Search - Rise of the Footsoldier on DVD

IVOR I. from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/13/2010...

Rise of the Footsoldier is a gruesome entertainment for those who like some raw meat in their gangster genre flicks. Deftly written and directed by the BAFTA award winning director Julian Gilbey, it is a gangster film based on the true story of the infamous Rettendon murder case so beloved of yellow journalists on London's Fleet street. It is the biography of Carlton Leach, a former West Ham United-supporting football hooligan of the infamous Inter City Firm (ICF). Carlton, who keeps to a unique kind of indefinable moral code, becomes a powerful leader in the British underworld.

The action follows Carlton Leach from his younger days in his East End Cockneyland Manor as a 'footsoldier' among the ranks of the ICF to membership of a notorious gang who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During a three decade rampage, Carlton goes from the simple 'aggro' of football hooliganism and street fighting with knives and chains, through his next career as a merciless nightclub bouncer, a facilitator and assassin in the heroin trade with the even more ruthless Turkish gangs and, later, his pioneering involvement in the 'bent' aspects of being Ecstacy King of the early 'rave' scene which sets him up in the position of being one of the most feared criminals in the country.

The writing is crisp and humorous, but anybody wanting to see a British version of 'Good Fellas' had better be prepared for much more ultra-violence. The whorish gangster-molls in this movie exist to be graphically beaten, raped and humiliated. Faces are sliced and diced, heads are nailed to floors, beating follows beating: If you like violence this one is a doozie!

Somehow, although Leach tends to beat on his ladies like sparring partners, he definitely comes out of the wash clean. You can't help but like him: A bit! When he finally decides enough is enough of the homicidal mayhem caused by three of his crew Tony, Craig and Pat--he still weeps like a child when they get their just desserts.

Actor Ricci Hartnett is frighteningly convincing as Leach. Credit also has to be given to the actors who play his wives, Kierston Waring and Emily Beecham. These woman can sure take a punch! This is not for your kids. This is not for the feint of heart.

British Goodfellas.

T. PETTIT | UK | 12/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just saw this film and its an amazing British take on Goodfellas.
Violent, Funny and Outragous with some great performances from some great up and coming actors like Craig Fairbrass and Terry Stone."

Awesome flick

Charles Lamotta | Westchester NY | 01/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great flick with lots of action and a real-life plot which ends with real BBC News footage. A great movie to watch in parts or even all at once."

RISE of a GRIPPING Action Movie from the U.K.!

Cestmoi | 03/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RISE of the FOOT SOLDIER

I haven't seen a good action and drama movie like this for a long time.

- The dialogues are funny in many scenes.

- The acting is fascinating. It keeps me watching and watching till the end. There's no moment of boredom.

- The action is non-stop. It's a bloody and violent film.

- It convincingly portrays the danger of steroids.

- It credibly shows the deadly downside of doing business with gangsters. When something goes wrong, i.e. some cocaine goes missing, they will blame it on you. They'll never listen to your reason. They'll kill you to make an example for others. There's truly no honor among thieves.
"