New Michael Collins reviews

Michael Collins

1996

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5

from 4577 members

The rise and fall of one of the most important and controversial figures in Ireland's struggle for independence is chronicled in this biographical drama. In 1916, the British government ruled Ireland with a firm and cruel hand, as they had for 700 years. When a group of Irish rebels staged a six-day siege at Dublin's General Post Office, only one of the leaders was able to escape execution -- Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), an American citizen of Irish blood. A number of De Valera's followers are sent to prison, and one of them, Michael Collins (Liam Neeson), walked out of jail convinced that a new approach was needed to free his homeland from British rule. With his compatriot Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), Collins formed the Irish Volunteers, who used a combination of terrorist violence and guerilla warfare to attack the British where their defenses were weakest, and employed espionage and a key inside informant (Stephen Rea) to learn what the British planned to do next -- and what they knew about Collins and his supporters. Collins' strategic skills and talent for warfare made a major impact on the British, and he became the hero of the new-born Republican Movement, which seemed to offer a real hope of freedom, despite the violent reprisals of the vicious paramilitary police, the Black and Tans. De Valera, however, was often in conflict with Collins in terms of the methods and approach of their struggle. Collins also found himself in a different sort of conflict with Boland when he fell in love with his girlfriend, a strong-willed advocate of Irish freedom named Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts). Eager to gain support for the Republican cause, De Valera sought economic and military support from the U.S.; when he returned, the Volunteers seemed to have finally won a real victory, as the British government announced that they were willing to formally negotiate with them. While Collins was once the radical and De Valera was the moderate, once negotiations began, Collins sought to end the violence that he saw killing so many young people and was willing to agree to a compromise that would create the Irish Free State. While the agreement would still leave final political control with the British, it would bring a greater self-determination to Ireland, and Collins believed that it was a crucial first step that could lead, in time, to true freedom for his people. De Valera, however, was strongly opposed to the treaty with Britian, and this led to violence among pro- and anti-treaty factions; soon Ireland's most loved leader was now branded a traitor by many of his countrymen. Michael Collins was voted Best Picture at the 1996 Venice Film Festival, and Liam Neeson was awarded the prize for Best Actor.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Michael Collins details

Format:	15 DVD
Starring:	Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Julia Roberts
Director:	Neil Jordan
Genre:	Drama - Biography, Historical
Studio:	CINRAM LOGISTICS
Collections:	Discover Ireland

DVD 1 disc

Name	Discs
Michael Collins	15 Feature

DVD Information

Run time:	2 hours 7 minutes
Rental release:	25 Sep 1998
Main languages:	English
Subtitles:	Arabic, English
Hearing impaired subtitles:	English

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Most helpful review Michael Collins

A grand historical!

By David T from New Forest, Hampshire , 26 Jul 2004

[Highly rated reviewer]

Set in the early 1900s it is a gritty historical which depicts the eventual formation of the IRA that was born from an nation's struggle for identity against British authority. An underlying political intrigue forms a backdrop for the key characters of the movie. A high calibre cast is lead by Liam Neason who plays the central character Michael Collins with energy and total conviction, and also includes a penetrating performance by the most excellent Alan Rickman. The plot draws you in and the support actors are all most accomplished. I found the film fascinating and engaged me throughout. It illuminated an aspect of history that is not often understood or explained. Well worth seeing, to be sure!
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Negotiation means you accept you cannot have all you crave - at least not yet!

By Tolkny (1 review) , 06 May 2013

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

As an English boy who grew up on tales of the great British Empire in the 1950s it has taken me a long time to understand truly what is involved in controlling others by politics and ultimately violence, and how flawed every Empire must eventually become. I do not know to what extent the details here are accurate but it is a good watch with some compelling performances that give a clue into the complexities of Irish and consequently British Politics are, to this day. Ultimately, it seems as if De Valera was prepared to fight on, knowingly killing his own lieutenants and countrymen in an attempt to achieve a unified 'pure' Ireland whilst Collins, portrayed as a vicious fighter also able to kill his contemporaries was prepared to accept something less in order to live without the violence that continues as a backdrop to Irish affairs into the 2nd decade of the 21st century, almost a hundred years later than what is here depicted.
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Dissapointing dissapointed

By a customer , 28 Feb 2013

This film needed to be longer. From what i could see in this movie Michael Collins did not do very much but he had many followers and then some people died there was quite a lot of talking politics and then the end. I couldn't understand some of the relationships and i couldn't sympathize with the characters. The only good thing was liam neeson's acting.
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Outstanding account of courage and Independences

By Indianna22 (6 reviews) from Malvern , 30 Oct 2012

I've wanted to watch this film for sometime and thanks to the school holidays I have and I was not disappointed!The cast give you outstanding performaces and a true picture of what was happening at the heart Irland at that differcult period of time,Micheal Collins in my opion was a hero, a real Irish Man who did so much for others in such a short space of time and it good to remeber the greats and the good in people and thats why I enjoyed this film so much x
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Too many ingredients

By a customer , 25 Oct 2012

I must have been enjoying my glass of wine way too much but I found this film to be a bit too much to follow. I think if they concentrated on fewer events and what made Michael Collins such a force to be reckoned with, it would have made a more cohesive and powerful film. By the way Julia Roberts was perfectly awful (I admit I'm not a fan of hers). Alan Rickman's accent was bizarre but a friend told me that the real life character he portrayed spoke that way.
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Powerful History

By MickFoxy (1 review) , 11 Oct 2012

Considering the complex story of these years in Ireland this is a fantastic telling of these times.

To criticise the historical accuracy is to take away from an extremley good film, which has great performances from Quinn, Neeson and Rea.

Worth watching to all for entertainment and to those who have an interest in Anglo/Irish History.
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