The Napoleonic Wars are not typically my historical period of interest. A friend of mine had seen some of the Sharpe's movies on Public Television, bought the first set of videos and basically browbeat me into watching them. We watched Sharpe's Rifles, the first of the series, one night when I was over for dinner, and he gladly let me borrow the rest of that first set when I left. I was greatly, and pleasantly impressed. Sean Bean is, of course, a spectacular actor, and he brings a realistic personality to a character of the period. Richard Sharpe is a hero that's not always behaving quite like a hero, but when one realises that he was a commoner from a world where if he didn't join the army, he would've ended up a criminal, one can at least appreciate his behaviour, even if one doesn't always agree with it. The supporting cast also does a wonderful job. The series puts Sharpe in the forefront of actual historical events, specifically battles, and one is tempted to believe that he was a real person. If you're a fan of Sean Bean, if you're a fan of period movies, or Hell! if you're a fan of movies...period, you should check out at least the first set of Sharpe's movies, starting with this one.
