RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER is one of the better-known and more well-liked of the low budget British gangster films that have been doing the rounds in the last decade. I was pleasantly surprised by the film's incredible violence quota; this is a brutal film in which thuggishness is a way of life and beatings, torture, and violent death are just around the corner for every character.As a film it does suffer from the usual problems associated with this genre. The script is full of expletives but very little wit. The story is meandering in places, starting out with some tacked-on football hooligan stuff before getting better as it goes on, retelling the infamous 'Essay boy' murders of the 1990s. The main character (and actor) are quite dull, but the supporting cast are pretty entertaining, in particular Craig Fairbrass, whose larger-than-life turn is the best I've seen from him. RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER is no masterpiece, but the quality of other, similar fare makes this one stand out.

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.

I really don't understand why there is so much hate on this film , I mean each to his own, fair enough it may not be your cup of tea but I think it's really good. The true story alone is interesting enough and this is just well made, very enjoyable to watch and you get a real taste of the kind of lives the characters were living, I have not read the book yet and I do not expect this film to be a 100% accurate and neither do I expect the book, films of true events rarely are and there are different books with different views on the truth to complicate things further, but overall I thought this was a great movie. I would say one of the best British gangster films I have seen in awhile. Well acted, everyone played their roles perfectly. You could really picture Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe actually being like that in real life. Carlton Leech seemed pretty spot on as well, I mean some of his lines did seem a bit cheesy but he also had some great lines, "He looks like the *beep* honey monster", but overall he was played well, especially with the steroid side, you can see the negative effects. I also love the pill scene, that makes me laugh every time. Fight scenes were entertaining and well done, not too Hollywood and not too fake looking either, nice and gritty. Soundtrack matched the feel of the film well, especially the "break- down" towards the end. Well directed and just entertaining and interesting. Lots of people saying only a low life can enjoy this or you to be a psychopath to enjoy this movie is a bit judgemental really. People complaining about too much violence in the film? It's about the criminal underworld, gangsters and hooligans, what did you expect Bridget Jones Diary? I don't think they over used the violence, every bit ties in within the story and building up the characters. What do you believe in real life Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Carlton Leech just had pillow fights? ICF were known tickling each other? Of course there is going to be a lot of violence, that's the life they lived.

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.