Rise of the Footsoldier (2008)

good back-story, and good acting

Absolutely the worst movie.

Absolutely brilliant

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

the best of the "Essex boys" mini genre by far. the violence that keeps getting reviewed as over the top on here is nothing but necessary to the plot. we need to remember the reign of terror went on for many years until it finally concluded in the boys death. this needed to be compressed in to an hour and a half, therefore, it needed to depict how violent these guys were. Craig fairbrass, despite what I keep reading on here, played an amazing pat Tate with natural screen presence and menace. I am not a fan of terry stone usually but thought he to played tucker well, just the odd lapse in good acting. and I enjoyed watching Roland play Craig Rolfe too. very well cast. all in all I think this was one of our best modern day films in this genre to date. I recommend anyone with a taste for violence and crime in their movies to watch this film. you wont regret it

"Rise of the Footsoldier" is a violent and very realistic British movie that shows the story of the British scum Carlton Leach (Ricci Harnett), who was a bully hooligan of a gang in soccer stadiums in the 70's and 80's and his rise to the position of one of the most feared gangsters on the streets of London and Essex in the 90's.Julian Gilbey made a realistic movie that is many moments seem to be a documentary, with stunning performances of the cast. However, criminals like Carlton Leach, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate are the scum of the society that should be forgotten indeed. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Guerra entre Gangues" ("War between Gangs")

While perhaps not quite up there with The Long Good Friday (Will any British Gangster film ever be?) ROTF is well made biopic of one man's story from his time on the football terraces of the late 1970's with West Ham's notorious ICF to the world of the door security, slowly rising to become a small but influential figure in London and Essex Criminal Underworld. While this journey to ascension might not be as regal as that of a New York Crime boss, let us not forget this is England and such small but influential figures do exist. Carlton Leach (Played by Ricci Hartnett) was a well-connected man, if you wanted something, he could get it for you or he knew someone who could. The film charts his life over three decades against the backdrop of his criminal activities and the people he came into contact with, who eventually included the named Essex Boys who would be made famous infamous in the so called 'Range Rover Murders'.I regretted not seeing this film on the big screen upon its release. The broadsheets are rarely kind to independent British Films, but they were especially harsh in their reviews of this one which is poor judgement on their part. Critical of the amount of swearing and depictions of violence seemed to bullet points upon which their poor marks were based, yet American depictions of a similar way of life such as Goodfellas, have just the same amount of both and are hailed a work of genius and while Rise doesn't quite have the same talents involved on the acting plaudits, what it does have is a sense of scale. The story feels epic, you get a sense and feel for the different times in which the film is set from the violent terraces of the 70's to the coming of the Ecstasy fulled era of the late 80's leading to the results of living on the edge for too long in the 90's. The high ranking critics of the film world may well not relate to these eras on that level, which is hardly surprising as they were unlikely to be part of such circles, but the Gibley brothers have proved that on a fraction of the budget they can come up with an engrossing tale that depicts a big story taking place over many years. Though the film is Carlton's story, the last third of it is very much given over to the Essex Range Rover killings and his friendship with Tony Tucker (Played by newcomer Terry Stone) though this connection may seem tenuous, it serves as a benchmark for change to both his own life and what was happening in the criminal fraternity at the time. One of the nice things about this depiction of events is it accepts that the final version that you do see, may not indeed be the correct one as other probable theories are shown screen. The film has several supporting cast that ably fill their roles including the familiar faces of Billy Murray, Craig Fairbrass, Roland Nanookin (Very underrated actor whose range far exceeds the roles he gets offered) and some new up and coming faces pop up here too who often outclass others in their scenes including Danny Midwinter, Ian Virgo and Jason Maza. The film isn't perfect, a couple of scenes seem a little long and could have been cut without losing any impact and the one or two weaker performers do tend to stand out, proving as always, casting is king, but I found they were minor distractions in a really solid piece of film making. It is regrettable that this film was so easily dismissed as just another British Gangster flick upon its release, as it offers so much more than that and has since (rightly) gained a huge following on DVD. Of the four films that covers the subject of the Ranger Rover murders (I still have yet to see the latest offering) this has thus far proved the strongest and the most interesting, charting as it does the lives of the characters that live in a world that certainly many will not relate to, but will be familiar to those that have been there. While Ricci Hartnett might not quite have captured the real Carlton Leach's razor sharp humor, he adequately fills the role as someone who can only watch as people he cares about spiral into a world where the control he thought he had is proved to be all but frugal. For anyone who wants a real perspective on what the British underworld is all about – the small deals that can go wrong, the back stabbing and the alliances that can be easily broken, as we are shown the roots that someone had that lead them there – this is a truthful, violent and gritty depiction of that world and one that is worthy of your viewing time if you haven't seen it yet.

The general rule of thumb is post 'lock,stock...' if your looking to make a British gangster movie you must have either danny dyer or someone whose at least been in east enders in a role. 'rise of the foot soldier' honours one of these two choices and despite the absence of Mr dyer,its still ends up being rubbish.Where to start? well how about the acting apart from a few exceptions,most of the cast seem to have taken the Sylvia young drama lesson 101 in'i'm a cocker-nay,i is honest guvnor',not that the script demands much more depth of characterisation, it's all 'you facking cant this,you facking cant that, all accompanied by a the obligatory strained grimaces.It tells you something that craig fairbrass (an actor so wooden he gets a termite infestation regularly)comes on like Marlon Brando in comparison to the rest of the cast.The acting/script isn't the only thing that ridden with cliché,the action set pieces are so over stylised that any rawness or grit is washed away in it attempt to out guy Ritchie,guy Ritchie.Music of the time is also used crassly and unimaginatively to save the director/budget the effort of chronicling the years depicted effectively I may sound harsh,but this is a film i dearly wanted to love,the Rettendon murder case is fascinating,and this was a chance to highlight a time when the British underworld's bloody antics bubbled to the surface.But what your left with is a film so safe,so sanitized and about as profound or interesting as an episode of 'the bill', only with more claret guvnorrrrrrrrrr