Sharpe: The Legend

Although this made-for-video entry promises an action-packed flick full of romantic intrigue, this garbled "highlights" reel will only be appreciated by fans of Bernard Cornwall's novels or those who have watched the earlier 14 titles (Sharpe's Rifles, Sharpe's Honour, Sharpe's Regiment, Sharpe's Revenge, etc.) from which these sequences are apparently drawn. Here, the glory years of military "legend" Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) are told several years after the Battle of Waterloo by narrator-soldier Rifleman Cooper (Michael Mears), who sits in a London inn spewing utterly incomprehensible tales of his hero between sips of ale. Cooper reminisces about the day Sharpe saved his commander, his struggles to earn respect from the Chosen Men of the 95th Rifles, his many encounters with courageous and beautiful women and his final triumph at Waterloo, but the real battle here is trying to understand what in the heck is going on. Except for Sharpe, it's never clear who the characters are, or where, or the significance of each rock'em sock'em cannonball-filled fight. Not recommended. (A. Glover)