Alex Heaton (azanti0029) 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.

matthewwalker50 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.

The Sheen Football hooligans regularly wielding axes and machetes and looking like frenzied zombies out of '28 days later.' Bouncers stabbing trouble makers in their bums with 9 inch blades. Gorgeous girls instantly bedazzled by a violent moron bar bouncer. You'd think bouncers were the MMA fighters of that era.It gets a 2 for including every single "Violent English gangster hooligan genre" cliché out there.And of course there's the "borrowing" from so many more successful movies. The first 5 minutes reeks of Trainspotting, and a poor attempt at that.

robgair Having had more than a few mates suggest i check Rise of the Footsoldier out, i eventually got round to it last night. Undoubtedly the story Colton Leach has to tell (and did so in his autobiography) is a compelling tale of one mans ascent from Terrace boot boy to connected underworld villain. This film sadly compromised in quality by miscasts, appalling accents and woeful acting.Ricci Harnett in the lead role of Leach does a reasonable job of conveying the transition from thuggery to serious criminal but his accent is all over the place. As his voice provides the stories narration it is something that after ten minutes was driving me nuts. Terry Stone as Tony Tucker provided the unintentional comedy with an ill fitting wig (or the worst Barnett going)dialogue that was so expletive riddled it bordered on juvenile and an over the top vehemence in line delivery reducing Tucker to parody.What troubled me most about this film was that the events leading up to the shooting in Rettenden, Essex and the formative years of Leach are of genuine interest to crime fans and fans of football hooliganism so, to have this story sabotaged by a lack of credible accents and acting left me feeling an opportunity had been missed. Roland Manookian and Frank Harper provide the films only source of authenticity. On the positive side some of the films pacing and construct flowed well and kept the attention. The violence was well choreographed and aside from an over reliance on projectile red syrup for blood spatterings was on the whole realistic. If you enjoyed the film then it is worth checking out Essex Boys telling a similar tale from fictionalised viewpoint and also featuring Billy Murray.