Sharpe's Challenge (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	Sean Bean in those trousers, reasonable storyline, lots of action
Disadvantages:	Poor editing, presentation doesn't match previous set

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I must admit I'm a bit of a romantic, I've read every one Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, and already owned the Sharpe boxset on DVD. So when Sharpe's Challenge was advertised on the TV I was looking forward to watching it. Sadly, due to a family crisis, I only managed to catch the first half on the TV, so when I discovered that it would be available on DVD very shortly after, I jumped at the chance of buying it, for the extortionate price of £16.49.

--The Episode--

After the battle of Waterloo Colonel Richard Sharpe thought he'd left his life as a soldier behind him as he settled down to life as a farmer in France. The fairy tale ending was just not to be and an urgent message from Wellington summons him back to England for a new mission…..

What follows is standard Sharpe fare, albeit in a new setting as Sharpe travels to India to search for a friend, stop a rebellion, revenge some long dead comrades and save the lady in distress all whilst battling against the same old prejudices and dealing with an old enemy.

The actual storyline to Sharpe's Challenge is based on the first three books of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, that is Tiger, Triumph and Fortress. Fans of the books may be a little confused by the fact that ideas were taken from each of the books and the original timeline has been messed about with. Personally I enjoyed working out which scene came from which book but did find that the plot was perhaps not as coherent as it could have been.

Now while I readily admit that the whole programme is standard Sharpe fare, everything about Challenge is on a far bigger scale than previous episodes. Filmed on location in India, colours are bright, the atmosphere is perfect you can virtually taste the dust in your mouth. The atmosphere is added to by the use of a haunting mix of score, with traditional Indian music perfectly complemented by English folk (provided by John Tams and Dominic Muldowney). As far as the cast goes, there are very few of the original members remaining, Sean Bean seems to have settled back into the role that made him a star, and as ever I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. The same goes for Daragh O'Malley as the indomitable Harper. Other than these two characters there is only one other returning character (whose identity I'm not going to reveal), there are however plenty of new characters with a new nemesis for Sharpe in the form of William Dodd, ably played by Toby Stephens.

All in all I would say the programme was very successful and I did enjoy watching it to the very end, all the elements that made the programme gripping to watch ten odd years ago were still there, but… There could have been improvements. I personally would have preferred for Sharpe's Devil to be adapted rather than trying to fit three books into one programme.

--Presentation--

To be perfectly honest I found myself very disappointed with the actual physical presentation. While the picture and audio quality were excellent the feature is unedited which results in the programme being split into two sections with the ending and opening credits being repeated at the halfway point. There are also a few points where it's obvious that the adverts have been poorly edited out. Added to this, while the case and disc are very nicely printed they don't actually match the previously released sets. Basically I believe I could have done if not as good a job of presentation, then very close.

As well as the feature there are a very small number of special features on the disc, these include a very lengthy and very informative making of. Although there is the standard lovey-dovey "how wonderful everybody is", does go into a lot of the difficulties and triumphs behind the scenes. Although the narrator is a little dry, we o get to hear the views of cast and crew including the extras and even the doctor. Definitely one of the better making-of features. Along with the making-of there is a small selection of cut scenes and outtakes, which I found a little tedious, along with a photo gallery. Personally while I felt the special features added something to the presentation, I don't think there were nearly enough to warrant the very high price that I paid.

--Technical Specs--

Rating : 15
Region : 2 (PAL)
Running Time : 138 mins
Video : 16:9 (Anamorphic)
Audio : English
Subtitles : English for the hard of hearing

Price : £14.99 (Amazon.co.uk)

--Final Words--

While I enjoyed watching Sharpe's Challenge and felt that it had been made bigger and better than those episodes (or mini-films) of ten odd years ago, there were points when I felt that the programme had perhaps lost a little of it's charm. Perhaps my problem was that I'd already read those books on which it was based and found it hard to reconcile the pictures those books had formed in my mind for those appearing on my TV screen. Still the programme itself was very watchable and there was the fact that Sean Bean was once more in those trousers. I was however more than a little disappointed in the actual DVD, the editing was poor (in my opinion), an the price was far to high for what I actually got.

So am I recommending this DVD? Well, I suppose, the answer is yes, but with a few provisos. The first of these is that you watched and enjoyed the original series, if you did then you know that the 15 rating is justified, there is blood, gore, killing and a little nudity. My second condition would be that you buy it for considerably cheaper than I did, as far as I'm concerned it is not worth the £16.49 I paid, £7.99 would be a far fairer price, otherwise wait for it to be repeated on TV and record it.