djhscan I love the books, although it was the films that I first discovered. The films are still great stories, but I think there are too many discrepancies compared to the books. Sean Bean is excellent as Richard Sharpe, but some of the other characters don't match the description in the books. Teresa did not even appear in this book and she was not the leader of Spanish resistance when Sharpe first met her. She was 11 years younger than him, not 2 years older as between the actors. The Spanish Major was the same age as Sharpe, not his Father's age. They have mixed at least two of the books together here, which is a shame as each book is great and has a story to tell. Otherwise it is a fun and entertaining war/adventure story.

perrycommodore This is one of the best series I have watched, Sean Bean is excellent, as well as the gal in the beginning, Darragh is great also, fine acting, I wish there were more series like this made in the USA. I didn't realize the guy singing was the actor also, I love the theme song it stays with you. I like the history, I don't mind if its not completely accurate. I don't think anyone else could have played this part, it was made for Sean Bean. Some of the actors I have seen at present on TV or in movies, older now but still fine actors. Sean Bean is in HBO's Game of Thrones, good series, I may just have to subscribe to HBO again to watch the 2nd series.

Blueghost When I first saw the "Sharpe's Rifles" series here in the United States on Public Broadcasting I was very much enamored with it. A few years later the series became available on VHS, but I didn't want to spend all that money on a format that I knew was going to be phased out in a few years.Ho boy, how I wish I had.I just recently purchased the Region 1 NTSC five-episode DVD set for North America, and I have to say that I've rarely come across a poorer video transfer than has been done by BFS Entertainment.BFS Entertainment somehow managed to wrangle an exclusive license for the United States and Canada for the video distribution rights to this series, and, as usual, we the customers are paying for a lack of quality control on behalf of the producer's and owners of the property.BFS Entertainment's other claim to fame was their DVD release of another British mini series drama entitled "Flambards." And, given the extremely poor video transfer I saw of that series my heart sank when I saw BFS's logo and public domain music scroll across my TV screen.In short the few five episodes that have been released for North America have a grainy image due to poor video compression, bleed color (if you can believe that from optical media), and have equally poor sound quality to match the video.If you must purchase this magnificent series on video then try to find an old VHS from PBS/Mobile Masterpiece Theatre, or invest in a region 2 DVD player and buy the series from an online store in England.Don't waste your money on the BFS release.*EDIT* I bought a set of Region 2 DVDs from the UK, and they are superior in every way to the US Region 1 release.

katiepoppycat **SPOILER**As a fan of the books, I'd never actually seen the tv films until very recently. I wasn't disappointed. Sean Bean excels as the maverick Richard Sharpe, and there are some sterling supporting performances - my favourite being Hogan. In the light of LOTR and others, the battles probably don't seem as spectacular as they once may have done, but this doesn't detract from the action at all. The adaptation has been sensitively done, although Wellesley's promotion of Sharpe is a little spurious. Teresa is feisty and sexy, Harper is just as he should be, and Hagman is exactly as I imagined him to be in the book.My only criticism is that whoever was responsible for the scoring of this film deserves to be garrotted with the strings from their electric guitar. Historical dramas should not date, but that music certainly does. Nonetheless, tons of fun!