Review of Sharpe´s Company / Sharpe´s Enemy (2 disc set)

Introduction

This is the second volume of Sharpe to be released - the first features Sharpe`s Rifles and Sharpe`s Eagle, and this volume features Sharpe`s Company and Sharpe`s Enemy.

Sean Bean stars as Bernard Cornwell`s Richard Sharpe, a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars during the 19th Century. A great supporting cast includes Brian Cox, Daragh O`Malley, Assumpta Serna, Pete Postlethwaite and Liz Hurley.

In Sharpe`s Company, Sharpe discovers to his horror that his old enemy from India, Obediah Hakeswill (Postlethwaite) has arrived from England, and Sharpe is relieved of his Captaincy.

In Sharpe`s Enemy, Sharpe is again up against Obediah Hakeswill, who has deserted, taking two female hostages with him, in the meantime, the French are preparing a secret invasion.

Video

As with volume one, the video comes in 4:3 full-frame, which is letterboxed at 14:9 giving small black lines at the top and bottom of a standard TV screen, and a headache to those with 16:9 sets without a proper zoom control.

The video itself is of reasonable quality given its TV origins, and is a slight improvement over the previous volume, with slightly more contrast, but still suffering from a washed out look. The image is free from dirt, but is a little grainy, and it still isn`t particularly sharp.

The visuals however are predictably excellent, and in general the quality of production is again well up to movie standard, with superb locations which look very authentic.

Audio

Once again, the soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, which is about as much as you could expect from a made for TV series.

The sound is reproduced very well, with dialogue and sound effects very clear.

The wailing electric guitar used for the soundtrack is also well reproduced by the stereo soundtrack.

Features

Sharpe`s Company and Sharpe`s Enemy contain a photo gallery and production notes.

The discs are packaged in a clear double-Amaray case, which contains details of the chapter breaks and the second token for a bonus DVD if you buy all seven volumes.

Conclusion

Overall, volume two of Sharpe was even better than the first, with the superb cast bolstered by the excellent Pete Postlethwaite in a memorable role. There`s also the bonus of Liz Hurley displaying a characteristic amount of cleavage. Again, the very high production values and interesting stories help Sharpe to succeed on all fronts.

The video and sound are still only average, and this time around the extras are only minimal. However, there are still 200 minutes of top-notch entertainment for £15.99, which represents excellent value.

Recommended.