Michael Collins (1996) on Netflix
R19962h 13mBiographyDramaThriller
After the Easter Rising ends in defeat, Michael Collins turns to guerrilla tactics to win Irish independence, ordering assassinations of informers and of British intelligence agents.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.1/1036,494 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1916 the Easter Rising ends with the Irish republicans surrendering in Dublin to the British Army, and Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Tom Clarke and James Connolly are executed. Éamon de Valera is spared because of his American citizenship and is jailed with Michael Collins and Harry Boland. Sinn Féin wins the 1918 election and declares independence, opening the Irish War of Independence. De Valera becomes president, and Collins becomes Director of Intelligence for the IRA. Ned Broy, who serves in the loyalist G Division but supports the cause, warns Collins that Dublin Castle plans to arrest the Cabinet.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Michael Collins (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Michael Cimino wrote a script and worked on pre-production for over a year in the late 1980s on a Collins film called Blest Souls, with Sean Bean marked down to star, but Cimino was fired over budget concerns.
- Warner Bros. executive Rob Friedman pressured the director to reshoot the ending to focus on the love story between Collins and Kiernan, in an attempt to downplay the breakdown of Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations.
- With a budget estimated at $25 million, 10 to 12 percent of it from the Irish Film Board, it was one of the most expensive films ever produced in Ireland, and the breakdown of the IRA ceasefire during filming pushed its release from June to December.
- Neil Jordan mentions in his film diary that Kevin Costner had also been interested in developing a movie about Collins, titled Mick, and had visited Béal na Bláth and the surrounding areas.
- Jordan first met Liam Neeson on the set of John Boorman's Excalibur, where Jordan was a creative associate and Neeson had a supporting role as Sir Gawain; they became friends and Jordan hoped to one day make a film about Collins with Neeson involved.
- The film became the highest-grossing film ever in Ireland, surpassing Jurassic Park, with a gross of IR£4.27 million ($6.7 million).
- Michael Collins won the Golden Lion at the 53rd Venice International Film Festival, with Liam Neeson winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.
