELLIGENCE to understand what they are saying. YOUR JUST LAZY Another thing. Please stop referring to British ACCENTS : there are English accents, Scottish accents, welsh accents Irish (N) accents but no British ACCENTS

I thank you

Why does this have to be the end?

[alicecbr · 28 January 2002]

Certainly the acting and photography are excellent. The in depth character development was something to admire. I now have the whole series, and as far as I can tell, it's historically accurate. But I would dearly love to get a French movie depicting the same war...since History is a tale told by the winner.

Shall I say anything about Bean's wife now turning into the villain. Wonder if it was about the time their marriage was breaking up. He and the author are mates, it appears. The fact that he physically favors my brother-in-law who lost a leg in Korea has nothing to do with my admiration for the series. But I must say that seeing "Essex Boys" made me wonder if that title came from him leading the South Essex contingent in the movie. I really don't like seeing him as a villain, but you can tell the English don't mind having their heroes be unfaithful to their girlfriend. That made me rather squirm, as he beds his old girlfriend while married....and elsewhere, does the same while betrothed. But we do have a different style here: serial polygamy, but no screwing around while you're married....plus a healthy heaping of hypocrisy.

Great series. Somebody make them make some more.