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Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Alan Rickman, Julia Roberts ... see more see more... , Ian Hart , Charles Dance , Malcolm Douglas , Brendan Gleeson , Michael McCabe , Ian McElhinney , Sean McGinley , Martin Murphy , Peter O'Brien , Ger O'Leary , Gary Whelan , Mal Whyte , David Wilmot , Gerard McSorley , Frank O'Sullivan , Alan Stanford , Michael James Ford , Gary Lydon , Frank Patterson , Aiden Grennell , Jonathan Rhys Meyers , Aisling O'Sullivan , Stuart Graham , Paul Hickey , Barry Barnes , Tom Murphy , Don Wycherley , Frank Laverty , Gary Powell , Martin Phillips , Michael Dwyer , Paul Bennett , Paraic Breathnach , Laura Brennan , Penguin Cafe Orchestra , Claude Clancy , Tony Clarkin , Denis Conway , Colm Coogan , Liam D'Staic , David Gorry , Max Hafler , Joe Hanley , Luke Hayden , John Richard Ingram , Jim Isherwood , Aidan Kelly , John Kenny , Vinnie McCabe , Roman McCairbe , Gary Paul Mullen , Brian "Joker" Mulvey , Owen O'Neill , Owen Roe , Dave Seymour , Jean Kennedy Smith

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 ... read more read more...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, Rovi

Flixster Users

78% liked it

20,175 ratings

Critics

77% liked it

44 critics

R, 2 hr. 12 min.

Directed by: Neil Jordan

Release Date: October 11, 1996

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DVD Release Date: August 27, 1997

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Stats: 892 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (892)

  • allan913
    May 14, 2012
    allan913
    A sweeping and passionate epic of extroadinary power. It was as rousing, as brave, as strong and heartfelt as Braveheart. A true stand-tall classic. A triumphant and spectacular movie. This film is just pure excellence. Director, Neil Jordan`s masterpiece. It`s as inspiring as it... read more is action-packed. An robustly entertaining and deeply moving film filled with action and drama. A vast, intelligent and superbly crafted picture. Liam Neeson gives one of the greatest performances of his career, he delivers power and emotion in such a memorable and wonderful way. Neeson is unfrogettable and tremendously effective. Alan Rickman is magnificent. Aiden Quinn is terrific.
  • SirPant
    April 11, 2012
    SirPant
    A brave, bold and fair portrayal of a very controversial historical figure - he isn't held in high regard by many but he is a very influential character in recent history and his story is told well here. The production is awesome, in my opinion it is only the casting that lets it... read more down but not in every case, Aidan Quinn and Stephen Rea were great as is Liam Neeson although he's not particularly convincing as a 31 year old.
  • axadntpron
    December 21, 2011
    axadntpron
    Pretty good, but for such a man of passionate, a lot of the film felt rather vapid. Maybe Aiden Quinn hung around the set too long and depressed everyone. It doesn't seek to probe, or examine the motivations of the players involved. Which for me is a bit of a dissapointment. Als... read moreo, Roberts is terrible in this film.
  • ajv2688
    July 9, 2011
    ajv2688
    Although the actors are great, and do a good job, you really need to understand the issues in this story to understand the movie. It's based on real people and events, which I know very little about, and this movies doesn't do much to help you understand them.
  • middleeasternfilms
    April 26, 2010
    middleeasternfilms
    I am still holding out some faith that at some point in time a movie will be made concerning Ireland that will NOT include the Irish carbombing the hell out of each other and will have absolutely nothing to do with the IRA. Until then, this is one of the better films involving th... read moree IRA hating the English and doing everything in their power to keep from carbombing the hell out them later on in life. Neeson, Rea and Rickman are all in top form and Roberts does a good job despite not being British.
  • garyX
    March 6, 2008
    garyX
    Michael Collins was a pivotal figure in Irish history, and this is a brave attempt to represent a story rarely attempted in mass media by Neil Jordan. Collins was the original "terrorist", and practically invented modern warfare employing guerilla tactics and counter intelligence... read more to fight the British Empire to a standstill, a force he had no chance against using conventional means. This resulted in the treaty of 1922 which saw the country divided for the next 80 years. Liam Neeson is excellent as the pragmatic and larger than life man of the people, and although the film inevitably is rather rose tinted in it's representation of the man (as all of these kinds of biopics are) Jordan's brisk no-nonsense style is never pompous or preachy. The subject matter means that there is a lot more action than most political dramas, in fact it has more in common with The Godfather than Gandhi for the first half of the film. Even the romance with Julia Roberts (who manages a very creditable attempt at an Irish accent) is nicely down played and unsentimental. Portraying yet more of the shameful acts perpetrated by the British government in it's history it is just as informative as it is entertaining, especially to those of an Irish heritage such as myself.
  • webalina
    June 9, 2007
    webalina
    This was pretty good, but I think it helps to have a good working knowledge of the events covered in the film. I don't really, so I felt a little lost in places. I got the impression that things were left out.
  • sainttom93
    January 14, 2007
    sainttom93
    Accurate, but slow going -- Very good performance by Liam Neeson
  • fb653545547
    June 29, 2011
    fb653545547
    I can't tell if my problems with Michael Collins stem from the script or from a hacked up editing job. Events don't seem to flow organically from one scene to the next; rather, it feels as though a series of required scenes have been mashed together precisely because they have t... read moreo be there to tell the story instead of due to the overall narrative. Because of that, the cast never really gets much traction with each other or the movie as a whole. Yes, Liam Neeson is captivating most of the time, but he could read a phone book and make it fascinating. There's no real examination of the events portrayed on the screen, none of the political machinations...it's all very Cliffs Notes-ish. Sure, it's a movie, but at least try to probe the real life events instead of simply paying them lip service.
  • wbgoose13
    October 24, 2007
    wbgoose13
    Makes for a better entertainment than a history lesson; episodic but effective.

View All Michael Collins Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
March 28, 2010
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

There are pain and honor in [Neeson's] performance, and they constantly rise up to redeem a film that is less probing, less thoughtful than its director's claims and aspirations for it. Full Review

Todd McCarthy
January 23, 2009
Todd McCarthy, Variety

Intelligent, enormously accomplished and seriously problematic, Neil Jordan's ambitious account of the activities of arguably the central figure in Ireland's painful, bloody fight for independence fro... Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Played with great magnetism and triumphant bluster by Liam Neeson, the film's Michael Collins easily lives up to his nickname. Full Review

Peter Stack
June 18, 2002
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

Handsome, but curiously cold, considering the emotional heat of Anglo-Irish matters. Fortunately, Liam Neeson commands almost every frame. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
February 14, 2001
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Jordan always had 6-foot-4 Liam Neeson in mind to play the man they called "the Big Fellow," and it's more than size that makes Neeson fit the part of a leader known for his "cloudburst temperament." Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Collins, who died at 31, was arguably the key figure in the struggles that led to the separation of Ireland and Britain. He was also, on the basis of this film, a man able to use violence without beco... Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

While Michael Collins does distort elements of history, most of the changes and compressions are dramatically effective. Full Review

March 28, 2010
Film4

Bad history perhaps, but Neeson's performance borders on the brilliant. Full Review

March 28, 2010
TV Guide's Movie Guide

While the film is unflinching in its depiction of the brutality of both the English and the Irish, Jordan pointedly dissociates his hero from any actual ugliness. Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
July 18, 2008
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Neil Jordan uses very broad and movie-ish strokes to paint his portrait of the busy, eponymous hero. Full Review

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  • who played the title role in the 1996 movie michael collins?  Answer »
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  • Who played Michael Collins in the film of the same name?  Answer »
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