Risen

This is a movie for wannabe film makers, boxers and residents of Merthyr Tydfil only.

Anyone who makes a feature for £200k over five years deserves some respect but that doesn't extend to watching the full two hours of this effort.

You could forgive much of the poor acting by amateurs and ex boxers but the production quality was dire - especially the sound. Dialogue was inaudible in places (suspect Jones directed actors to mutter in scenes leading up to written lines).

A serious re edit, chopping off half an hour, with a new sound track and something to even out the dodgy video grading might raise it to two stars.

There were a couple a laughs though. I particularly enjoyed the scene in the parents house when they're eating a fish and chip supper and drinking red wine - with orange juice for Howard. This is 1950s Merthyr! They'd never seen red wine and orange juice only came in tiny Britvic bottles to have with vodka in the pub.

BTW not wishing to flame another post but to Colin_Coyne, we must have been at the same Q&A showing 14 July so your review would have more credibility if you had basic facts correct. The film ran two hours but you sign off saying it's 90 mins long, which I guess you cut and pasted from elsewhere.

And to reviewer dipsy-lee54, don't worry despite some misinformation about the budget being $3m, it was made for £200k (according to Jones/Brennan at the Q&A)

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.

Ignore all the reviews written by people who aren't boxers, because only a boxer can tell you just how good the fight scenes were in this movie. But if you're one of those armchair critics that think Sylvester Stallone and Mr T are great boxers, or that Robert DeNiro coulda been a contender, then this film is *not* for you.

On the other hand, if you've actually boxed then you'll gasp at the authenticity of the fight scenes in this movie. You'll even double-take as you realise that one of his opponents is played by Erik Morales (world champion at four different weights)! Yes, this film is flawed here and there, and some of the acting is fairly dismal, but who cares? This is a *boxing* film and the one thing they get 100% right is the ring action.

See this movie, and then see Raging Bull - one is a boxer's film, the other is a Hollywood movie. Both are enjoyable to watch and are great biopics, but only one of them gets passed around on DVD at the boxing club....and it's not Raging Bull

Was invited for a screening of this at the Empire Leics. Sq today. Film started out draggingly slow, but it did not accelerate any quicker either. Honestly, the film makers did their best and the fight scenes although not staged were; should I use the word impressive here?; real enough. Others who have reviewed this keep comparing this to Raging Bull and moaning about the lack of quality, why did you watch it then? This cost £200K to produce, how much did it cost producers of Raging Bull? Life in Wales is not exciting as many would like so if you fancy some high voluting production then do not watch this or compare it to ANY Hollywood or mega bucks production. It took them 5 years from start to finish, running into difficulties, all appreciated, but losing ones fingers can set a person back quite badly, THIS the film fails to concentrate on, but steers towards Howards punishing hope to attain the TITLE. I was fidgeting throughout, trying to eat my way through Jelly Babies but failed! I would still say Go see it but don't expect the Glitz! Enjoy!

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.