Review of Sharpe´s Mission / Sharpe´s Revenge (2 Discs)

Introduction

This is the sixth 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 fourth volume features Sharpe`s Battle and Sharpe`s Sword, the fifth features Sharpe`s Regiment and Sharpe`s Siege and this volume features Sharpe`s Mission and Sharpe`s Revenge.

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 and James Laurenson.

In Sharpe`s Mission, Sharpe is on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines and discovers that the French are not his only enemy.

In Sharpe`s Revenge, Sharpe is accused of theft and abandoned by his family and the British army - he has to fight for himself.

Video

As with volumes one, two, three, four and five 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, resulting in a slight irritation for those with 16:9 sets without a proper zoom control!

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

The visuals however are, as ever, predictably excellent, and in general the quality of production is 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 sixth 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 six of Sharpe maintains the high standards of the first five, with very high production values and interesting stories helping Sharpe remain a very watchable series.

Both of the feature length episodes on this disc are very entertaining, superbly made and very well acted. The storylines are interesting, and provide for plenty of drama and action along the way.

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

Recommended.