Sharpe's Battle is in my humble opinion, one of the finest entries in the entire movie series and despite the slight hiccup of Sharpe's Gold, shows the team behind them going from strength to strength. For while the formula of Wellington having a problem, sending to Sharpe to solve it, a beautiful woman getting involved and everything culminating in a massive pitched battle was well and truly in place by now, Sharpe's Battle takes pains to develop its characters further. The finished film, is nothing but satisfying.<br /><br />For one thing, this is one of the most action packed episodes of the lot. The battles are a lot smaller scale than normal and have more of a guerrilla war flavour to them, but they are still as gripping as ever and the fights come fast and frequent. One minute they're engaging in bitter street fighting, ducking and diving from alleyways to doors and back again, snatching off rifle blasts at their darting foes. The next they're defending their fortress from the massed ranks of French infantry, engaging in bloody hand to hand combat as the fires of battlefield immolation roar around them. And while it may be a small point, they're given a subtle veneer of freshness by the absence of the standard red and blue infantrymen uniforms, replaced by the green and white of the palace guards and the fantastic looking French wolf pack with their grey uniforms decorated with wolf fur.<br /><br />What's more, Sharpe's Battle goes some way towards developing the characters beyond their normal roles. Sharpe will of course be familiar to any fan of the series but here, is a tad more weary of the endless fighting and more embittered than usual, the lack of a romantic female lead for him to bed this time around revealing the creative teams willingness to toy with the familiar pattern. Daragh O'Malley meanwhile puts in perhaps his finest turn to date as Sergeant Harper. As per normal, he is a genial and charming man who can put a smiling face on the war, but late in the episode this changes and he is overcome by a berserk rage, but at no point does this feel forced.<br /><br />Best of all though is Jason Durr's performance as Lord Kiely, commander of the Royal Palace guard and a man obsessed with making his name and the name of his regiment go down in military history. Kiely could very easily have been another pompous gentleman for Sharpe to clash with, but while he may fit the bill somewhat, he is far less stereotypical than the likes of Henry Simmerson, the slimy brute from Sharpe's Eagle. Instead, Kiely is a conflicted persona who simultaneously loves and hates his wife, unable to bed with her thanks to a disastrous miscarriage that has stained their relationship. At turns you will loathe him, at others you will sympathise and once or twice its even possible to admire him, Durr putting in a fine job as the tormented man.<br /><br />Elsewhere, we get another tremendously unlikable villain in the form of Brigadier General Loup, a one-eyed, mustachioed French scumball and even Rifleman Perkins getting a much needed boost of characterisation. You also have the Royal guard themselves, men of pride who have to come to terms with the knowledge that they are the laughing stock of the army and as they grow in the art of war, it's hard not to cheer for them. Best of all though, you get another hour and forty minutes of dashing heroism, unchecked violence and daring-do, but with a bit more humanity this time around. Highly recommended.