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David McK (3222 KP) rated The Last Kingdom - Season 5 in TV
Sep 3, 2023 (Updated Sep 3, 2023)
Based on a 13-run series of novels by UK author Bernard Cornwell (now living in America), The Last Kingdom - both books and series - is set in and around the time of Alfred the Great and his descendants, and follows the exploits of Saxon born but Danish raised Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
Each series of the TV show adopted roughly 2 of the novels so - if memory serves - that means that this series covers the events of 'Warriors of the Storm' and 'War of the Wolf'.
For some reason, however - and unlike the earlier Sharpe series (also based on novels by Cornwell) I struggled to get into this one, taking roughly a year and a bit to watch a 10 episode series.
I'm not sure why, but it just didn't help with me.
Mores the pity.
Each series of the TV show adopted roughly 2 of the novels so - if memory serves - that means that this series covers the events of 'Warriors of the Storm' and 'War of the Wolf'.
For some reason, however - and unlike the earlier Sharpe series (also based on novels by Cornwell) I struggled to get into this one, taking roughly a year and a bit to watch a 10 episode series.
I'm not sure why, but it just didn't help with me.
Mores the pity.
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Enemy (1994) in Movies
Oct 17, 2021 (Updated Oct 17, 2021)
TV movie from 1994, based on the Bernard Cornwell novel of the same name.
This is the one that has Elizabeth Hurley in it (proving she can't act), and that has the second - and last - appearance of Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, alongside the first appearance of the French spymaster Pierre Ducos.
it's also no as polished as the previous entry in the series, with the shocking moment towards the end failing to really hit home, and with the entire thing feeling, maybe, half an hour longer than it needed to be.
This is the one that has Elizabeth Hurley in it (proving she can't act), and that has the second - and last - appearance of Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, alongside the first appearance of the French spymaster Pierre Ducos.
it's also no as polished as the previous entry in the series, with the shocking moment towards the end failing to really hit home, and with the entire thing feeling, maybe, half an hour longer than it needed to be.
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Waterloo (1997) in Movies
Jan 8, 2023 (Updated Jan 8, 2023)
The final part in the original run of TV movies based on the Bernard Cornwell books of the same name (although there was another such book to go at the time - 'Sharpe's Devil'), in which the now-retired Sharpe - alongside Harper, Hagman and Harris - find themselves partaking in the final decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars: that of Waterloo.
As befits such an epic battle, this is an epic retelling of the events of the same (although, as always, liberties are taken and the lack of budget sometimes shows!)
As befits such an epic battle, this is an epic retelling of the events of the same (although, as always, liberties are taken and the lack of budget sometimes shows!)
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Regiment (1196) in Movies
Oct 23, 2022
While there is now something like 23, maybe 24, Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell when this was released there was only roughly half that.
This is the only novel (so far) to be set mainly in England, with Richard Sharpe and Patrick Harper travelling back to London to find the missing recruits from their second battalion - a storyline to which this adaptation sticks remarkably closely.
It's not perfect, of course, with subplots left out or condensed somewhat (and the lack of budget shows), but it is still a good enough watch!
This is the only novel (so far) to be set mainly in England, with Richard Sharpe and Patrick Harper travelling back to London to find the missing recruits from their second battalion - a storyline to which this adaptation sticks remarkably closely.
It's not perfect, of course, with subplots left out or condensed somewhat (and the lack of budget shows), but it is still a good enough watch!
I'm sure if you mentioned the name Bernard Cornwell to most readers, they would immediately think of historical-set 'boys-own' mainly and-based action-adventure novels, which I once read described by one critic as 'men behaving badly, but with incredible brio' (which I had to go and look up what that meant).
So, not a contemporary (at the time of Cornwell's writing) set mystery, then, with a heavy slant towards nautical matters.
Yet that is precisely what this is.
While I can't comment on the accuracy (or otherwise) of the naval segments - other than to say they seemed plausible to this land-lubber - I have to say, I also found this to be rather predictable fare, with it startlingly obvious - at least to me - just who stole the priceless Van Gogh (the McGuffin that provides the drive for the plot) further early on, not long after that character is introduced.
Sorry, Mr Cornwell: not your best effort.
So, not a contemporary (at the time of Cornwell's writing) set mystery, then, with a heavy slant towards nautical matters.
Yet that is precisely what this is.
While I can't comment on the accuracy (or otherwise) of the naval segments - other than to say they seemed plausible to this land-lubber - I have to say, I also found this to be rather predictable fare, with it startlingly obvious - at least to me - just who stole the priceless Van Gogh (the McGuffin that provides the drive for the plot) further early on, not long after that character is introduced.
Sorry, Mr Cornwell: not your best effort.
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Mission (1996) in Movies
Dec 8, 2022
Sharpe's Mission.
This, I believe, is the only Sean Bean led Sharpe made-for-TV movie NOT to be based on a Sharpe novel by Bernard Cornwell, even although it is written well enough that it very well could have been!
As with all of the Sharpe stories, you know pretty much what to expect: Sharpe is sent on a dangerous mission (here, to blow up a French ammunition supply during the closing stages of the Peninsular War), and ends up fighting just as much against those in authority on his own side as against the French ...
This, I believe, is the only Sean Bean led Sharpe made-for-TV movie NOT to be based on a Sharpe novel by Bernard Cornwell, even although it is written well enough that it very well could have been!
As with all of the Sharpe stories, you know pretty much what to expect: Sharpe is sent on a dangerous mission (here, to blow up a French ammunition supply during the closing stages of the Peninsular War), and ends up fighting just as much against those in authority on his own side as against the French ...
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Assassin in Books
Oct 10, 2021
It's been 15 years or so since Bernard Cornwell last returned to perhaps his most famous creation Richard Sharpe, in Sharpe's Fury.
In chronological order, that was then, novel # 11 of 23 (including short stories in that count).
While Cornwell continued on with his 'Saxon Stories / Last Kingdom' series starring Uhtred of Bebbanburg (read those. Enjoyed those), I've always held a soft spot for the soldier-up-from-the-ranks of Richard Sharpe, so I was quite happy to hear that he would be returning to that character.
This is that return, chronologically novel # 23 of 24, taking place almost immediately after the Battle of Waterloo (worth reading Sharpe's Waterloo again - you don't need to, but it gives context). There's no historical battle (for the setting) this time around; instead we have Sharpe getting caught up in/foil an a plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington - who, here, seems to have mellowed somewhat towards Sharpe - and the returning King Louis XVIII, with a large portion of the novel set in and around the environs of Paris (in particular The Louvre).
Good to have Sharpe and Harper back together!
In chronological order, that was then, novel # 11 of 23 (including short stories in that count).
While Cornwell continued on with his 'Saxon Stories / Last Kingdom' series starring Uhtred of Bebbanburg (read those. Enjoyed those), I've always held a soft spot for the soldier-up-from-the-ranks of Richard Sharpe, so I was quite happy to hear that he would be returning to that character.
This is that return, chronologically novel # 23 of 24, taking place almost immediately after the Battle of Waterloo (worth reading Sharpe's Waterloo again - you don't need to, but it gives context). There's no historical battle (for the setting) this time around; instead we have Sharpe getting caught up in/foil an a plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington - who, here, seems to have mellowed somewhat towards Sharpe - and the returning King Louis XVIII, with a large portion of the novel set in and around the environs of Paris (in particular The Louvre).
Good to have Sharpe and Harper back together!
David McK (3222 KP) rated Honour and the Sword in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Presented as a series of transcripted interviews and extracts from memoirs or diaries rather than as a straight narrated story, and set in France during the time of the 30 years war (so, roughly the same timeas 'The Three Musketeers'), I can see why this novel has been described as a mix of Alexandre Dumas and Bernard Cornwell.
An enjoyable enough read, but not really a pick-up-and-read type of book: this one, I found, could be quite heavy going at times, mainly as it does require some serious commitment instead of my usual 10 minutes here, 1/2 an hour there (which meant, that by the time I was beginning to get back into it, it was time to put it down again!) ...
An enjoyable enough read, but not really a pick-up-and-read type of book: this one, I found, could be quite heavy going at times, mainly as it does require some serious commitment instead of my usual 10 minutes here, 1/2 an hour there (which meant, that by the time I was beginning to get back into it, it was time to put it down again!) ...
David McK (3222 KP) rated The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2022) in Movies
Sep 3, 2023 (Updated Sep 3, 2023)
There was 13 novels in the full Bernard Cornwell series of the same name.
5 TV series.
Each adopting roughly 2 novels.
So that meant there was 3 left unadapted when said series was cancelled ('The Flame Bearer', 'Sword of Kings' and 'War Lord'), with Netflix instead developing a movie instead of series to finish off the story.
Which, I have to say, does feel a bit rushed, with some noticeable absences (not even mentioned in passing) and, whilst watching, and with what seems a rushed finale.
I also have to say that Uhtred, here, still looks a lot younger than he was portrayed in the novels (especially by this point) and I don't remember *that* ending happening, either!
5 TV series.
Each adopting roughly 2 novels.
So that meant there was 3 left unadapted when said series was cancelled ('The Flame Bearer', 'Sword of Kings' and 'War Lord'), with Netflix instead developing a movie instead of series to finish off the story.
Which, I have to say, does feel a bit rushed, with some noticeable absences (not even mentioned in passing) and, whilst watching, and with what seems a rushed finale.
I also have to say that Uhtred, here, still looks a lot younger than he was portrayed in the novels (especially by this point) and I don't remember *that* ending happening, either!
David McK (3222 KP) rated Pirate Latitudes in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Michael Crichton's last full work, and in a move unusual for an author best known for techno-thrillers, this novel is actually a historical adventure.
Although it is not the first time he has dabbled in the genre (see also The Great Train Robbery and Eaters of the Dead), I felt that his relative lack of experience of said genre showed: one needs only compare this to a work by Bernard Cornwell, for instance.
I suppose It is possible that the novel was finished but not completed, if you know what I mean, and I also got the feeling that he was trying to jump on the Pirates of the Caribbean (albeit without the magic!) bandwagon with this novel, also set in the Caribbean during the time of Charles II
Although it is not the first time he has dabbled in the genre (see also The Great Train Robbery and Eaters of the Dead), I felt that his relative lack of experience of said genre showed: one needs only compare this to a work by Bernard Cornwell, for instance.
I suppose It is possible that the novel was finished but not completed, if you know what I mean, and I also got the feeling that he was trying to jump on the Pirates of the Caribbean (albeit without the magic!) bandwagon with this novel, also set in the Caribbean during the time of Charles II