Rise of the Footsoldier (2007)

Rise of the Footsoldier is a British gangster film franchise written and directed by Julian Gilbey, Will Gilbey, Ricci Harnett, Zackary Adler, Andrew Loveday and Nick Nevern, distributed by Optimum Releasing. The franchise and its first two films are based on true events featured in the autobiography of Inter City Firm hooligan turned gangster Carlton Leach (Ricci Harnett) before later films focus on the lives of drug dealers Pat Tate (Craig Fairbrass) and Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) who were gunned down in the Rettendon murders in 1995.

The first film Rise of the Footsoldier was released on 7 September 2007 and grossed £220,868. It was the third production from BAFTA Award-nominated director Julian Gilbey and is based on the autobiography of Leach who had risen from a football hooligan to becoming a bouncer, hired muscle and later part of the Essex firm of the 1990s and his involvement with Pat Tate and Tony Tucker. The sequel Rise of the Footsoldier Part II: Reign of the General released in 2015 followed Leach in the aftermath of the murders, whilst Rise of the Footsoldier: The Pat Tate Story (2017), Rise of the Footsoldier: Marbella (2019) and Rise of the Footsoldier Origins (2021) are prequels to the original and do not feature Carlton Leach, but are loosely based upon the lives of Tucker and Tate. Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance was released in 2023. The next instalment in the franchise, Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution was released in August 2026.

Films

Rise of the Footsoldier

Rise of the Footsoldier follows the rise of Carlton Leach from a football hooligan to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through Essex in the late eighties and early nineties. It is three decades of his life following him from football hooliganism, to bouncer, his involvement in the criminal aspects of the early 'rave' scene and subsequently becoming a violent criminal. The film took a worldwide box office of $355,345.

The film has an original score by Sandy McLelland and Ross Cullum

Rise of the Footsoldier Part II: Reign of the General

Full-time crook Carlton Leach (Ricci Hartnett) finds himself in a world of paranoia as he tries to shake off the effects of the Rettendon murders, the real-life clash that left three drug dealers dead. The film took $8,156 worldwide at the box office.

Rise of the Footsoldier: The Pat Tate Story

Notorious gangster, Pat Tate, rises through the ranks of Essex's criminal underworld, and battles rival drug dealers, vicious prison inmates and gets double-crossed by drug lord Frank Harris. It took $17,181 at the box office.

Rise of the Footsoldier: Marbella

Fresh out of prison, Pat Tate (Craig Fairbrass) steps right back into his Essex nightclub business. But although the money is good, he can't stop brooding about the man who had him put away. It's not long before he's off to Marbella to find Frank Harris and seek his revenge. But Harris is long dead and the middle man Terry Fisher offers Pat the biggest drug deal of his life. All Pat needs is for his pals Tony and Craig to deliver the cash from Essex to close the deal. But Craig being Craig, turns a simple plane trip to a massive road trip with a stolen VW van and its hippie German owner in tow. All Tony wants is to make it back in time to support his best friend Nigel Benn at his boxing match with Gerald McClellan. But when their cash gets stolen and Pat is threatened by a local firm, Pat comes up with an even more audacious plan and to get them back to England in time for Tony to walk Nigel Benn out to one of history's greatest fights. The film was titled Rise of the Footsoldier: The Heist for international release, and grossed $8,261 at the box office.

Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins

Soldier Tony Tucker returns from the Falklands war, a bitter and angry man. He soon makes a name for himself in the Essex underworld with his security business and drug dealing, and after entering a partnership with gangster Bernard O'Mahoney, his life spirals out of control in a cycle of drugs and violence. Things get even worse when he meets notorious hard man Pat Tate and local drug dealer Craig Rolfe, culminating in the Rettendon Range Rover murders of 1995. Nick Nevern directed. The film grossed $390,909 worldwide.

Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance

The next instalment in the series titled Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance was released on 15 September 2023, making it the sixth entry in the franchise. Nick Nevern returned to direct, with the script written by Loveday and Jason Maza. The film was the first in the series not to feature Terry Stone and Roland Manookian as Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe, respectively. The plot follows Pat Tate as he embarks on a rampage to avenge the violent death of his loyal and trusted mate Kenny after their post office robbery doesn't run as smoothly as expected. Set on executing his revenge, Tate ventures beyond his comfort zone of Essex into the dark side of 1990s Soho to track down the villains responsible, and he will stop at nothing even as the world around him starts to explode.

The film garnered positive reviews; The Guardian rated the film 3/5 stars, and Filmhounds rated the film 4/5 stars. As of October 2023, the film took $472,878 at the box office worldwide, making it the highest grossing out of the whole franchise.

Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution

The next instalment of the franchise, Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution, was released in cinemas on 28 August 2026 and is set in Ibiza.

Reception

TimeOut Film Guide (2011 edition) reviewer David Jenkinson describes Rise of the Footsoldier as "a repugnant gangland romp in which ruffians get tooled up with axe handles, baseball bats and Stanley knives then knock ten bells out of each other for two hours." After a one-sentence overview, the review concludes that "Leach is then unceremoniously swept aside as the film hastily attempts to give the Rettendon murders a once-over in the scrappy second half."

In America, Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever also disliked it, throwing the film one bone (out of possible four) and dismissing it as "Brit crime flick, based on a true story, that has nothing going for it but violence". Indicating that "Carlton Leach goes from football hooligan in the 1980s to criminal muscle and gangster in the 1990s", the write-up ends with mention of "three murdered drug dealers who were found in rural Essex".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Rise of the Footsoldier at IMDb

Rise of the Footsoldier at Rotten Tomatoes