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Rise of the Footsoldier: Marbella AKA Rise of the Footsoldier 4: Marbella (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Signature Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (9th January 2020). |
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The Film
 ESSEX IS RUNNING LOW ON PILLS. The unstoppable and biggest British crime series returns. And this time the boys are going international in Rise of the Footsoldier 4: 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 (Andrew Loveday) 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 mental road trip. All Tony wants is to make it back in time to support his friend Nigel Benn at the boxing match of his life. But when their cash gets stolen and Pat is threatened by a local firm, he comes up with an audacious plan to get them back to England in time for one of history's greatest fights... Hammers, knives, crossbows and good old-fashioned fists are making their comeback in this iconic British crime thriller starring the original loveable-rogues Craig Fairbrass and Terry Stone in Rise of the Footsoldier 4: Marbella.
Video
A modern, digitally lensed production shot in the odd but increasing popular aspect ratio of 2:1. As this film has Netflix backing it's not surprising. I personally don't get how this ratio has been arrived at as HD has a raw image of 1.78:1 so it's a baffling stylistic choice, but hey hoe; on with the nitty gritty. The image is pin sharp with a very fine level of grain although it's not terribly filmic ... it's very much a digital image, which is not really surprising. Detail is excellent on all focal planes and this is also is not surprising; it's a pleasing image all told. Colours are rich and warm as befitting the mainly Marbella locations with plenty of reds and browns coming to the fore. Black levels are deep and rich, contrast is pleasingly varied with detail shining through at all times. The encoding is also decent. This is a good looking disc of a marginal title; I've not seen any other entries in this straight to video / streaming series but I know there are plenty of fans. Guy Ritchie has a great deal to answer for! Fans will be very happy with the presentation here as it's decent, digitally shot eye candy and the price is very affordable. 1080/24p / MPEG-4 AVC / 2:1 / 85:04
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English LPCM 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English HoH A very active, modern soundtrack typical of thrillers and action flicks made in 2019 which is to say very active in the surrounds and plenty of LFE boost to activate the subwoofers. Considering the level of production (low budget) the two tracks here sound great. Obviously, the 5.1 has greater depth and range. Subtitles for the hard of hearing are excellent and very welcome.
Extras
Extras Behind the Scenes (14:45) Bog standard EPK behind the scenes piece. If you're a fan of the series then this will have more meaning. Cast Interviews (18:28) More EPK puff piece interviews with everyone on message and perhaps overselling the piece. Startup trailers: The Courier (1:36) In the Line of Duty (2:01) Trailers for upcoming or contemporary Signature Entertainment releases.
Packaging
Standard Blu-ray keepcase.
Overall
Bog standard release with some modest extras. Image and sound are great, as one would expect from a new film, but not optimal. A dual layered presentation may have helped raise the bitrate but to be honest, the improvement wouldn't have been much. Extras are pure EPK puff pieces and trailers for recent releases.
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