Sharpe's Siege

Plot synopsis:
Major Richard Sharpe joins a combined naval and infantry expedition to the French coast with the intention of capturing a fortress and several chasse-marées, and inciting a monarchist rebellion in Bordeaux. The mission is intended primarily as a diversionary action to draw French forces from defense against a British crossing of the Adour River, but Sharpe is unaware of this. The chassee-marées are needed to construct a floating, temporary bridge of the Adour, and British intelligence holds out little expectation of an actual monarchist uprising. Sharpe is accompanied by naval Captain Horace Bampfylde and, at the last moment, is joined by the Comte de Maquerre, ostensibly a member of the Chasseurs Britannique but in fact a spy for French intelligence.
Bampfylde bungles the combined operation and wanders perilously close to an ambush set by American sailors under the command of Cornelius Killick. Sharpe intervenes decisively to capture the fortress and the American troops. Bampfylde later plans to hang all of the Americans as pirates but Sharpe again intervenes and, after swearing Killick to an oath of future non-aggression, sets the Americans at liberty. Sharpe then marches inland, toward Bordeaux, while Bampfylde consolidates the landing position and writes official reports wherein he claims all of the successes as his own. Sharpe prosecutes a successful raid on a supply and reinforcement column and then retreats back toward the fortress. He is met by de Maquerre who claims Bordeaux has risen in open rebellion; de Maquerre then travels to the fortress and informs Bampfylde that Sharpe's contingent has been destroyed to the man, and that a vast French force is moving rapidly toward the fortress. The cowardly Bampfylde strips the fortress of supplies, spikes the guns, and detonates the main arsenal—seriously damaging the fortress' defensive capabilities. He then sails home, leaving Sharpe abandoned and without supplies.
Hours later, an astounded Sharpe falls back to the ruined fortress and improves his position. Meanwhile, French intelligence agent Major Pierre Ducos joins with General Calvet and a large French force to lay siege to the fortress. Sharpe's men fight against impossible odds but manage to hold off several assault waves. Ducos orders Killick to break his oath and participate in the siege against Sharpe. Sharpe then travels secretly by night and meets with Killick to arrange for a contrived surrender. In exchange for being released from the non-aggression oath, Killick agrees with Sharpe's proposal. The next morning Killick's ship makes a minor preparatory bombardment of the coastal fortress, prior to the French assault, whereupon Sharpe surrenders to the American privateer. While confusion runs through the French forces, Sharpe's men rapidly board the American privateer. The last boats leave the beach as an enraged Ducos orders a technically illegal assault on the ostensibly American-held fortress. Killick lands Sharpe close to British lines, and Sharpe leads his men to safety. He then makes a final report, in the process insulting Bampfylde and killing the traitorous de Maquerre upon the newly completed floating bridge.

Tags: violence, action

Review:
One of Television's all time best movie series.
If America only knew how good this was,it would be the highest rated Made-For-TV movie series of all time(hard to believe there are more people out there that would rather watch "The Columbo Mysteries" than Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe Chronicles- that just goes to show the power of major network name-brand advertising.The Richard Sharpe movie series has been television at its finest.
I have seen all of the BBC Sharpe series movies,"Sharpe's Waterloo" is my favorite of the films.
However I tune in to PBS everytime they air the Sharpe movies.
So far all the movies have been based on the Sharpe Chronicles - adventure novels written by Bernard Cornwell(the same author who wrote "Rebel").
Each Movie chronicles the on-going adventures of Richard Sharpe who is a Brittish Lt. in the Brittish military during the late 1790's-to early 1800's during the Napoleonic era in Europe.
I sincerly believe that each one of these Films has been good enough to have shown at the movie theaters,if the producers had wanted to.
Unlike other Made-For-TV films,The Hornblower films do not have that Made-For-TV feeling to them,like most television movies have.
However each of the Sharpe Movies picks up exactly where the last one left off.
The only negative thing I can say about this movie series is the use of an electric guitar as the background music- I have to take points off for that, because the sometimes screeching guitar noises can become annoying at times.
A common misconception that people who havent seen these movies have is that all of these films go to gether as a mini-series- that is not true.
The Sharpe movies are not a mini-series,all of these films are individual movies about the same charactor, However they are sequels to each other each picking up where the last film left off.- with all the same actors playing the same roles in each film(EXAMPLE:think of the James Bond films-that same principle applies to the Sharpe movies,but unlike Bond, the Sharpe films are sequels)
If you have seen the Sharpe movies and you liked them and you wish to see more similar themed programing, I will suggest A&E's Horatio Hornblower movies(6 movies in all- same basic priciple as the Sharpe movie except Hornblower is in the Brittish Navy to whereas Sharpe is a ground soldier)I give the entire Sharpe movie series 4 out of 5 stars.
Its near Perfect entertainment- but you cant please everyone, so for those of you dont like epic Napoleonic era battles,classic historic style drama,high stakes adventure, and danger on the European battlefields,if you dont like stuff like that-there is always a Columbo re-run for you to watch..
Exciting Entry in the Series.
Sharpe's Siege is set against the backdrop of the beginning of the British invasion of France in 1813, towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
With the classic Bernard Cornwell formula Major Sharpe (Sean Bean) has to face enemies both from his own side, this time in the shape of an incompetent young Colonel (Christopher Viliers) and from the French, led by General Calvet (Pierre Oliver) and his old adversary Major Pierre Ducos (Féodor Atkine).After Sharpe's Regiment where the bulk of the action took place in England, this entry sees the welcome return of Philip Whitchurch as Captain Frederickson, one of the more colourful characters in the entire series.
The guest stars in this entry are also memorable and well-acted.Though not the best in the series this episode in particular has a great balance of drama, action and humour as the heroes have to overcome the odds yet again.
There are also some interesting sub-plots including Harper's toothache and an outbreak of fever back at the British camp.
The story has been changed somewhat from the Bernard Cornwell novel, but it is plain to see how sticking strictly to the original material would have put this production heavily over budget.The fact that the characters are in France are a sad reminder that the series was drawing to a close, but there is still some way for Sharpe and Harper to march....
Sharpe is getting closer to Boni.
This episode is finally back on track in the grand scheme of Lord Wellington defeating the french!
Sharpe is ordered to take over a castle,so that Wellington can pass easily in order to advance!
Like all the other episodes some men and other troubles get in his way and Sharpe has to deal with it!
This episode was very fast paced comparing to the previous episodes!
There was a lot of action and much comic relief!
Harper looks terrible,he has a toothache but refuses to go to the surgeon!
Very funny scene!
It is nice to see that Sharpe really is maturing,especially his dealings with women!
Also he seems more secure being a Major!
All in all this was a good and fast episode,you feel that they are getting closer to Napoleon..
Some brilliant writing..
Having discovered Sharpe only recently and watched them all in one go, I have to say Sharpe's Siege stands out quite brilliantly out of the 16 stories (they're all good, but this one leaves more impression than the rest, with maybe the exception of Waterloo, which definitely is worthy of repeat watching).I'm impressed for lots of reasons.First, Sharpe's badass-ness, made even more pronounced by the contrast of the cowardly and reckless Colonel Bampfylde, who, among other things, ordered his men to certain death.
We also get to see Sharpe being more of an officer than a soldier in this one--when he and his Chosen Men, under his command, tricked their way into the castle and subsequently held the castle (and later, when towards the end he knows instantly about Wellington's plan was to use them as bait all along, showing that at this point Sharpe knows as much strategies of war as he knows about soldiering).
Sharpe, despite being someone who's risen from the rank and who has always been looked down upon by other officers for being not a proper gentleman, is more of a gentleman than the previously mentioned gullible Bampfylde (and many of the others, in the rest of the series, it's a bit of a recurring theme--jabs at the so-called nobles), who's supposed to be born a gentleman--Sharpe, out of respect and honour, allowed the French major he defeated to keep his sword, while Bampfylde berated Sharpe for even letting the French walk around freely (also a lack of foresight on his part, as they're short of men and therefore couldn't possibly keep prisoners).Secondly, espionage theme, aka, the plot.
The plot is not as straightforward as the rest, though it cannot compare to the intricacy of modern espionage novels and so on, this movie has just enough twists to keep you interested throughout the whole movie.
Sharpe also made a good speech about being a spy in this one: (to Compte de Maquerre )"The problem with you is that you want it every way, you wanted to be a spy for years, then you want to come back home, you want everybody to gather round and say what a big hero you've been.
The world's not like that Maquerre, you made your bed with Bonaparte, well, maybe he'll give you a medal, maybe not" In that same speech Sharpe also said "I can walk into the officers' mess but I don't expect them to be happy about it.
I don't expect a round of applause.
The same goes for my time with the lads.
I can sit and drink tea, but I'm not one of them anymore."—which just shows how much Sharpe's grown (for the lack of better word) since Sharpe's Rifles, when he wasn't at all comfortable with his own skin yet; it also shows, with other scenes in the movie, Sharpe's the silent and observant type, and definitely smart, not at all what he seems at first sight (this is shown in some movies, especially in Rifles, but this aspect of Sharpe somehow got lost in some other ones, more's the pity).Finally, nothing is superfluous.
Every scene has its use.
At the beginning of the movie, Sharpe bluffed to save General Ross, which is echoed at the end of the movie, when Sharpe used the same trick to scare off General Calvet's men; Harper's toothache becomes part of the strategy for getting into the much-guarded castle later on; the death of Reilly prepared us for the spy story, and made Sharpe's fellow riflemen's will to fight till death more credible; at the beginning Ross and Jane fell to fever, in the middle Sharpe's ambush put some quinine—the cure—into his possession, when trying to hold the castle, out of compassion Sharpe gave the quinine to Catherine to save her mother instead of saving them for Jane, as a result Sharpe had Catherine's help and got more chance to defeat General Calvet'e men; when Sharpe made it into the castle Catherine accused Sharpe for stooping this low and had to use trickery to win while Napoléon would never do the same when all along her brother was the living proof that Napoleon is not above 'trickery' after all (also backed up emotionally Catherine's disillusion and change of side)All of them are connected.
These scenes together make this movie more fluent and credible.
The tension reliefs are also very well-placed and well-written.All in all, this movie is some brilliant writing.
If you like Sharpe series, you wouldn't want to miss it.
If you haven't started on the series, this one will probably get you hooked.
Highly recommended..
Highly recommended..
Sharpe is as Brave and gallant as ever.
Sean Bean reprises his role for the tenth time in this exciting entry in the Sharpe movie.Sharpe and his chosen men are once again put under the command of a inexperienced, incompetent officer as they are sent to capture a French held fort.
The French nobleman who owns the fort has promised that the locals can be persuaded to join the British and organise a rebellion against the French.
However Wellington's spies are convinced that these reports are untrue, which his why Sharpe, his men and their new useless commander have been sent to the fort, to ascertain the truth.Sharpe is also troubled that his new bride has been hit by fever and as he departs, she is at deaths door and with quinine the only thing that can save her in such short supply it seems that nothing can save her.As suspected the French nobleman's talk of rebellion was a trap, and mainly thanks to the incompetence of his new commander Sharpe soon finds himself trapped inside the fort with a depleted rag tag bunch of men and half the French army camped outside ready to lay siege.Also the same fever that is ravaging his wife's body, is rife withing the fort and with the local doctor having acquired some quinine, Sharpe has to wrestle with a difficult decision, does he selfishly save it for his wife or administer it to the locals?
Plus with ammunition running out fast, and with Sharpe vastly outnumbered, it seems that this maybe Sharpe's final battle or can a miracle save him at the eleventh hour.Excellent support from all involved and another good swashbuckling yarn.