Too much of everything

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the negative reviews

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This film is as bad as they get. The title "Rise of the foot soldier" gives the impression its some sort of story about some criminal who is a fairly well known bad guy rising through the ranks of some organised crime syndicate. What you have in fact is a low order villain who makes some cash while working for a loosely connected group of drug dealing door minding crew of no real standing. The character portrayed does not rise anywhere as there is no organisation for him to rise within. He is a peripheral player within this group who would have remained unknown outside of Essex if they had not of been all shot dead in a execution style ambush by major league players. The story is no more of a story of any rising foot soldier and more to do with a infamous mass murder where he had a loose relationship with the victims. Absolute load of crap not worth watching.

The life-story (so far) of infamous West Ham United football hooligan, Carlton Leech. Starting in the 1970s, young Carlton joins the ICF hooligan gang and as the years pass into the early 1980s becomes a leading figure in the organised mob of East London thugs – taking on football gangs from around London and across the country, making a name for himself as a fearless street-fighter and gang-leader. Working as night club bouncer in some of East London's roughest venues, Carlton has the foresight and skills to organise security firms as the Acid House and Rave era dawns over the UK – and in the process, whilst his marriage suffers, he makes more contacts and a lot of money. Controlling the drug traffic through the doors of the venues, with a small army of ex-hooligans turned bouncers, the error of a couple of his men land him and his organisation in a war with the London Turkish Mafia. Coming through the other side, littered with casualties, Carlton enters the 1990s with over a decade of blood on his hands, a wealth of underworld experience – and a reputation to be feared and respected. But the 1990s bring a new era of Essex based criminals and new way of doing things.Partnering up with Tony Tucker, an Essex playboy gangster, Carlton finds himself amongst the wild, brash criminal circles of the richer suburban towns outside London and on the edge of one of the most shadowy and suspicious criminal conspiracies of modern British gangland lore – the Range Rover Murders."Rise of the Footsoldier" is a fantastic Brit gangland film which achieves not only in telling the story of the connection between football hooliganism and organised crime, but does so with both speed and detail. The early sequences of mass hooligan fights through the 70s and 80s is nothing short of brilliant and is by far the best portrayal of any films in the genre. The Acid House and rave era is depicted with style and energy, whilst remaining faithful to telling Carlton's story, and we never lose sight of the journey he makes as a character – and as Carlton and his boys move into paid-for-violence debt collecting and eventually into gang war against the Turkish group, again the pacing, deft direction of the action and the drama of Carlton's life are perfectly balanced, making the film not only one that is gripping but also a fully engaging experience, which any movie lover will appreciate. The only issue with the film is that the final chapter, the 'Essex boys' part of his story, feels detached from the rest of the film. It is essentially Act 4. Carlton is reduced to a minor player and so the final part of the film focuses on three new characters backed-up by three new supporting characters – it is their story, of which Carlton makes only fleeting appearances. That said, this aspect will not bother some viewers in the slightest and "Rise of the Footsoldier" remains an excellent film which must be watched.

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

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.