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Sharpe's Trafalgar? Devil? Leipzig? There are possibilities...

posted 18 years ago by attentionspike
8 replies | jump to latest

There are a few gaps in the full Sharpe storyline that could be made into good movies and even better books.

For example, Sharpe's Devil. I'd like to see Sharpe and Harper standing in the presence of the Ogre of Europe.

Sharpe at Trafalgar? The one thing I found off in 'Sharpe's Challenge' was Sean Bean playing Sharpe in 1803 and 1817 and not aging a day. They can cast a younger actor to play Sharpe at Trafalgar...

..and what about Flanders? I briefly remember the books referencing Sharpe's service in Flanders, I think, before India. An actor around the age of Daniel Radcliffe can play Sharpe in his youth, even giving a glimpse at Sharpe when he was a rascal on the streets of London, and fleeing the law to join the Army.

And perhaps, last but not least, Sharpe's Retirement. For God's sakes, he's fought in more battles and one of the most costliest wars in Europe for 20 plus years. Let him finally hang up the Baker rifle over his fireplace and enjoy his remaining years in peace.

(another gripe about 'Challenge': Lucille bore Sharpe 2 children.)

[–] emlinthegremlin 17 years ago

I would definately be interested in Sharpe's early years before India as a book, that said it is mentioned quite a lot in a vaugue sort, general sort of way.

The problem with casting another actor to play a younger Sharpe is all the comparisons that would be made between them and the fans would probably be grumpy as they usually are when something like that changes (and Sean Bean does such a great job).

[–] ctjk-1 17 years ago

a bit like the young indy jones, that would be a good series on its own! Bernard could start writing some new books to predate the books he wrote to predate the original books!

I think Devil should have already been made, I dont know why they left that in favour of India for challenge. but surely it would have been better getting Napoleon out the way before going off to India?

[–] gregoryland8 17 years ago

Rubbish!

that would be awful ! no Bean is sharpe no other actor should be even concidered and Cornwall writes the stories with sean bean in mind as sharpe , he wouldnt even bother writing them for another actor to be the role of sharpe , im a huge sharpe fan but i would hate to see someone else play the part, and Flanders would be terrieble its described as a 5 minute battle , redcoats fire 3 vollys the enemy breaks and sharpes seargent ( not harper) gets hit and says " wow you can hang a hat on that " noticing you can see his ribs.
Prey however would be cool

[–] ctjk-1 17 years ago

Yeah Bernard does write the books with Sean in mind, but you have got to remember that before Paul Mcgann and Sean Bean were options to play sharpe in the series Richard Sharpe was a londoner, with dark hair. not a yorkshire man with blonde/brown hair or a scouser!

I agree that Sean Bean is amazing as Sharpe, but it would be awkward to try and convince someone that he is years younger than on his first screen appearance in Rifles

[–] stevejames6 17 years ago

I hope it comes back soon! Sean Bean isn't getting any younger!

[–] dangerous_ideaz 16 years ago

I really enjoyed the Sharpe book about the bombardment of Copenhagen. And that was an historical event I hadn't known about. That might be a good one to make into a film

One problem the filmmakers have is deciding if they want to jump around chronologically or not. In Challenge, they took Sharpe's early adventures in India and transformed them into one of his post-Waterloo adventures. It's hard to do that with the Denmark, Portugal, and Trafalgar books that haven't been adapted yet

DILLIGAF

[–] nik-pkv 15 years ago

I agree, next sharpe film should be titled "Sharpes Duel" and have Sharpe put down his baker rifle in favour of a banjo with which he duels Simmerson for a pint of stout and half a yorkshire pudding. It would be jam packed with Action, Romance and sloppy yorkshire slang.

[–] goofyfoot-1 14 years ago

The problem with Sharpe at Trafalgar is a dearth of Ships of the Line. I can't imagine the bean counters springing for even a couple of those beauties. One could get some use of HMS Victory, but not with Portsmouth Naval Station as a backdrop. That was the problem with Gruffudd's Hornblower series.......HMS Indefatigable was a razee, not some two-bit 6th-rate as depicted in the series.