Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, a few problems
Review: Entertaining and fairly good acocunt of an interesting period in Irish history. However I am troubled by the appearance of the tri-color Irish flag throughout film, since it is the flag of the Republic of Ireland, which did not exist as a country during the period much of this film focuses upon. The flag represents the separation of north and South, which is not in place til the very end of the film. Also, I am always skeptical of love interests in historical/biographical films of this sort.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful! Captures the essence of the man who was Collins
Review: Though some of the film was not historically acurate-- the movie captured the feel of the times: The brutality of British tyranny, the struggle for Irish freedom, and the difficult choices that were made regarding that freedom. Michael Collins was a man whose roll in history is very complicated. I believe Liam Neeson did an excellent job in portraying him. This is a must see for anyone interested in Irish History.
Rating:
Summary: War is Hell and there aren't any good guys!!!
Review: Although this movie wasn't supported by the reviewers, I think it was an excellent attempt to puzzle through an impossibly complex (still) situation in Ireland. For those of us with English, Scotch-Irish and Irish ancestry, it gives us a little perspective. How could these people from these tiny adjacent islands hate one another so? Having seen 'Mary, Queen of Scots', I also had some perspective for how long the hatreds have gone back. The loyalty of the men to one another was something our modern day politicians could learn from. Alan Rickman played the cold, calculating but nonetheless, brave leader of the rebels. He plays these unsympathetic parts beautifull, as he allows the viewer to have some compassion for what is obviously one of the 'bad guy' roles in the movie. Julie Roberts lost her Irish accent halfway through, and was a poor choice for the role. But I frankly think a love interest was important to give some relief to the unremitting eternal enmity that exists among fellow Irishmen and their English 'overlords'. It's still a puzzle, but a wee bit more understandable to a girl from the South, who has seen its' own stupid war. Alice Copeland Brown
Rating:
Summary: Epic saga of the struggle for Irish freedom
Review: If you thought that oppression in the 20th century was limited to dictatorships or 3rd world countries, you thought wrong. Starkly depicted is the truculent domination of the British over their close neighbors, the Irish. Neeson is perfect as the charismatic, determined, and troubled leader of the Irish movement (I know, people will argue and say it was Griffith or De Valera, but Collins was responsible in no small way for Irish Independence). Moving, compelling drama with perfect soundtrack, marred only by horrible accents from Roberts and Quinn. I highly recommend this film, especially if you know little about the history of Eirann.
Rating:
Summary: Fierce, bitter, violent journey back to the birth of Ireland
Review: Liam Neeson leads a band of IRA fighters through the bitter years which led up to the birth of the modern Irish nation.Faced with circumstances that require Collins (Neesom)to reinvent the revolution in the face of harsh British resolve, Collins determines that violence, in whatever unsporting form may be required, will become the singular mechanism by which the Irish people will forever force the hated British out of their isle. A powerful music score combines with a great dedication to detail and sweeping direction to recreate 1920's Dublin on the silver screen. Another towering performance by Neesom and a veteran cast, including a low key Julia Roberts. END
Rating: 
Summary: Eire gu Braugh
Review: Liem Neeson is absolutely magnificent. The movie is heart-joltingly rivetting. If you are interested in Irish History at all, you need to see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: The World's First Terrorist
Review: Michael Collins is a fine historical film that essentially captures the life and times of the Irish hero who founded the Irish Republican Army and became the first man since George Washington to force the British Empire to the negotiating table. The production values are very high and the acting is very good. There are a few liberties taken with historical accuracy but most of these are for dramatic effect and do not detract from the overall historical perspective of the film.
The film has gained additional importance since 9/11 and for this reason should be viewed by all Americans concerned with our current conflict in the Middle East. There is no way of getting around the fact that Michael Collins was a terrorist and that he founded the first modern terror organization. The film can be used as a study of how terror can successfully be used to obtain political ends, in this case independence for Ireland. It also demonstrates just how difficult it is to defeat an insurrection of this kind, even for the greatest military power on Earth. The film thus becomes a very important warning for the American public, and policy makers in Washington, concerning our current war in Iraq. Collins is presented as a sympathetic character who most Americans will root for; certainly not a bad guy like Osama bin Laden. But remember, there are a large number of people in the world, especially in the Asia, for whom Osama is a sympathetic hero. Both he and Collins fight the same kind of war against similar enemies. Will Osama, like Collins, win in the end? I certainly hope not, but then I am speaking from the perspective of a 21st century American. And if I were an early 20th century Englishman or American, having just fought a bloody world war to make the world safe for democracy, I certainly might have regarded Collins as representing the antithesis of my values.
So my advice is definitely to view Michael Collins. It is an excellent and exciting action film with a very sympathetic hero who was largely responsible for founding the Republic of Ireland. But then keep in mind that we are now engaged in a life and death struggle with enemies that have similar aims, use similar tactics, and, like Collins, will stop at nothing to achieve their ends.
A little bit about my own background, I am a non-Irish American (unless you go back about 300 years) who has lived and traveled in Ireland and has close ties with that country. I have also read a great deal of Irish history. I think this gives me a different perspective on Ireland's conflict with the British Empire from someone who is either Irish or from a family recently immigrated from Ireland. Having read the other Amazon reviews of this movie, I am somewhat amused with those (few) who seem to have hated it. They seem to fall into two major categories. The first are the die-hard Sinn Fein-IRA types who cannot forgive Collin's compromise with the British. The other categories are those die-hard Unionists who cannot forgive the fact that Collins beat the British Empire! Get a grip guys!
Rating:
Summary: A Solid 4
Review: This movie was one of the suggestions I selected from an Amazon "page I just created" list. Having an Irish background, I am sad to say I did not know who Michael Collins was before I purchased this movie. So I took a look at it from both an educational and entertainment point of view. In the end I felt it did both, educate and entertain.
Overall I thought the casting was just OK. I liked Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn, however I didn't care for Julia Roberts as the Kitty Kiernan character for some reason. I liked the story-line, but I am not sure as to the historical accuracy of this portrayal. The overall story seemed to have a few gaps in it.
If you enjoy movies like The Patriot, Braveheart, and Gladiator and are looking for entertainment versus authenticity then this is a movie for you.
Rating:
Summary: Soul stirring
Review: In an episode of the 1980's cop drama "Miami Vice," Liam Neeson put in an appearance as an IRA terrorist-or at least I think he did if memory serves me correctly. Perhaps his depiction of an Irish tough on television laid the foundation for his work in Neil Jordan's 1996 bio pic "Michael Collins." The 1990s saw several films about the "Troubles," the word often used to describe the unremitting conflict in Northern Ireland, arrive in theaters. Maybe the hopes of a lasting peace in the troubled region during the last decade, as the IRA agreed to lay down their arms on several occasions, inspired Hollywood. I don't know. Whatever the case, armchair fans of Ireland had plenty to look at in the Cineplex for a few years. While I haven't seen most of these films, I have seen "Michael Collins" several times over the last eight years, and it is difficult to imagine any of these other pictures surpassing this one in any way, shape, or form. Jordan's picture is an inspired piece of work, a beautiful yet politically complex look at how the IRA came to function as an urban guerilla operation in their efforts to secure a unified Ireland free of British oversight and influence.
The film starts on a dramatic tone as Irish rebels battle British troops in the Easter Uprising of 1916. This rebellion fails despite the fact that most of England's resources are tied up in the war raging on the continent. Most of the upstarts-including Michael Collins (Neeson), Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), and Eamon de Valera (Alan Rickman)-march off to lengthy prison sentences. The perceived ringleaders aren't as lucky: the British line up most of these chaps against the wall and gun them down. Eamon de Valera is one of the few higher ups to survive in large part because he was born in America. With their leadership decimated, Collins and his associates await their release dates so they can continue the fight with the British. It doesn't take long for the rebels to reconstitute a command structure once they get out, but the failed revolt has left its mark on many of the participants. Two schools of strategy emerge concerning future operations for freedom. De Valera and others seek to once again arise and duke it out with the English just as they did in 1916. Collins knows this option will lead to another loss and further prison sentences. He supports taking the war underground by resorting to guerilla warfare in the streets and alleys of Ireland. By striking and then hiding, Collins believes the Irish movement has a much better chance of forcing the British to the bargaining table.
Collins gets his chance to launch a bloody campaign against the British when the Irish leadership heads off to jail again. With the assistance of Harry Boland, he persuades groups of young toughs to raid armories for weapons. He also manages to acquire the secret loyalty of an Irish cop working for the British, Ned Broy (Stephen Rea), to allow him access to the mountains of police files on Irish resistance groups. With an inside view of what the English will do before they even do it, Collins's campaigns of violence become amazingly effective. His boys wipe out a special detachment of Brits sent in to quell unrest. They assassinate police officers and officials. Collins is generally safe from the authorities due to a host of reasons, the least of which include his support from the people and the fact that the cops have no clue what he looks like. How the British didn't know Michael Collins on sight considering he spent time in jail is something I can't explain, but nonetheless his terror missions serve their purpose. The British seek a resolution to the conflict, and Eamon de Valera charges Collins with the task of acting as the Irish emissary. This decision is an adroit political move on de Valera's part, and one that has lasting and violent consequences for the future of Ireland.
I liked everything about "Michael Collins" even though the movie suffers under the onerous burden of two key problems. First, the entire subplot involving Harry Boland, Collins, and an Irish lass named Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts) tends to grate. I'm sure the studio insisted on putting a romance theme in the movie in order to sell more tickets and to temper the strident political message, but doing so detracts from the power of the film. Second, historical accuracy occasionally flies out the window in lieu of dramatic license. Witness the sporting event where the British drive an armored car onto the field and promptly gun down the athletes and fire into the crowd. The documentary on the film appended to the DVD discusses this depiction in some depth, and even Jordan admits the event didn't happen exactly the way he portrayed it. But what's good works wonders. Neeson is magnificent as the revolutionary both brutal in his outrages and horrified at the results. Rickman plays de Valera with a sinister silkiness. These two actors are so good at what they do that Rea and Quinn often fade into the background. The locations and set pieces look authentic.
Unfortunately, the extras don't live up to the film. You get a trailer and the aforementioned documentary (which does run for nearly an hour, at least) and that's it. I would have taken the DVD release of this film as an excuse to add a bunch of information about the Irish struggle for independence. C'est la vie, I guess. Whatever the case, the movie is definitely worth the price of the DVD. "Michael Collins" is a film I watch whenever I get the chance, and I will continue to do so well into the future.
Rating:
Summary: The begining of the modern IRA
Review: "Michael Collins", as played by Liam Neeson (one of the great actors of our time), was a early IRA hero. He was a man who knew that convensional warfare wasn't working in the war against the British. So Collins began urban guerrilla hit and run tactics against the brutal English police and soldiers. That brings the British to the negotiation table. Here is where history and the film differ; the truth gets murky. According to the Jordan, Collins brokered the best treatie he could from Churchill. Then he was met with scorn by the Irish president Eamon De Vaera (Alan Rickman, another great actor, when he isn't playing psychos) and started a civil war that ultimiatly ended with Collins's assasination. I have no way to know whether this movie is accurate or not, I only know that while Collins tried to broker peace, his murder triggered decades of war. I am not going to go into a monoluge about whether the IRA is right or wrong. Anyway, the movie. "Michael Collins" writer and director Neil Jordan has been an interesting diector for many many films ("Interview with the Vampire" and "The Company of Wolves"), and while he dosn't exactly out do himself here, it is certainly awonderful movie, and one that shouldf be watched; if not for it's historical content, then for the production. All of the actors are wonderful; Neeson, Rickman (who was good, but a little too 'cool for school' at the beggining and weak at the end); Adian Quinn, wonderful; Stephen Rea (also under playing it, but to much better effect) is always a favorite of mine; how Rea isn't more widely recognised and respected than he is is a mystery to me. I guess the weak link is Julia Roberts's Kitty Kiernan. At first I thought that her character was made up for the romantic interest; but I guess that she was a real person. And since Kiernan was being played by Roberts, she had to have a bigger than nessasary role for her. The romance sidelined the movie and dragged it down pretty roughly in too many places not to notice. So, what is the point of this movie? Freedom is worth killing and dying for? Well, you have to read into it what you will.
|
