Sean Bean returns as Napoleonic war hero Major Richard Sharpe and Sharpe's Battle opens with Sharpe and his Chosen Men liberating a tiny Spanish town that has been sacked by the French under the command of General Loup. When Sharpe discovers that many women children and indeed babies have been massacred under the Frenchman's orders, he is outraged and promptly executes without trial the two French soldiers they have caught, making an enemy of Loup who now vows a bitter revenge.When Sharpe returns to camp however, is told he has been made strategic adviser to Lord Keily, and has been ordered to whip his men 'The Royal Irish Company' into an effective and loyal company of fighting men. This is made more difficult however as articles in the American press that are being unusually and freely distributed amongst the ranks, speak of British atrocities in Ireland, making Sharpe's new company an angry and embittered group of men.Also making Sharpe's life a misery is the inexperienced and arrogant Lord Keily himself, who's attitude towards Sharpe and his own men, plus his open affair with a sensual female guerrilla fighter by the name of Juanita, pushes Sharpe to the brink of his patience especially as this affair is embarrassing, and emotionally crippling the beautiful and busty Lady Keily who is also in camp.However when Lord Kiely learns that his wife is pregnant and that Jaunita is actually a French spy in the pay of General Loup, he quickly reorganises his loyalties and tries to rally his men back into order, but thanks to the lies regarding the British atrocities (spread by Juanita of course) many of them are now secretly working for the French against the British and are ready to turn on Sharpe in the heat of Battle, and help Loup organise the kidnap of Lady Keily.With his friend's now his secret enemy, Sharpe and is Chosen Men are lured into a fight to the death against an enemy both seen and unseen.When the Irish reveal themselves as turncoats during mid battle however, it results in the tragic death of Rifleman Perkin's the youngest of Sharpe's chosen men, resulting in the remainder of the crack Rifle company going completely berserk killing off all the traitorous scum, this coupled with the inevitable rescue of Lady Keily and the final showdown between Major Sharpe and General Loup make this truly great swashbuckling stuff.Great support as usual from Daragh O'Malley and Hugh Fraser and stolid performances from the lovely Allie Byrne as Lady Keilly, and the sensual Siri Neal as Juanita.

Totally good episode in the Sharpe series! Entertaining to the last minute! But like Sharpe's gold this episode doesn't really fit in the main storyline (the war against Napoleon)! Although Sharpe fights against the french (under command of Lupe) it is not really a mission part of Lord Wellingtons big scheme!*spoiler* The heroic death of Perkins was a surprise and it was good to see Harper and the other chosen men cry! He and Sharpe really cared about their chosen men! I say this because I missed the tears and drama about Sharpe's faked death (they thought he was dead)in Sharpe's Honour! I guess they didn't want do overdo it,it is war and everything! Soldiers should be able to control their emotions!The action was superb! Although the battle was not a big one it was great to watch Sharpe and his men fighting again like soldiers did in those times! I read some reviews and came across one of comparing this episode to a bad B movie! If you saw this as a stand alone movie than it is not really clear of who Sharpe is and what he does! But I think you have to see this as part of a series,at least you have to seen enough episodes to know the background of the story otherwise much will not make sense!

Lots of (sometimes incoherent) plot, modest characterization, indifferent acting, stilted dialogue -- at no time does this appear vaguely realistic. Basically a 50s 'B' adventure movie: colorful uniforms, fighting but little gore or agony, melodrama, and characters whose words strangely mismatch their deeds (Spoiler:Sharpe calls Loup a murderer just before Sharpe has enemy soldiers killed in cold blood). What came to mind as I watched was that the director was on budget and the writer had a bad drug or alcohol problem, On the other hand, I spent much of my childhood watching TV shows no better than this. My wife and son walked out, as the plot twists and turns weren't interesting enough to make up for the speeches and cheesy action.

Sean Bean and Richard Sharpe are in top form here. The film is gritty, it gives Sharpe some of his classic "I'm going to make soldiers out of you" speeches, the supporting characters among the Riflemen have a lot to do, and there are some fairly hard-hitting, realistic looks at politics, war, and the "Irish Troubles" along the way. Plus Sharpe does not end up bedding every woman in sight, which is a lot closer to the books than some of the other Sharpe films which end up making Sharpe a Napoleonic era James Bond who sleeps with every woman within 1000 miles. The Sharpe films are very variable, and some of them are lot weaker and cheesier than others. This one is one of the good ones.