Review of Sharpe´s Regiment / Sharpe´s Siege (2 disc set)

Introduction

This is the fifth volume of Sharpe to be released - the first features Sharpe`s Rifles and Sharpe`s Eagle, and the second volume features Sharpe`s Company and Sharpe`s Enemy, the third volume features Sharpe`s Honour and Sharpe`s Gold, the forth volume features Sharpe`s Battle and Sharpe`s Sword and this volume features Sharpe`s Regiment and Sharpe`s Siege.

Sean Bean once again stars as Bernard Cornwell`s Richard Sharpe, a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars during the 19th Century. The supporting cast includes Daragh O`Malley, Hugh Fraser, James Laurenson and Nicholas Farrell.

In Sharpe`s Regiment, Sharpe travels to England to find out why the South Essex battalion is to be disbanded.

In Sharpe`s Siege, whilst he is in France on a mission, Sharpe`s wife contracts a deadly fever - he stays to fight for his country despite the possibility that he may not see her again.

Video

As with volumes one, two, three and four, 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, which will resulting in a headache for those with 16:9 sets without a proper zoom control!

The video itself is of reasonable quality given its TV origins, but like the previous volumes, still suffers from a lack of contrast and looks a bit washed out and over-exposed. The image is free from dirt, but is still a bit grainy - and it still isn`t particularly sharp or detailed.

The visuals however are predictably excellent, and in general the quality of production is predictably up to movie standards, with excellent 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, although obviously a full 5.1 remix would have really helped the atmosphere in the battle scenes.

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

Features

As per the previous volume, both discs contain a photo gallery and production notes, neither of which are very exciting.

The discs are packaged in a clear double-Amaray case, which contains details of the chapter breaks and the fifth token for a bonus DVD if you buy all seven volumes (but remember that you`ll also require your till receipts to claim it!).

Conclusion

Overall, volume five of Sharpe maintains the excellent entertainment of the first three, with the very high production values and interesting stories helping Sharpe remain a very watchable series.

The video and sound are still only average, and the extras are only minimal, but again there is over 200 minutes of top-notch entertainment for £15.99, which represents excellent value for money.

Recommended.