Product Description

Neil Jordan returns to the strife-torn Irish political landscape for this real-life epic set in 1920 and starring Liam Neeson as the legendary Irish revolutionary leader and Julia Roberts as his headstrong fiancee.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1427 in DVD
• Released on: 1997-04-08
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Irish writer-director Neil Jordan followed up his surprise hit The Crying Game with this controversial biography of IRA leader Michael Collins (Liam Neeson), one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century. The film follows Collins as he matures from guerrilla leader to national hero and statesman. Jordan's take on Collins is that he was set up by Irish president Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), who was jealous of Collins's legendary popularity. De Valera puts Collins in the position of negotiating a peace treaty that would never satisfy the Irish hero's hard-core followers. When the IRA leader returns with a first-step compromise, De Valera undercuts Collins's popularity by refusing to support the revised treaty. And the civil war continues for decades. Michael Collins occasionally loses focus and momentum, but is the kind of exciting historical drama that deserves to be called "sweeping." It is also one of the most beautifully photographed films in years: cinematographer Chris Menges uses color and texture to set moods and accent emotions. The movie also stars Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, and Stephen Rea. --Jim Emerson

From The New Yorker
The short life and lasting legend of the Irish freedom fighter Michael Collins, compressed into a vigorous movie by the writer and director Neil Jordan. It doesn't have the swooning strangeness at which Jordan excels, but there is still a driven quality-the film resembles one of Jean-Pierre Melville's gangster thrillers, brooded over by a darker destiny. Collins, who began by killing the British on the streets of Dublin, ended up talking to them at the conference table; he died at the hands of a fellow-Irishman in 1922. Liam Neeson gives a hefty performance as the hero, but the film takes too much care insuring that we like and admire him, cooling the figure's hot temper and ignoring any sins of the flesh (let alone of the spirit) which he committed-he remains devoted to Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts). Many of the characters seem rather thin and milky, and historians will balk at the political simplifications. The strength of the movie resides mainly in the work of its cameraman, Chris Menges, who delivers a barrage of images as rousing and changeable as the fortunes of Collins himself. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Historically inaccurate, mediocre-to-bad acting
This movie, while somewhat interesting, was so historically inaccurate and lopsided it's laughable. Alan Rickman's performance as Eamonn de Valera deserves particular mention; there's simply no way such a weak-minded man could possibly have served as taoiseach or president of Ireland. There's inadvertent humor in Julia Roberts's attempt at an Irish accent (and where are the strong Irish women so prominent in history?). If you want to watch a movie about the Irish struggle for independence, watch "The Treaty" -- it is more interesting and more historically accurate, and it has better acting.

Love the film, despise the DVD release.
This review is not concerned with the film itself - but rather its presentation on DVD. First of all, the disc is packaged in the much maligned Warner Bros. cardboard snapcase - which is easily damaged and impossible to replace short of simply buying another copy of the title.

Secondly, it is a double-sided disc and the film is broken up into two parts. As it always is with films released on DVD in this manner (GETTYSBURG, SCHINDLER'S LIST) the break is quite sudden and disruptive to the movie-watching experience.

Granted, the copyright on the sleeve is 1997, so this was perhaps before the industry had created dual-layer discs - but it's a shame this title has not been re-released with these issues addressed. There are a multitude of films much longer than MICHAEL COLLINS that have fit onto one single-sided disc (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and SEVEN SAMURAI spring to mind).

Still, it's a budget priced title and - most significantly - the only manner in which to enjoy the film on DVD as the time of this writing.

For the record, the fifty minute documentary that is included on the DVD is rather interesting and much appreciated.

Liam Neeson Shines as Collins
This is a well produced and well written film that tells the story of Michael Collins and the Irish Rebellion and subsequent civil war with great historical accuracy and drama. Liam Neeson is unforgettable in a role he is absolutely perfectly cast in as Michael Collins. Most of the rest of the cast does very well with the exception of Julia Roberts who seems out of her league here but mercifully doesn't hinder the enjoyment of the film all that much.
The tensions that erupt between Collins and Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman)form the heart of the film. It is a chapter in Irish history that lends itself well to dramatic treatment and the film lives up to it's raw material.Nice work from director Neil Jordan.