Michael Collins (1996)

Neil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writer:

Neil Jordan

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Hart	...	Joe O'Reilly
Julia Roberts	...	Kitty Kiernan
Richard Ingram	...	British Officer
Liam Neeson	...	Michael Collins
Aidan Quinn	...	Harry Boland
John Kenny	...	Patrick Pearse
Ronan McCairbre	...	Thomas MacDonagh
Jer O'Leary	...	Thomas Clarke (as Ger O'Leary)
Mike Dwyer	...	James Connolly (as Michael Dwyer)
Martin Murphy	...	Captain Lee-Wilson
Alan Rickman	...	Eamon de Valera
Sean McGinley	...	Smith
Gary Whelan	...	Hoey
Frank O'Sullivan	...	Kavanagh
Stephen Rea	...	Ned Broy

Storyline

Neil Jordan's depiction of the controversial life and death of Michael Collins, the "Lion of Ireland", who led the IRA against the UK and helped found the Irish Free State in 1922.

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Plot Keywords:

irish civil war | 1920s | army | soldier | ceasefire | 

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Taglines:

An epic tale of passion and destiny.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

UK Ireland USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

El precio de la libertad

Filming Locations:

Broadstone, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$187,052, 13 October 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$11,092,559

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Geffen Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Matt Dillon was originally up for the part of Harry Boland, later taken by Aidan Quinn.

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Goofs

Ned Broy provides to his new boss a picture of Michael Collins, but that same picture was taken from the same archive which Collins previously removed from his own file, a few scenes earlier.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joe O'Reilly: [dictating a letter] You've got to think of him the way he was... He was what the times demanded. And life without him seems impossible. But he's dead. And life is possible. He made it possible.

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Crazy Credits

Opening scroll: At the turn of the century Britian was the foremost world power and the British Empire stretched over two-thirds of the globe. Despite the extent of its power its most troublesome colony had always been the one closest to it, Ireland For seven hundred years Britain's rule over Ireland had been resisted by attempts at rebellion and revolution, all of which ended in failure. Then, in 1916, a rebellion began, to be followed by a guerilla war which would change the nature of that rule forever. The mastermind behind that war was Michael Collins. His life and death defined the period, in its triumph, terror and tragedy. This is his story.

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Connections

Featured in The South Bank Show: Michael Collins (1996)

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Soundtracks

Low whistle and Uilleann pipes
Played by Davy Spillane
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (U.K.) Limited

User Reviews

Great historical piece

Anyone interested in history especially that pertaining to how Ireland broke away from the United Kingdom and became it's own country definitely should check out this movie.

Liam Neeson was born to play Michael Collins, can't think of any other actor who would've been appropriate to play this role. Aidan Quinn and Alan Rickman were both also great in their roles. Julia Roberts gets way too much hate for her role in this movie. She was perfectly fine in her role and if anyone else without the attention that she brings had been in that role it wouldn't have gotten all the negative reaction that it had gotten.