Sharpe's Peril

My wife and me are big fans of the series so tuned in this latest 2 parter with anticipation. Unfortunately as the story began to unfold we we felt that that we had been here before. By the end we felt disappointed with the outcome.

Although the scenery was magnificent, the story itself just dragged and it was just too clichéd. You just knew what was going to come next...sorry but it's time to draw a close on the TV adventures of Richard Sharpe.

I just wish Captain Fredrickson and the chosen men could have magically appeared to give us a break from the Sharpe and Harper show!

I gave this a 7 rating, because it was Sharpe, but I really have to wonder why they bothered to make the last two films. Sharpe went out with a glorious bang in Sharpe's Waterloo, and it should have remained that way. Instead, two films set 3 years after Waterloo were made about 10 years after, with a dashingly athletic star showing the ravages of a cigarettes and beer diet. To add insult to injury, whereas the younger Sharpe was usually clean shaven and his hair while tousled, was relatively shiny,the 'three years older' Sharpe was unkempt, unshaven and his hair looked like a badly hacked horse hair wig. Gone was the virile handsome superstud who made the ladie's hearts beat faster. We are asked to accept that three years later was a middle aged man resembling a has-been pugilist with a drinking problem.

OK, that is a petty quibble, but it does lead to more questions. As the India films were not from the books but independently scripted based on earlier Sharpe novels, and given the actors natural aging, why did they not set them at least 10 to 15 years after Waterloo? The British were still in India and Sharpe by then would be in his late 40's or early 50's.

Another point to ponder from watching the 'making of' documentary, was why did they film it in such a dreary part of India which they kept telling us was in the middle of nowhere, with the scorching temperatures of March/April causing the actors to suffer in their heavy woolen costumes. Why then did they not find a location in the hills where it would have been cooler and the scenery more attractive? British India was concentrated in the North West region which borders modern Pakistan. Why have the actors dressed in heavy wool uniforms when they could have been made from brushed cotton, which would have been more comfortable and would have looked authentic on film? I grant that the outdoor scenes would have been uncomfortable, but surely the indoor scenes could have been filmed in an air-conditioned studio in Mumbai.

I could go on picking apart the decisions, but overall, I feel that Sharpe's Challenge and Sharpe's Peril were an attempt to milk the the cow until it ran dry, and an unforgettable series should have been left to stand alone.

While not quite as romantic as the previous feature film, SHARPE'S CHALLENGE, this action-packed adventure is a wonderful farewell to the bad boy English rifleman and his colorful friends and enemies.

Personally, I would have ended the series at the end of SHARPE'S CHALLENGE, when Sharpe has the opportunity to marry a loyal, courageous, and truly stunning general's daughter and become a general himself in the famed East India Company.

But instead, Sharpe is just trying to get home, and he is roped into escorting a spoiled French beauty through the Indian countryside, and villains are after her, and one thing just leads to another till pretty soon Sharpe is like Moses leading dozens of castaways in search of safety and a new beginning.

Where CHALLENGE had the feeling of an Arabian Nights adventure, with most of the action among Indian palaces and Royalty, PERIL is more rugged and down to earth, with a virtual "wagon train" journeying through hostile territory like an old fashioned American Western. There are battles every ten minutes and sword fights every five minutes. Sharpe's followers include a lot of Western types familiar from movies like STAGECOACH and MAJOR DUNDEE. The useless missionary, the plucky pregnant woman, the loyal Indian companion, the drunken or lazy troopers, all have their parts to play.

What lifts the story above Western territory, however, is the way in which Sharpe himself is forced to look for closure to his personal dramas. Some of his most deadly enemies reappear (or their sons do) and there are some unexpected discoveries on all sides. The most poignant scenes in the story all revolve around Sharpe coming to terms with past regrets and resolving conflicts. All of it was wonderful, even if Sharpe's French blonde love interest in PERIL isn't quite as demure or winning as English blonde love interest in CHALLENGE.

But both movies are Sharpe classics, both great farewells to a true hero!

Though I personally much prefer Sharpe's Napoleonic series to these Indian installments (Challenge and Peril), but I still find the latest one Sharpe's Peril quite entertaining and really very well watchable.

OK, I wish the Indian installments were much closer to the Bernard Cornwell's books, that is if they happened in due time (before Napoleonic wars) and order (somehow in Challenge and Peril they've mixed as much from Indian set of books as they possibly could, though not always for good), but it is still a very great Sharpe's adventure. Just as usual - some quest for good old Sharpe, some girl's heart to win over, and some baddies to defeat. If that is still not enough a reason for you to watch this Sharpe's adventure, maybe a magic word - Simmerson - would do the trick. It did worked for me (And thAaaat was soooo great!). And the very last encounter of Sharpe and Simmerson! One should not miss it, that I'm sure of.

They criticized this episode because Daragh O'Malley had got a bit fatter. And maybe Sean Bean had a few more lines on his face - well, how many wives has be tried to please - apparently without success!.

But it's wonderful. Heroism, humanity, and fellow feeling are all there just as they are in the entire series. There's some closure for fellow aficionados; Hakeswill (in a sense) is laid to rest, and Simmerson ends the fool he always was.

Bernard Cornwell is an excellent author, and Sean Bean / Daragh O'Malley and this entire cast has brought it all to wonderful viewing.

Wanna be a soldier!