And so it goes that for every good movie there is a bad one and Rise Of The Footsoldier is a shocker of a bad movie. I always like to think of myself as being a fair reviewer taking positives from negatives, but there is little redeeming feature to this atrocity of a movie. This is the worst British crime thriller since Everybody Loves Sunshine, and even then I'd find it difficult to identify which was the worst. As I watched this movie I found one question revolving round my head and that was quite simply "what sort of low life would find any joy in watching this movie?" Starting in 1977 the story follows Carlton Leach a low life scumbag ...  Read the complete review

~ Hooligan, Bouncer, Gangster, Legend ~ The Rise of the FootSoldier was released in 2007 but I watched it for the first time last weekend. I hadn't heard much about it really other than it was suppose to be really good and really gory. My step dad had borrowed the DVD of a work friend so he, my mum and I decided to give it a go. We all like gangster films so I was expecting it to be pretty good. The film has got a pretty good cast including Craig Fairbrass who I had previously watched ion White Noise 2- The Light a few days before. He plays gangsters and bad guys very well so I was expecting him to play a good part in this. Even though the film did not have a ...  Read the complete review

Rise of the Footsoldier ---- I titled this a game of two halves, not just because it starts off as a movie about a football hooligan who ventures into gangland crime but because it is a movie that goes off on a tangent without any real rhyme or reason. As I said it starts off as a movie about football violence, which centres on the younger life of Carlton Leach (played by Ricci Harnett) who was a member of West Ham Utd's infamous I.C.F crew or to give it its proper title 'The Inter City Firm'. We are treated to a few 'tear ups' between West Ham and Fulham and West Ham and Arsenal. Also included are two legendary stories of ...  Read the complete review

I really enjoy gritty dramas, espescially ones that are based on truth. You cant say that its unrealistic, cos it happened! Carlton Leach was a football hooligan who was involved in many illegal practices in London and Essex. The movie culminates with the murders of 3 of Carltons associates, and tells the tale leading up to and directly following this event in Carltons life. This one was recommended by a friend, and I bought it shortly after it was released. I have to say that I did enjoy many parts of the movie, I liked the changes that Carlton goes through, due to steroid and drug use, and seeing the effects that the 'gangster life' is having on ...  Read the complete review

Maxim recommend this film and they say that it is 'gritty and brilliant' - All I can do is 100% agree with them! British gangster movies always have a raw edge to them and this one ticks all the boxes. It is faced paced, based on a true story, rough, edgy and full of action. Charting the life of Carlton Leech, this story starts in the heady days of football violence and goes on to deal with gangland killings and coming up against the wrong side of the Turkish mafia. I watched this film again and again and frankly couldn't get enough of it! It would be so easy to overdo the violence in a film of this kind, but its not the case at all. The ...  Read the complete review