Redundant and unnecessary.

Nice effects though.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Sean Bean returns as Napoleonic war hero Major Richard Sharpe and Sharpe's Battle opens with Sharpe and his Chosen Men liberating a tiny Spanish town that has been sacked by the French under the command of General Loup. When Sharpe discovers that many women children and indeed babies have been massacred under the Frenchman's orders, he is outraged and promptly executes without trial the two French soldiers they have caught, making an enemy of Loup who now vows a bitter revenge.When Sharpe returns to camp however, is told he has been made strategic adviser to Lord Keily, and has been ordered to whip his men 'The Royal Irish Company' into an effective and loyal company of fighting men. This is made more difficult however as articles in the American press that are being unusually and freely distributed amongst the ranks, speak of British atrocities in Ireland, making Sharpe's new company an angry and embittered group of men.Also making Sharpe's life a misery is the inexperienced and arrogant Lord Keily himself, who's attitude towards Sharpe and his own men, plus his open affair with a sensual female guerrilla fighter by the name of Juanita, pushes Sharpe to the brink of his patience especially as this affair is embarrassing, and emotionally crippling the beautiful and busty Lady Keily who is also in camp.However when Lord Kiely learns that his wife is pregnant and that Jaunita is actually a French spy in the pay of General Loup, he quickly reorganises his loyalties and tries to rally his men back into order, but thanks to the lies regarding the British atrocities (spread by Juanita of course) many of them are now secretly working for the French against the British and are ready to turn on Sharpe in the heat of Battle, and help Loup organise the kidnap of Lady Keily.With his friend's now his secret enemy, Sharpe and is Chosen Men are lured into a fight to the death against an enemy both seen and unseen.When the Irish reveal themselves as turncoats during mid battle however, it results in the tragic death of Rifleman Perkin's the youngest of Sharpe's chosen men, resulting in the remainder of the crack Rifle company going completely berserk killing off all the traitorous scum, this coupled with the inevitable rescue of Lady Keily and the final showdown between Major Sharpe and General Loup make this truly great swashbuckling stuff.Great support as usual from Daragh O'Malley and Hugh Fraser and stolid performances from the lovely Allie Byrne as Lady Keilly, and the sensual Siri Neal as Juanita.

Sharpe's Battle is in my humble opinion, one of the finest entries in the entire movie series and despite the slight hiccup of Sharpe's Gold, shows the team behind them going from strength to strength. For while the formula of Wellington having a problem, sending to Sharpe to solve it, a beautiful woman getting involved and everything culminating in a massive pitched battle was well and truly in place by now, Sharpe's Battle takes pains to develop its characters further. The finished film, is nothing but satisfying.For one thing, this is one of the most action packed episodes of the lot. The battles are a lot smaller scale than normal and have more of a guerrilla war flavour to them, but they are still as gripping as ever and the fights come fast and frequent. One minute they're engaging in bitter street fighting, ducking and diving from alleyways to doors and back again, snatching off rifle blasts at their darting foes. The next they're defending their fortress from the massed ranks of French infantry, engaging in bloody hand to hand combat as the fires of battlefield immolation roar around them. And while it may be a small point, they're given a subtle veneer of freshness by the absence of the standard red and blue infantrymen uniforms, replaced by the green and white of the palace guards and the fantastic looking French wolf pack with their grey uniforms decorated with wolf fur.What's more, Sharpe's Battle goes some way towards developing the characters beyond their normal roles. Sharpe will of course be familiar to any fan of the series but here, is a tad more weary of the endless fighting and more embittered than usual, the lack of a romantic female lead for him to bed this time around revealing the creative teams willingness to toy with the familiar pattern. Daragh O'Malley meanwhile puts in perhaps his finest turn to date as Sergeant Harper. As per normal, he is a genial and charming man who can put a smiling face on the war, but late in the episode this changes and he is overcome by a berserk rage, but at no point does this feel forced.Best of all though is Jason Durr's performance as Lord Kiely, commander of the Royal Palace guard and a man obsessed with making his name and the name of his regiment go down in military history. Kiely could very easily have been another pompous gentleman for Sharpe to clash with, but while he may fit the bill somewhat, he is far less stereotypical than the likes of Henry Simmerson, the slimy brute from Sharpe's Eagle. Instead, Kiely is a conflicted persona who simultaneously loves and hates his wife, unable to bed with her thanks to a disastrous miscarriage that has stained their relationship. At turns you will loathe him, at others you will sympathise and once or twice its even possible to admire him, Durr putting in a fine job as the tormented man.Elsewhere, we get another tremendously unlikable villain in the form of Brigadier General Loup, a one-eyed, mustachioed French scumball and even Rifleman Perkins getting a much needed boost of characterisation. You also have the Royal guard themselves, men of pride who have to come to terms with the knowledge that they are the laughing stock of the army and as they grow in the art of war, it's hard not to cheer for them. Best of all though, you get another hour and forty minutes of dashing heroism, unchecked violence and daring-do, but with a bit more humanity this time around. Highly recommended.

This is the first Sharpe film I've ever seen, and according to other reviewers it isn't the best. Even so, I thought it was top entertainment. There's plenty of action and all that. (SPOILER AHEAD!) In my opinion, the most important scene was when Lady Kiely offers herself to Sharpe, and he refuses in a very honourable manner - I can't see James Bond doing that, can you? Mind you, anyone with looks like Sean Bean can't exactly be desperate... Did you know he was voted second sexiest man in Britain?....sexiest man in the world, more like...Sorry, am I diverting?Yes, right, back to the film. Sharpe is such a great character, and Sean Bean does portray him really well. Unlike most British officers of the time, he actually earns his place, and the snobbery against him is hideous. Still, he survives. South Essex my ass. Sounds like Sheffield to me, mate.8 out of 10

Sean Bean and Richard Sharpe are in top form here. The film is gritty, it gives Sharpe some of his classic "I'm going to make soldiers out of you" speeches, the supporting characters among the Riflemen have a lot to do, and there are some fairly hard-hitting, realistic looks at politics, war, and the "Irish Troubles" along the way. Plus Sharpe does not end up bedding every woman in sight, which is a lot closer to the books than some of the other Sharpe films which end up making Sharpe a Napoleonic era James Bond who sleeps with every woman within 1000 miles. The Sharpe films are very variable, and some of them are lot weaker and cheesier than others. This one is one of the good ones.