Sharpe is back again and he and his chosen men have been given a very important job.
Wellington has ordered Sharpe and Major General Ross to find Major Septimus Pyecroft, a disfigured explosives expert in order for them to organise a raid on a nearby French ammunition dump.
To lead the raid however Wellington has chosen Colonel Brand, a highly decorated national hero with a reputation for bravery and discipline as well as one for ruthless efficiency and a complete lack of mercy towards the enemy.
Sharpe had served under the then Major Brand and fought in the action that was to ensure Brand's promotion and impressed, Sharpe is one of Brand's most ardent admirers.
However, Brand is not all he seems to be. His reputation for bravery has been afforded him by the French for whom he has been spying and assisting throughout the entire war, and on the journey to the ammunition dump, Sharpe's suspicions are aroused as his hero soon turns into a bitter and dangerous enemy.
It turns out that the French have their sites on Ross and through Colonel Brand, they plan to capture him and torture him, and with this in mind Sharpe turns the table on Brand using Ross as bait.
The whole thing comes to a head with a makeshift court martial, where Sharpe shows a previously unforeseen eloquence and knowledge of the law in order to get his man bang to rights, and Brand is sentenced to death, a death penalty that is unexpectedly and hurriedly carried out by Sharpe in his own inimitable way, providing the viewer certainly this viewer with the biggest smile of the film.
Also in tow on the expedition is Mr. Clarence Shellington, a newspaper columnist and lecherous womaniser, who sets his sights on Sharpe's wife and it is in this film however we see for the first time, the weakness of Jane Sharpe's character and a glimpse of where this vulnerability will eventually lead.
Another great Sharpe movie, and one in which Sean Bean gives one of his strongest performances
Wellington has ordered Sharpe and Major General Ross to find Major Septimus Pyecroft, a disfigured explosives expert in order for them to organise a raid on a nearby French ammunition dump.
To lead the raid however Wellington has chosen Colonel Brand, a highly decorated national hero with a reputation for bravery and discipline as well as one for ruthless efficiency and a complete lack of mercy towards the enemy.
Sharpe had served under the then Major Brand and fought in the action that was to ensure Brand's promotion and impressed, Sharpe is one of Brand's most ardent admirers.
However, Brand is not all he seems to be. His reputation for bravery has been afforded him by the French for whom he has been spying and assisting throughout the entire war, and on the journey to the ammunition dump, Sharpe's suspicions are aroused as his hero soon turns into a bitter and dangerous enemy.
It turns out that the French have their sites on Ross and through Colonel Brand, they plan to capture him and torture him, and with this in mind Sharpe turns the table on Brand using Ross as bait.
The whole thing comes to a head with a makeshift court martial, where Sharpe shows a previously unforeseen eloquence and knowledge of the law in order to get his man bang to rights, and Brand is sentenced to death, a death penalty that is unexpectedly and hurriedly carried out by Sharpe in his own inimitable way, providing the viewer certainly this viewer with the biggest smile of the film.
Also in tow on the expedition is Mr. Clarence Shellington, a newspaper columnist and lecherous womaniser, who sets his sights on Sharpe's wife and it is in this film however we see for the first time, the weakness of Jane Sharpe's character and a glimpse of where this vulnerability will eventually lead.
Another great Sharpe movie, and one in which Sean Bean gives one of his strongest performances