Risen

Tonight I finally got to view "Risen", courtesy of director Neil Jones.

Having already played to a 5-minute standing ovation at the WBC Night Of Champions at Cardiff Arena & with me not exactly being a "target" audience, this must have been somewhat of a come-down for him.

I'm glad to report that "Risen" belies it's 2-hour runtime, moving carefully, but never ponderously, through the life story of Welsh boxing legend Howard Winstone.

A terrific leading performance from Stuart Brennan, at many times absolutely heart-rending, & a solid supporting cast with sly cameos by real boxing stars.

Convincing, wince-inducing fight scenes & an authentic period feel that conquers its budget as good film-making should, this is an obvious labour of love for Jones, a true gem that deserves your time.

Thank you Neil.

I saw this film from rental and I must say that I was looking forward to it. Critic reviews have been very poor for this but sometimes they get things wrong. Sadly not in the case of Risen. The sound of this film is absolutely inaudible which is baffling as money has clearly been spent (with John Noble in the cast) but why not use even a small amount of time recording clear voices which is essential in making films. Neil Jones is clearly lacking any sense of style (or talent) in his direction. The acting is very weak and holds back the viewer from emotional involvement of any kind. The fighting scenes are lacking any sense of realism, except for a very good use of a head-cam which looks great but is still not enough to hide the shambles which is everything else in this film. Howard Winstone is a legend in Wales and this story just doesn't get to grips with anything that approaches interesting yet alone exciting (isn't that what Boxing movies should be?) This quote about it being better than Raging Bull is clearly a fabrication. Be warned this is obviously a paid comment of some kind, notice that a person isn't credited with the quote but rather an unknown Film Festival. I really wanted to like this film due to some knowledge of the great Mr Winstone, but I feel the director felt a need to appease the family rather than seek out the truth to this story. Bad form director! Maybe someone else can do justice to this great man.

Unless you're a die hard boxing fan who must watch any film that includes a boxing glove and a ring, then you can certainly afford to miss this. I was drawn to this film by a Welsh friend who told me that he'd heard it was supposed to be better than Raging Bull - my all time favorite film... I looked on IMDb and apparently this had a 3 million pound budget... after watching it I was left feeling hugely disappointed.

What did they spend £3m on? Shane Richie? The budget sounds made up. The poster with the review from 'New Jersey Film Festival' about it being better than Raging Bull sounds made up.. the cover art of a boxer stood in front of a packed stadium is made up, even 4 of the 5 reviews of this film sounds made up by someone who worked on this film. So much praise for this film is hugely suspicious.

If I hadn't just seen it, I'd think the film was made up.

If I was the director I would not focus on trying to make out that this is the greatest boxing film ever - see it's flaws, learn from it and make something better next time- please.

Really enjoyed this film, high praise to the young Director. I thought the script was fantastic and it had a strong heartfelt storyline. It was great to see a boxing film that appealed to a much wider audience. Acting is second to none. Nice to see a mix of more established actors with some fresh young talent, i thought the casting was very well thought out. It was a blessing to know that the story of Howard Winstone had been researched so well and involved many of his friends and family. It was a very interesting storyline which wasn't ruined by being wrapped up in cotton wool. Strong photography throughout. Would recommend! :o)

I recently saw this film and I must say I do not share the views of the other reviewers. The acting was consistently bad (with many a pause for actors to remember their lines or when they are supposed to come in) and the writers somehow managed to make real life (interesting) characters boring and one dimensional. I understand a lot of work went into the boxing training for this film and although the final scene's fight did look particularly realistic, I find the Jersey film festival's notion of the boxing scenes surpassing Raging Bull ridiculous. Perhaps they had not actually seen that infinitely superior film, that or they were under the influence of god knows what during the review process.

If you want to see a great boxing movie see Million Dollar Baby or Cinderella Man, or heck even Rocky IV - Stallone's mumbled delivery will seem like Shakespeare when compared to this horrendous waste of a budget.