Dave from Ottawa All of the usual elements of a Sharpe adventure are here: intrigue, in the person of a French spy-catcher and possible traitors within the English ranks; romance, in the form of a mute girl who nurses a wounded Sharpe back to health after a bloody night action; and another terrific battle recreation as Sharpe's riflemen attempt to overrun a french fort outside the town of Villafranca. The usual cast are superb, as ever, and Michael Cochrane nearly steals the movie as arrogant aristocrat Sir Henry Simmerson. Look for Emily Mortimer as the mute girl.As usual, the best aspect of the film is its wonderfully authentic period detail and lovely Spanish scenery. Recommended.

playadr i loved the books, but found the character of Sean Bean gives a great visual of the hard nosed sharp, not putting up with anything, angry and bitter, he does it great. the video series is of course a low budget show, but i think they did their best during this time to reveal some great historical events. my only disappointment is now that i live in Mexico i want to share this series with everybody i know, but i cant find the video series or DVD with Spanish subtitles. it viewed once here in Mexico on cable, either wit BBC or HALLMARK, i cant remember now, so i know it must exist somewhere, if anybody knows how i can get the series with subtitles so i can share it with a Spanish speaking nation, please let me know, its funny most of the series is in Spain, and where are the Spanish subtitles?

Izzy Richardson Sharpe's Sword has three main faults.1. The dialogue. Not as good as in some of the others. Unrealistic at times, even leaning towards slapstick. The scene where Sharpe is being briefed by Munro is funny, but not in line with the more strained relationship we see in Sharpe's Battle. Equally, Pat's relationship with Sharpe seems inconsistent.2. The woman. OK, I've got used to a lot of other women lusting after Sean Bean by now, but this one is oh-so-annoying. The only time she's good is when she rejects Sir Henry Simmerson's disgusting offer so well, but other than that I find her infuriating. She just mopes around, whimpering, feeling sorry for herself and trying to get Sharpe to fall in love with her, which thankfully he does not.3. The bad guy. By this I mean the Frenchie, not Sir Henry. You see a lot of him pretending to be good, but not much of him actually being bad; he's not a figure I ended up hating all that much. There was good swordplay in the last fight scene, and the injuries of both him and Sharpe added excitement and desperation, but it wasn't as intense as, say, the priest's encounter with Simmerson.The good things were the priest (naturally), and Sean Bean's all-redeeming presence. Watch it, by all means, but it isn't the best. 7 out of 10. Ko, Izzy.

katiepoppycat **SPOILER**I haven't yet seen them all, but this one disappointed me, despite the unexpected bonus of James Purefoy. The book is vastly superior to the adaptation. It's not for the lack of trying on the actor's parts, Bean and company are as reliable as ever, but the story really suffers from the absence of La Marquesa, and the addition of Lass. Surely he would have asked her name - either of Curtis, or when she actually starts speaking again. One of the strongest aspects of the book is the bond between Sharpe and Harper, demonstrated in Harper's care for the wounded Sharpe and the sword that he lovingly restores for him. In the film, they seem to just skip over it. And why is Harper's woman called Ramona? What was wrong with Isabella? That said, there were some great moments in this film, Lass's rebuttal of Simmerson, and the moment where Curtis tricks Harper into marriage are pretty good. And although i love James Purefoy, he didn't really do Spears justice, although his character had been pretty well butchered by the time he got to it.