Michael Collins [VHS] [1996]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the film itself (apart from a few historical inaccuracies) what I was puzzled by and wasn't happy with is that the DVD stops 17 minutes before the end of the film and you have to turn the disc over for the remainder of the film!!! It also doesn't inform you that you need to turn the disc over, I thought that something was wrong with the disc for a short time until I turned it over. Totally ruined the moment. In these days of fairly advanced technology you would think that it would be possible to get a film that lasts 133 mins all on the one side of a disc!! It wasn't even as if the room was taken up by copious amounts of DVD extras!

Michael Cimino was one of many who tried to bring the story of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins to the screen and on the evidence of the mess he made of Salvatore Giuliano's story in The Siclian (and the bizarre gay love triangle in his proposed version) it's a good job he didn't. Kevin Costner's attempts resulted in some equally simplistic scripts that enshrined cliche over history before Warners decided to drop his version in favor of Neil Jordan's long-planned film. Even if they were motivated more by the success of Interview With the Vampire than the material, they made the right choice: Michael Collins is easily one of Jordan's very best films and a strikingly intelligent piece of political cinema. There are changes for dramatic purposes, but these generally seem made for sound reasons and don't change the essential truth of the Irish Republican hero who became a scapegoat for de Valera's failure to gain a Republic and ended up being assassinated by his former colleagues in Ireland's forgotten and bloody civil war.

Clocking in at little over 130 minutes, Jordan keeps a sense of momentum that occasionally loses the odd detail that would be helpful to audiences unfamiliar with Irish history (such as the way the popular hatred towards the rebels who fought in the Easter Rising was turned around by the disastrous decision of the British to execute its leaders) but which still manages to find room for character as well, personalizing the tragedy surprisingly effectively. One of the last historical epics to use real sets and real extras instead of CGI, the film feels grounded in reality while still being an enthralling and cinematic political thriller. Sinead O'Connor's screaming over the assassination scene is unhelpful, but even that can't destroy the film.

Keeping his promise to cast Liam Neeson despite heavy lobbying from Michael Collins lookalike Kenneth Branagh (who lacks the presence necessary for the part), Jordan gets good rather than great performances from his leads, although Alan Rickman nails de Valera's reptilian and hesitant delivery and Ian Hart impresses as one of Collins' lieutenants. The unwelcome presence of Julia Roberts threatens to turn the film into Hollywood but thankfully her extremely limited abilities aren't stretched to breaking point. Probably the only film about the IRA that protestants and Brits can see without bringing Molotov cocktails to the cinema, it's release fell foul of America's constant denial of the complexities of the situation, Ireland's denial of the civil war and the rest of the world's horror at the IRA breaking their ceasefire without warning and killing a little girl in the process. Rarely revived, it's definitely worth rediscovering.

The DVD comes with an excellent South Bank Show that fills in many of the film's historical gaps, including archive footage of Collins himself (who really was a dead ringer for Branagh), although it is irritatingly a flipper disc.

I saw this film for the 2nd time last week and enjoyed it just as much as the first time .I cannot understand the criticism of Julia Roberts as her role in the film is not that important and I didnt find her accent offensive.Another review critisizes Rickman and this is totally without foundation as i have heard numerous recordings of Devs radio broadcasts and i find Alans portayal and voice eerie in its accuracy,not too mention his appearnce.Jordan appears to have choosen what the viewers should think in his linkage with Devs involvement in Collins death when there is no solid proof that Dev was involved,equally Devs personality appears less than honorable throughout with all the heroics heavily balanced in Collins favour.If their was a need to show the cruelty of the British secret service the inaccuracy of an actual persons death(Broy, who died 50 years later) was silly cosidering the historical accuracy throughout is admirable.Similarly the civil war started because of the oath of allegiance not partitiona.Another review correctly mentions that the 1916 rebels were pelted with stones and rotten fruit by the Dublin poulace for being responsible for the deaths and ruination of the city and only as a result of General Maxwell's decision to to shoot the leaders did the support swing copletely in favour of the rebels.Lastly Liam Neeson's " BIG FELLA" performance was great and made it an overall a great watch!!!