Michael Collins, the award-winning film that tells the story of this Irish revolutionary’s key role in Ireland’s fight for independence, is now available to watch online for free anywhere in the world.
The 1996 critically acclaimed film Michael Collins has been uploaded to YouTube by Warner Bros. Entertainment and is now available to watch in full for free.
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Watch the full film below
The historical drama explores the life of Michael Collins – an influential figure in Ireland’s struggle for freedom, who played a pivotal role in the War of Independence and in negotiating the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The movie also covers other significant aspects of Irish history, including the 1916 Rising, the 1918 election and the Civil War. [SPOILER ALERT: The film culminates with a powerful recreation of Collins’ death in 1922 at Béal na Blá in West Cork, a scene that has become one of the most famous in Irish cinema.]
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Directed by Neil Jordan, the film stars Liam Neeson in the title role, alongside Alan Rickman as Éamon de Valera, Aidan Quinn as Harry Boland, Stephen Rea as Ned Broy and Julia Roberts as Collins’ love interest, Kitty Kiernan. Filming took place predominantly on location in Dublin, and Michael Collins became one of the most expensive films ever produced in Ireland.
Neeson’s commanding performance as Michael Collins earned him the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival in August 1996, and the film received generally positive reviews following its release in the US later that October and in Ireland in November.
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Warner Bros. Entertainment’s decision to make the 2-hour-12-minute film available for free on its YouTube channel has been welcomed by both history lovers and fans of period drama. Whether revisiting this classic or watching it for the first time, audiences can now connect with the man and the movie that continue to inspire, resonate and spark debate. Watch the entire film on YouTube here or simply press play in the video below.
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