Most movies bomb nowadays because nobody pays money to see them.
But quality is another thing.
Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
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catalin714
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hitman_hatton1
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
looking forward to this.
despite that slightly iffy trailer.
naz just needs to do an autobiography now.
despite that slightly iffy trailer.
naz just needs to do an autobiography now.
Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I dont really go to the movies anymore, nothing more annoying than paying and being close to someone on their phones or hear talking. This movie will probably be out on the fire stick next month.catalin714 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2025, 16:49 Most movies bomb nowadays because nobody pays money to see them.
But quality is another thing.
Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Just back. Really enjoyed it and was pretty accurate with history as I remember it. The actor who played adult Naz did a good job, and the scenes of young Naz in working mens clubs capture the time well. Hope if does well, the screening we were in was busy but it was free!
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mickey1975
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Some WMC's are exactly the same as they were in Hamed's days!veriton wrote: ↑05 Jan 2026, 16:38 Just back. Really enjoyed it and was pretty accurate with history as I remember it. The actor who played adult Naz did a good job, and the scenes of young Naz in working mens clubs capture the time well. Hope if does well, the screening we were in was busy but it was free!
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Flashing Blade
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I saw this last night. Worth watching.
Good
I thought the storytelling was even handed- considering the Ingle family are all over the credits.
The two main actors are great.
Doesn’t shy away from the racism that Naz and others faced and had to deal with.
Not so good
Some characters- especially allegedly and Riath Hamed- are cartoon versions with no depth.
There is no real emotional journey. A good sports film- whether it’s Rocky or Escape to Victory- has a moment that has you excited or welling up. This is an efficient recount of the Naz/Brendan story with no real pull on the heartstrings moments.
The legendary Brendan seeing Naz in the playground is ruined for South Yorkshire people as he is on a green metro bus. In early 80s Sheffield- he would of course have been on a cream coloured SY bus.
All in all- I enjoyed it. I think the first half is better and - like Naz’s career- it starts plodding when the central relationship splits
Good
I thought the storytelling was even handed- considering the Ingle family are all over the credits.
The two main actors are great.
Doesn’t shy away from the racism that Naz and others faced and had to deal with.
Not so good
Some characters- especially allegedly and Riath Hamed- are cartoon versions with no depth.
There is no real emotional journey. A good sports film- whether it’s Rocky or Escape to Victory- has a moment that has you excited or welling up. This is an efficient recount of the Naz/Brendan story with no real pull on the heartstrings moments.
The legendary Brendan seeing Naz in the playground is ruined for South Yorkshire people as he is on a green metro bus. In early 80s Sheffield- he would of course have been on a cream coloured SY bus.
All in all- I enjoyed it. I think the first half is better and - like Naz’s career- it starts plodding when the central relationship splits
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mickey1975
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
During the interviews today and footage of the premiere Naz has come across as very humble.
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Frostieballs
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Well Naz, in true Naz form, has broken cover and blown up the publicity tour for the film by saying what he really thinks!
He is on talkSPORT now (and is for the next 15 minutes if you want to tune in). So far he has has said:-
- He had nothing to do with the film, was brought in at the last moment for publicity purposes
- Most of it is inaccurate and that the Director has admitted to him that the only bought the rights to the book so they could make the film (and didn't base the film on the book)
- He is not happy with how his relationship with Brendan was portrayed
- He wishes the final scene were true, but isn't
- Sylvester Stallone wasn't involved in the film, despite being listed as an executive producer
The most eye opening quotes, however, were about Brendan. Paraphrased:
'His intention was just money. He was obsessed with it. At 11 years of age he made me promise that if I earned £40 million I would give him £10 million. That shows you the intention of the man."
On first reflection the producers might regret getting him involved. However, maybe it will get even more people to go and watch it.
Got to feel for Dominic and John a bit (and the other brother whose name escapes me).
He is on talkSPORT now (and is for the next 15 minutes if you want to tune in). So far he has has said:-
- He had nothing to do with the film, was brought in at the last moment for publicity purposes
- Most of it is inaccurate and that the Director has admitted to him that the only bought the rights to the book so they could make the film (and didn't base the film on the book)
- He is not happy with how his relationship with Brendan was portrayed
- He wishes the final scene were true, but isn't
- Sylvester Stallone wasn't involved in the film, despite being listed as an executive producer
The most eye opening quotes, however, were about Brendan. Paraphrased:
'His intention was just money. He was obsessed with it. At 11 years of age he made me promise that if I earned £40 million I would give him £10 million. That shows you the intention of the man."
On first reflection the producers might regret getting him involved. However, maybe it will get even more people to go and watch it.
Got to feel for Dominic and John a bit (and the other brother whose name escapes me).
Last edited by Frostieballs on 08 Jan 2026, 19:11, edited 1 time in total.
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JamesPhilips
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I think Brendan did rip off NaseemFrostieballs wrote: ↑08 Jan 2026, 13:01 Well Naz, in true Naz form, has broken cover and blown up the publicity tour for the film by saying what he really thinks!
He is on talkSPORT now (and is for the next 15 minutes if you want to tune in). So far he has has said:-
- He had nothing to do with the film, was brought in at the last moment for publicity purposes
- Most of it is inaccurate and that the Director has admitted to him that the only bought the rights to the book so they could make the film (and didn't base the film on the book)
- He is not happy with how his relationship with Brendan was portrayed
- He wishes the final scene were true, but isn't
- Sylvester Stallone wasn't involved in the film, despite being listed as an executive producer
The most eye opening quotes, however, were about Brendan. Paraphrased:
'His intention was just money. He was obsessed with it. At 11 years of age he made me promise that if I earned £40 million I would give him £10 million. That shows you the intention of the man."
On first reflection the producers might regret getting him involved. However, maybe it will get even more people to go and watch it.
Got to feel for Brendan and John a bit (and the other brother who's name escapes me).
Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I came out of it with more sympathy for Naz, maybe Brendan was focused on the money but he'd got a once in a generational talent on his hands and had been burned before. But the sad fact is they could have all just got rich together.
No doubt Brendan gave Naz the style to be as appealing as he was, but the mouth and the power would have been there regardless.
I was pleased the film replicated some of his best punches so accurately. The only bit that was missing was Barrera slamming him into the ring post.
No doubt Brendan gave Naz the style to be as appealing as he was, but the mouth and the power would have been there regardless.
I was pleased the film replicated some of his best punches so accurately. The only bit that was missing was Barrera slamming him into the ring post.
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Ruthless-RKO
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Pierce Brosnan, Prince Naz and the embrace that never happened
An imagined moment gave Prince Naseem Hamed the vision of what reality could have been.
The reconciliation with Brendan Ingle which never occurred is a pivotal part of Giant, the biopic about the pair.
A regret the former world champion has learned to live with is that he never got the chance to make peace in person with his trainer and mentor.
"I always wanted that to happen," Hamed, now 51, told BBC Sport.
"But to see it unfold in front of me like it could have happened... I actually said to the director and the producer: 'I only wish that that last scene was really true, because I would have wanted that'.
"Because I was with him for like 18 years."
Giant, the new film starring Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry, retells the coach and fighter's relationship. The story charts Hamed's rise from a seven-year-old growing up in Sheffield to a multi-millionaire global superstar under Ingle's guidance.
The movie, released in UK cinemas on 9 January, delves into how Hamed became a world featherweight champion by 21 and then the fallout with the Ireland-born coach later on.
Their relationship became strained as Hamed and his family grew irritated by the trainer's agreed 25% cut of his fight purses as they started to become big numbers.
Then a 1998 book, The Paddy and The Prince, written by Nick Pitt, completely soured the relationship. They split not long after Hamed's win over Wayne McCullough in the same year. It was a bitter parting.
As years passed and Hamed's career finished, he tried "many times" to reconnect with Ingle but the legendary trainer did not want to meet.
In 2018, Ingle died aged 77 and Hamed never got the chance to make amends. He could only deliver a public tribute to the man who had helped him reach the top of the world.
"He didn't want to have that final kind of meeting and to have to clear the air with it," Hamed said.
"If I was to say to you that there's no regret and I don't care, I'd be lying. Because I've got a heart and I felt like I started at the age of seven with him.
"He laid down the fundamentals and he taught me stuff from a very young age that I can never just not include - I can't say it was on my own and it was just a God-given talent.
"I have to mention him in a good way, not because I have to, because I want to."
Embrace of deep sincerity and lament of life - Brosnan
Ireland-born Brosnan stars as Ingle in the film, written and directed by Yorkshireman Rowan Athale. The Hollywood A-lister says that he wished his own meeting with Hamed this week, in the lead-up to the release, could have been a reunion with Ingle instead.
"[The meeting] had an emotional wallow in the sense that it would have been wonderful if it had been Brendan embracing Naz," said Brosnan, 72.
"The embrace had a heartbeat of deep sincerity and that kind of lament of life.
"Things that should have been and could have been. And that's the glory of this film. That's what makes the film so poignant and it's more than a boxing story.
"It's a father, son, how to be a man, a love story, promises made, promises broken. And all that's not given is lost, really."
Brosnan, born in Drogheda, was raised in the Irish town of Navan before he became a star actor, going on to play James Bond.
He met Ingle once, when he was in the dressing room on the night Hamed beat Kevin Kelley in Madison Square Garden in 1997.
El-Masry, who plays Hamed, lost eight kilos for the role and "religiously" studied the mannerisms of the flamboyant fighter.
Both men used a dialect coach, with Brosnan tasked with mastering Ingle's Irish accent, mixed in with a Sheffield twang.
El-Masry said the scene when they imagine the pair reconciling was the moment in the script he knew the movie was one for him.
"That's what it needed for sure. We wanted to see [it] in real life happen," said the 35-year-old actor, who was raised in London.
Ingle gym was 'one big happy family'
Hamed had no input into the film's making but is delighted a movie has been made about him. Brendan's sons, Dominic and John, were involved and are happy with how the film portrays their father.
While telling Hamed's story, it also documents Ingle's own journey. Born in Dublin, he moved to Sheffield and opened a boxing gym in an old church hall in the Wincobank area of the city.
There he would coach world champions Hamed, Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter and Kell Brook but it was a gym open to anyone from any part of society of any level.
And it became famous for Ingle's unconventional training methods which allowed his boxers to become flamboyant and cocksure with fancy footwork.
Brosnan and El-Masry agreed Ingle provided a "safe space" for his fighters.
"Brendan would say his own words, 'liquorice allsorts'," added Hamed, born to Yemeni parents.
"All different backgrounds, all different races, it was just a melting pot.
"He always would say that the barriers are always down, they're not up.
"We was all one big happy family in that gym and that was because of him. In that gym, I can honestly say to you, there was never ever a sense or a feeling of racism."
Brosnan added: "[Ingle] gave of his life and his energy and passion to the young men in his community there in Sheffield."
An imagined moment gave Prince Naseem Hamed the vision of what reality could have been.
The reconciliation with Brendan Ingle which never occurred is a pivotal part of Giant, the biopic about the pair.
A regret the former world champion has learned to live with is that he never got the chance to make peace in person with his trainer and mentor.
"I always wanted that to happen," Hamed, now 51, told BBC Sport.
"But to see it unfold in front of me like it could have happened... I actually said to the director and the producer: 'I only wish that that last scene was really true, because I would have wanted that'.
"Because I was with him for like 18 years."
Giant, the new film starring Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry, retells the coach and fighter's relationship. The story charts Hamed's rise from a seven-year-old growing up in Sheffield to a multi-millionaire global superstar under Ingle's guidance.
The movie, released in UK cinemas on 9 January, delves into how Hamed became a world featherweight champion by 21 and then the fallout with the Ireland-born coach later on.
Their relationship became strained as Hamed and his family grew irritated by the trainer's agreed 25% cut of his fight purses as they started to become big numbers.
Then a 1998 book, The Paddy and The Prince, written by Nick Pitt, completely soured the relationship. They split not long after Hamed's win over Wayne McCullough in the same year. It was a bitter parting.
As years passed and Hamed's career finished, he tried "many times" to reconnect with Ingle but the legendary trainer did not want to meet.
In 2018, Ingle died aged 77 and Hamed never got the chance to make amends. He could only deliver a public tribute to the man who had helped him reach the top of the world.
"He didn't want to have that final kind of meeting and to have to clear the air with it," Hamed said.
"If I was to say to you that there's no regret and I don't care, I'd be lying. Because I've got a heart and I felt like I started at the age of seven with him.
"He laid down the fundamentals and he taught me stuff from a very young age that I can never just not include - I can't say it was on my own and it was just a God-given talent.
"I have to mention him in a good way, not because I have to, because I want to."
Embrace of deep sincerity and lament of life - Brosnan
Ireland-born Brosnan stars as Ingle in the film, written and directed by Yorkshireman Rowan Athale. The Hollywood A-lister says that he wished his own meeting with Hamed this week, in the lead-up to the release, could have been a reunion with Ingle instead.
"[The meeting] had an emotional wallow in the sense that it would have been wonderful if it had been Brendan embracing Naz," said Brosnan, 72.
"The embrace had a heartbeat of deep sincerity and that kind of lament of life.
"Things that should have been and could have been. And that's the glory of this film. That's what makes the film so poignant and it's more than a boxing story.
"It's a father, son, how to be a man, a love story, promises made, promises broken. And all that's not given is lost, really."
Brosnan, born in Drogheda, was raised in the Irish town of Navan before he became a star actor, going on to play James Bond.
He met Ingle once, when he was in the dressing room on the night Hamed beat Kevin Kelley in Madison Square Garden in 1997.
El-Masry, who plays Hamed, lost eight kilos for the role and "religiously" studied the mannerisms of the flamboyant fighter.
Both men used a dialect coach, with Brosnan tasked with mastering Ingle's Irish accent, mixed in with a Sheffield twang.
El-Masry said the scene when they imagine the pair reconciling was the moment in the script he knew the movie was one for him.
"That's what it needed for sure. We wanted to see [it] in real life happen," said the 35-year-old actor, who was raised in London.
Ingle gym was 'one big happy family'
Hamed had no input into the film's making but is delighted a movie has been made about him. Brendan's sons, Dominic and John, were involved and are happy with how the film portrays their father.
While telling Hamed's story, it also documents Ingle's own journey. Born in Dublin, he moved to Sheffield and opened a boxing gym in an old church hall in the Wincobank area of the city.
There he would coach world champions Hamed, Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter and Kell Brook but it was a gym open to anyone from any part of society of any level.
And it became famous for Ingle's unconventional training methods which allowed his boxers to become flamboyant and cocksure with fancy footwork.
Brosnan and El-Masry agreed Ingle provided a "safe space" for his fighters.
"Brendan would say his own words, 'liquorice allsorts'," added Hamed, born to Yemeni parents.
"All different backgrounds, all different races, it was just a melting pot.
"He always would say that the barriers are always down, they're not up.
"We was all one big happy family in that gym and that was because of him. In that gym, I can honestly say to you, there was never ever a sense or a feeling of racism."
Brosnan added: "[Ingle] gave of his life and his energy and passion to the young men in his community there in Sheffield."
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Controversial
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Interview with Tris Dixon posted today
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mickey1975
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
All those negative statements sound very different when listened to properly. I'm surprised Naz has done anything for them considering he wasn't consulted. I wonder if how much publicity the film would've gotten if Naz hadn't turned up.
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big lennox
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Really enjoyed the film. The second half was stunning and I felt Piers Brosnan, pardon the pun, made a really good fist of it.
Not only did Brendan and Naz conquer the boxing World together, their partnership has now led to a good boxing film being made with a Hollywood actor giving it his all. So, their legacy is still producing.
I hope, and I think, this film will send none boxing fans, and new boxing fans, to the amazing work they did together.
I also hope it brings Brendan to an even bigger audience. What a special man he was. He should be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and I hope there is a statue of him in Sheffield some day.
That gym has done so much to improve people's lives. I think it would be great if a good script could be written and a TV drama series was made of life at the Ingle gym post Hamed. It would be completely inspiring and a reminder of what good can come of people working to a common aim and supporting each other. In today's deeply unpleasant political climate, we need these stories more than ever.
My only gripe with the film: I wish they had used the Ingle gym and filmed Newman Road, but I guess that wouldn't matter to a wide cinema public. As the end credits rolled, a friend who came with me, said: " Wow".
I'd also recommend Fight Club: The Inside Story of the Ingle Gym on ITVX. It was great to put that on TV and let my children enjoy the magic of the place, the great people who have passed through there and to hear Brendan's instantly recognisable voice.
Not only did Brendan and Naz conquer the boxing World together, their partnership has now led to a good boxing film being made with a Hollywood actor giving it his all. So, their legacy is still producing.
I hope, and I think, this film will send none boxing fans, and new boxing fans, to the amazing work they did together.
I also hope it brings Brendan to an even bigger audience. What a special man he was. He should be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and I hope there is a statue of him in Sheffield some day.
That gym has done so much to improve people's lives. I think it would be great if a good script could be written and a TV drama series was made of life at the Ingle gym post Hamed. It would be completely inspiring and a reminder of what good can come of people working to a common aim and supporting each other. In today's deeply unpleasant political climate, we need these stories more than ever.
My only gripe with the film: I wish they had used the Ingle gym and filmed Newman Road, but I guess that wouldn't matter to a wide cinema public. As the end credits rolled, a friend who came with me, said: " Wow".
I'd also recommend Fight Club: The Inside Story of the Ingle Gym on ITVX. It was great to put that on TV and let my children enjoy the magic of the place, the great people who have passed through there and to hear Brendan's instantly recognisable voice.
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black panther
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I really enjoyed the movie. Fight scenes were as to be expected for a movie but as others stated the focus was more on the relationship between Hamed and Ingle.
Brought back fond memories of training at my first amateur boxing gym and finding an escape from the racism I experienced growing up in the 90s in North England. Also thought they depicted that aspect very well.
Brought back fond memories of training at my first amateur boxing gym and finding an escape from the racism I experienced growing up in the 90s in North England. Also thought they depicted that aspect very well.
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SeanBrennan
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Thanks for sharing your experiences re the racism you encountered mateblack panther wrote: ↑09 Jan 2026, 17:11 I really enjoyed the movie. Fight scenes were as to be expected for a movie but as others stated the focus was more on the relationship between Hamed and Ingle.
Brought back fond memories of training at my first amateur boxing gym and finding an escape from the racism I experienced growing up in the 90s in North England. Also thought they depicted that aspect very well.
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mickey1975
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I remember a young Naz giving his opinion on the racism he faced "I'm not a p**ki, I'm an Arab".
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big lennox
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Really sorry to hear that you have had to encounter racism. Racism is as mean spirited as it is illogical. Just awful.black panther wrote: ↑09 Jan 2026, 17:11 I really enjoyed the movie. Fight scenes were as to be expected for a movie but as others stated the focus was more on the relationship between Hamed and Ingle.
Brought back fond memories of training at my first amateur boxing gym and finding an escape from the racism I experienced growing up in the 90s in North England. Also thought they depicted that aspect very well.
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MightyWarrior
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jamesmcdonnell
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I found Hamed's words about Ingle quite touching at times, without it becoming overly schmalzy.
I may even go and watch this at the cinema, something I've not done for years.
Sounds like they've done a good job, I guess in many ways it's a love story, both the love of the sport and the bond between the young Hamed and Ingle.
Looking forward to seeing this.
I may even go and watch this at the cinema, something I've not done for years.
Sounds like they've done a good job, I guess in many ways it's a love story, both the love of the sport and the bond between the young Hamed and Ingle.
Looking forward to seeing this.
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Boxerbeetle
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
I don’t tend to enjoy watching films about real subjects I know very well, always end up getting annoyed about inaccuracies or OTT dramatisation, and just never seems as good as the real thing. Might give this one a watch when it comes to streaming though, as sounds promising at least.
Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Listening to Naz in these interviews, it's notable how wise and at peace he is. People knock religion but it's clearly played a huge role in his happiness. I couldn't help but contrast that with poor old Ricky. Different personalities of course, but gratitude is the route to Naz's contentment.
It's also crazy to think the people who made the film didn't speak to him while making it. But the end product felt fair, with Naz and Brendan having a lot of depth in the film so you could understand it from both points of view (if John and Dom Ingle had a big hand in it, then fair play to them as their dad wasn't portrayed as a saint).
I may go and see it again.
It's also crazy to think the people who made the film didn't speak to him while making it. But the end product felt fair, with Naz and Brendan having a lot of depth in the film so you could understand it from both points of view (if John and Dom Ingle had a big hand in it, then fair play to them as their dad wasn't portrayed as a saint).
I may go and see it again.
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big lennox
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Re: Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle
Excellent points by Johnny: