Sharpe's Eagle (1993)

Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents, and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle. When the South Essex loses its colors (its ... See full summary »

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Eoghan Harris, Bernard Cornwell (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Sean Bean, Assumpta Serna, Brian Cox

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Sharpe
Brian Cox	...	Hogan
Daragh O'Malley	...	Harper
Assumpta Serna	...	Teresa
Michael Cochrane	...	Sir Henry Simmerson
David Troughton	...	Wellesley
Martin Jacobs	...	Lawford
Katia Caballero	...	Josefina
Michael Mears	...	Cooper
John Tams	...	Hagman
Jason Salkey	...	Harris
Paul Trussell	...	Tongue
Lyndon Davies	...	Perkins
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Leroy
David Ashton	...	Lennox

Storyline

Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents, and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle. When the South Essex loses its colors (its regimental flag), Sharpe vows to save the honor of the regiment by capturing a French Imperial standard: an eagle.

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Plot Keywords:

19th century | second part | bare chested male | bare chested male bondage | whipping | 

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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 Spanish French

Release Date:

12 May 1993 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sharpe's Eagle

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celtic Films Entertainment, Central, Picture Palace

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The British victory at Talavera resulted in a peerage for Sir Arthur Wellesley, becoming Viscount Wellington of Talavera.

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Goofs

Sharpe teaches the South Essex to increase their rate of fire by simply dropping the musket ball down the barrel and tapping the butt on the ground to jolt it down, rather than using the ramrod. However, this method would only be used in an emergency as it badly affects the accuracy and power of the musket. It is perfectly possible to fire three to four rounds a minute using the ramrod, with practice. (Having said that, it is possible Sharpe taught them the shortcut because of the extremely limited time Simmerson allowed him to train them).

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Quotes

Sir Henry Simmerson: Do YOU know what makes a good soldier?
Richard Sharpe: Yes, sir.
Sir Henry Simmerson: [pause, then] And what makes a good soldier?
Richard Sharpe: The ability to fire three rounds a minute.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: A Call to Arms (2008)

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Soundtracks

Over the Hills and Far Away
(uncredited)
Traditional
Lyrics adapted by John Tams
Performed by John Tams

User Reviews

Justice for the Story

Sharpe's Eagle, especially for those historical buff's out there,is a good feature-length TV show, but that's all it is. If it was given the same sort of budget that, say Lord of The Rings was, then sure it would have had success parallel to that film. This is because the scripting, production and casting (especially with Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley) are on an equal par with it.

The problem with a Sharpe series on TV was always going to be it's scale,and so it turned out. The short action sequences always seem crude, rushed and drastically under budgeted. For people that don't read very much, this is as good a historical drama you can get on TV. For those of us that do, and have read the books, the TV series pales sourly in th light of the book. The emotion, action and mostly scale involved in the Sharpe series can only be justified in the mind's eye.

A Sharpe book for the big screen? Now there's something...