Rise of the Footsoldier

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Rise of the Footsoldier
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Julian Gilbey
Written by	Julian Gilbey & Will Gilbey
Starring	Ricci Harnett Terry Stone Craig Fairbrass
Distributed by	Optimum Releasing
Release date(s)	September 7, 2007
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
IMDb profile

Rise of the Footsoldier is a 2007 British crime film released on September 7, 2007. It is the third film from director Julian Gilbey. It is a gangster film based on the true story of the Rettendon murders and the biography of Carlton Leach, a former football hooligan of the infamous Inter City Firm (ICF) who became a powerful figure of the British underworld. It has links to the film Essex Boys. Averaging less than one star out of five amongst reviewers, the critical response was less than glowing.

[edit] Plot

Follows the rise of Carlton Leach from his younger days as a 'footsoldier' among the ranks of the ICF (Inter City Firm), to membership of a notorious gang who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late eighties and early nineties. The film focuses on three decades of his life, following him from football hooliganism, through his burgeoning career as a nightclub bouncer and his involvement in the criminal aspects of the early ‘rave’ scene, until finally becoming one of the most feared and respected criminals in the country. The story concludes with three members of his gang - Tony Tucker, Craig Rolfe and Pat Tate - being brutally slain in the infamous Rettendon Range Rover murders of December 1995.