Sharpe's Challenge
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Movie Reviews of Sharpe's Challenge
Movie Review: good aventure movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Saw part one of this movie overseas had to buy the movie to get second part I enjoyed the movie was worth buyingMovie Review: sharpe's challenge dvd movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Good movie,good service. It added to my collection of the Sharpe series.
Thank you.
marilyn poole
Movie Review: More Sharpe's aventures
Summary: 5 Stars
What do you expect, wel it is in here again. Sharpe's at it again and lots of action.Movie Review: Sharpe's Challenge
Summary: 4 Stars
I wish some consumer reviews would quit harping and nitpicking how this episode does not exactly follow the plot of the book. This film is a compilation of three of Bernard Cramwell's novels. In the time frame of three hours it is impossible to include every one of his plot twists and turns. It is a given that some details will be deleted, and for the purpose of adapting the book to film medium some new plot conventions would be added. Rarely does a film identically match a novel and transferring a book to film creates the necessity for some artistic license.
The "Sharpe" series should be accepted as pure entertainment, not a detailed history lesson, so just accept the plot with some suspension of belief and not quibble about strict historical interpretation. "Sharpe's Challenge" is very loosely based on events which happened in India during British Colonialism and all the characters are fictitious. If the viewer accepts this, you'll definitely enjoy this swashbuckling episode. Lots of heroic deeds of derring do, acts of transformation, romance, political intrigue...there is plenty of swordfighting and minimal amounts of gore, blood and guts. The violence is not gratuitious, which suits me just fine, because I don't like violent action pictures. The movie is character driven, plot driven, with a strong narrative and literary script.This film is a work of art.
Nine years has passed since Sean Bean starred in "Sharpe's Waterloo" and, of course, he is older than prior episodes. Some consumer critics were irritated that Sean Bean doesn't have the teenage looks which the original novel places him in India. Again, they need to "get over it". Sean Bean was 47 when this film was made, and still has plenty of rugged sex appeal. I respect him, because he is one of the few actors in Hollywood that hasn't been pumped full of Botox, nothing has been nipped, tucked, lifted. It's a pleasant experience to see a handsome middle aged actor with absolutely NO plastic surgery! Clearly, this is an actor comfortable underneath his own skin.
Sean Bean is a world class actor, classically trained at the British Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and he always gives a masterful performance in all episodes of the 15 "Richard Sharpe" series - he "owns" the role and I can't envision any other actor giving the same credibility to the character. When the first "Sharpe" series was shot in the
mid-1990's, Paul McGann was initially cast in the role, but bowed out at the last minute due to an injury. Sean Bean was awarded the role as an incredible fluke of good luck and frankly, I couldn't be more delighted! This was the role that made him a star - and the "Sharpe" series is a classic that holds up over time.
The production values, cinematography, art direction are very strong, and the period costumes are gorgeous. A very fine ensemble cast of character actors all give wonderful performances. Toby Stephens as the turncoat rogue British officer who switches sides is deliciously evil as "the man you love to hate". Darragh O'Malley as Sgt. Harper gives another wry, sardonic performance as Sharpe's trusted ally. As ever, Sean Bean is terrific and I loved his performance.
The only real problem I have with this episode are a few TERRIBLE actors. Padma Lakshmi who plays the conniving, sinister courtesan turned Regent ruler is quite beautiful, but frankly cannot act her way out of a paper bag and gives a dishwater-limp performance. This could have been a very juicy role for a skilled actress but she was horridly miscast.
Her bio states she was a model, celebrity chef and the wife of Salaman Rushdie. She was miscast, and I think she got this part based on her social connections. It is my understanding this was Padma Lakshmi's very FIRST acting role, and well, it shows with a wooden performance. She is an absolute knock-out in the looks dept. - so I just ignored her weak performance, since it was just a supporting role.
The actor who plays Sgt. Bickerstaff is horrible and very hammy. He screams all his lines in full blown manic rage. One very glaring plot hole that was inconsistent is although Sharpe has resigned his military commission and was in retirement, he still had the rank of Colonel while on special assigment in India - so why on earth does he allow Sgt. Bickerstaff to beat him up and threaten his life? It was considered an offense punishible by death to strike a superior officer - so when Sgt. Bickerstaff attacks Richard Sharpe - it doesn't make sense he gets off without being put to death.......but in the "Sharpe" series, its a given there always has to be a nasty villian to create the narrative development - Sharpe needs an adversary to overcome in his inevitable victory.
I've seen all the previous 14 "Sharpe" episodes and by far, this 15th
episode has the biggest budget, largest cast and most sumptuous production values. In the 14th episode "Sharpe's Waterloo" all of Richard Sharpe's cohorts from the Chosen Men are killed off in battle.
I missed all those wonderful character actors who were in most of the prior episodes and played the Chosen Men - however, Wellington and Ramona from the original cast have small cameos, and the brand new characters introduced help round out the cast. Lucy Brown is wonderful as the General's daughter. It is a smaller, supporting role - but she is very good at it. The General's daughter doesn't really fall into the category of a "love interest" for Richard Sharpe, but more along the lines of an unrequieted crush that never is allowed to surface - so I enjoyed the bittersweet ending when Sharpe goes off to France at the end. She and Sharpe bond emotionally, but must hold themselves back because both their lives are in danger and the primary goal is to escape from the Maharaja's fort alive, and in one piece.
The Indian actors who portray the Maharahah Kandhe Rao and his sister give very strong performances. I appreciated the screenwriter emphasizing the oppressive effect of British Colonial imperialism on the people of India. Instead of the stereotypical cliche of "backwards natives" roles the Indian actors are given a literate script and strong dialogue when they explain to British officers they are justified in wanting the British to leave their country and deserve to manage their own affairs.
At first, the British General's daughter and the Indian princess have a combative relationship - but eventually come to respect each other and form an alliance based on their mutual survival. These two women in the film aren't just "window dressing" and maidens in distress - but two women who manage to deal with the political/military machinations they find themselves embroiled in.
This a terrific movie and I know you'll love it! I highly recommend all the other 14 episodes of the Richard Sharpe series. I definitely recommend watching them IN ORDER of sequence - #1 to #14 - there was one "clunker" episode about lost Aztec gold, but on the whole, this series is world class and rollicking fun, a romantic, epic swashbuckler set during the Napoleonic wars in Spain and France.
Movie Review: Worthy Return
Summary: 4 Stars
Sharpe's Challenge Worthy Return
By Kristin Battestella
After a ten year break, the BBC returned to its Napoleonic series Sharpe in 2006 with Sharpe's Challenge. Based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, this special two part episode is slim on premise but big on action and exotic locales.
Five years after Waterloo, Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) is now alone on his farm in Normandy after his French lover's death. He is suddenly summoned to England by Lord Wellington (Hugh Fraser), and at first declines the chance to put down an uprising in India. Wellington's first agent in India, horse trader Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley), however, has gone missing. Sharpe finds Harper once he reaches India, and together they must rescue damsels in distress and overthrow corrupt Indian warlords.
Sharpe's Challenge is an awkward tale to summarize. On one hand its moving forward, taking place after Waterloo, but it is a composite of Cornwall's early Sharpe novels Tiger, Triumph, and Fortress. This mix of the two time periods automatically sets Challenge up for conflicting story points and even anger from die hard fans. If Sharpe's lover Lucille is dead, long time writer Russell Lewis and director Tom Clegg have erased two of Sharpe's children. Oops. Now that I've gone back to read Sharpe's Tiger I can see where pieces have appeared in Challenge. Its strange to read about Private Sharpe under Sergeant Hakeswill in Tiger when Challenge merely gives us a briefly red coated and pony tailed Bean. Could the powers that be have made a full length trilogy with some new young folk as Sharpe? Bean is no spring chicken, but in this day of reimagings and remakes I'm glad the production has stuck with its fans.
Challenge brings back all of our old Sharpe favorites. It's great that everyone was willing to come back and storylines were made to accommodate Wellington, the decrepit Simmerson (Michael Cochrane), even Ramona. There's a few snafus regarding characters who were killed earlier in the series that are somehow alive and well here, and Sergeant Bickerstaff is clearly a poor man's Hakeswill. Sean Bean however, is on form, and the reunion with Daragh O'Malley makes Challenge. The guest stars for Sharpe's Challenge seem more high end than the series of old. Padme Lakshmi (Now of Top Chef who I knew from her dreadful guest spot on Enterprise) is perfectly cast as the icy and exotic Madhuvanthi. I did however expect more from Toby Stephens (Robin Hood, Die Another Day) He just grimaces and pursues his lips a lot and says kinky things. I imagine some British gals find this very pretty, but we've seen better, uglier and nastier villains in Sharpe.
Challenge does give us something we haven't seen in Sharpe before: India. Despite the story's confusions, India was by far the best move for Challenge and future Sharpe productions. Some of the battles seem dusty and small scale, almost like the first film Sharpe's Rifles where the logistics were still being figured out. On the whole, however, the cultural changes, use of native scenery, historical sites, and local extras give Challenge an extra flair. I'm not sure how accurate the ladies' costumes are to the period, but they are very bright in what has been a somewhat dark and drab series. And they show some skin, always important for male viewers! At last it seems that technology has finally caught up to the fun stories and action Sharpe has told. Challenge looks so big, bright, and epic. I'm glad this episode is longer than the previous ninety minute installments. The look and excitement of Challenge tell us there's still fuel left in Sharpe's engine.
And shocker of shockers what does my Sharpe's Challenge DVD have? Extras, by golly I kid you not! Although the behind the scenes feature has a silly, aloof focus on an Indian extra's quest to meet Sean Bean, these long awaited insights into the Sharpe series are more than welcome. Fight choreography, interviews with Cornwell and the cast, humorous on set moments. Not all of it is stellar material, but after fourteen Sharpe movies with no extras, I'll take it! What else am I loving on my Sharpe's Challenge DVD? The bloopers? The photo gallery? No, the subtitles!
Sharpe's Challenge is a must for Sean Bean fans and Sharpe collectors. You're complete collection is now incomplete without it. Challenge may not be perfect, but the spirit of Sharpe is alive and well here. A new telefilm, Sharpe's Peril, is airing across the pond soon. Is Sharpe's Challenge the introductory film to a new Sharpe series? I hope so!