For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Review: This is another one of those football hooligan movies, which were quite popular at the time of its release, with loads of violence, sex and drugs. The main character suited his role, but I didn't understand why the movie changed in direction once that he started to become established in the East End underworld. The famous Range Rover killings took over the movie and they didn't have that much to do with the character that the movie started with. There are a couple of movies that follow the Range Rover killings, and this one isn't that much different from them. Some of the violence, when Carlton Leech was a football hooligan, was a bit extreme and explicit, as expected. I wish that I watched this film when it got released because there was a bit of a buzz in the English movie world, in this genre. Watching it now, makes it seem a bit dated and unoriginal which just makes its average.Round-Up: This movie just does what it says on the tin, and I was hoping for some redemption and change of lifestyle for Carlton Leech after he had done so much bad in his life, but that wasn't the case. It could have easily been 2 separate movies, but the director chose to make a 2 hour movie about 2 separate incidents, which was a bad choice. I did end up sticking with the movie to see how Carlton Leech dealt with certain situations that arose it there wasn't any major surprises throughout the film.Budget: $3million Worldwide Gross: N/AI recommend this movie to people who are into there English football hooligan movies about the East End underworld. 3/10

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.

Rise of the footsoldier opens up depicting the life of Carlton Leach. A feared gangster throughout south east London. This story shows his rise to power & dominance of being in a feared Gangster crew and the leader of football hooliganism. Ricci Harnet is far more convincing in his acting & performance than his role as Corporal Mitchell in 28 Days Later. Carlton Leach is shown as a very young man at the opening of the Movie. Ricci Harnet does a good job narrating throughout. Although It's narrating is not (In my opinion) on the level of Pesci & De Niro's narrative skills in Casino, or Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. I must forewarn anyone who is keen on watching this that there is an exceptional level of profanity that is uttered at a constant rate. With 390 F-Words (according to celebrityfword.com) and probably nearly 100 C-Words in 114 minutes, I very strongly advise anybody with sensitivity to filthy language to steer well clear of this film. There are torturous and brutal, violent scenes in this movie. An extremely graphic depiction of drugs including cocaine, anabolic steroids, heroine, & ecstasy. There is one extremely graphic rape scene with drugs implied into the scene. There is sexual activity in a car with bare breasts, & brief scenes of sexual intercourse with both a woman & man completely naked. Penetration is shown. Gory, violent scenes include a quite brutal train fight ignited by football hooliganism between West Ham United & Millwall. A man gets an axe in his head and bleeds severely to the point of near loss of consciousness. He is afterwards seen having the large wound stitched up. There is a hooligan riot with bricks, fire, Molotov's, fists & feet all used as weapons. There is a very disturbing scene were a man is literally nailed into the ground from head to toe. Defenceless & unable to move, is left to suffer horribly & die. His blood is transfered onto a wall used as text which Carlton wrote in red "This is what happens to thieves" There is a Land rover murder shown 2-3 times with a lot of blood. Men are injected with poison and vomit, choke, & die from suffocation. And finally a torture scene where men have the teeth physically ripped out with pliers very hard. Bags are smothered over mens heads, this is probably the most intense torture scene in the whole movie. It is very gritty & tense. Julien Gilbey's definitive best directed film by some long way. It's crazy & relentless, shocking & entertaining. Ultimately it is a British Gangster film that is one of the best MOB films I've ever seen come from England. Don't miss it! I give it a HUGE 9/10! Great movie.

There have been three films about the Rettendon Murders and the rise of Essex gangsters, Rise of the Footsoldier, Essex Boys and Bonded by Bond. Rise of the Footsoldier is considered the best of the trio, even though there is a big divide between critics and audiences.Carlton Leach (Ricci Harnett) is a football hooligan for West Ham's firm, the I.C.F. who becomes a bouncer. In the mid 80s he slowly rises, forming a business of thuggery, offering protection for clubs, drug dealers, torturing people, doing drugs runs and dealing ecstasy during the rise of the rave scene. But slowly as Carlton becomes more involved into violence, crossing Turkish gangster and getting more involved with gangsters and their various conflicts and turf wars.Julian Gilbey is seen as a rising star as a director, making British action films. His first film was an awful student film, Reckoning Day, his first real film Rollin' with the Nines was an improvement, Rise of the Footsoldier again an improvement and his latest film A Lonely Place to Die is seen as his best film so far. At this rate he should be making a Oscar winning classic very soon. With Rise of the Footsoldier he certainly delivers a very fast pace film, there is never a dull moment. Rise of the Footsoldier is a very violence film, being extremely brutal with people getting hit with a variety of weapons, getting tortured and blood flying around all over the play. The early hooligan scenes reminded me of The Football Factory, using hand held cameras, attempting a gritty feel and using a voice-over (though I think The Football Factory is a much better film). I particularly like the beginning about showing Carlton being a gangster and the end showing the shooting and the different scenarios it could have happened. Gilbey does have some stylish moments showing the worst case scenarios if they go to war with the Turkish gangsters, which was particularly well done.Acting wise its passable. There is nothing spectacular from the actors but no one was awful either. A problem is that Rise of the Footsoldier that it relies too much the old British cliché of constant strong swearing, using the f and c word all the time. I would have preferred more characterisation and seem more interaction between the characters, more of their personal lives and how their operations featured besides from the beginning.Rise of the Footsoldier is a decent film and a well directed piece of work.