Risen: Vaincre ou mourir

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.

I was lucky enough to see this film at the premiere in Cardiff and it was brilliant.

The life of Howard Winstone was a hard fought battle and the film portrays this perfectly. The cast deliver fantastic performances.

What makes a difference is that some of the people featured in the story actually appear in the film, working alongside young actors who are playing them. It makes it feel more personal having people who knew Howard taking part in the film.

I'm really looking forward to watching it again when the DVD comes out and everyone should try to see this if they get a chance!

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!