12 Movie Deaths You Knew Were Coming (That Still Broke You)

Another appearance for a real-life figure on this list, this one from the 1996 biopic directed by Butcher Boy auteur Neil Jordan. Anyone who boasted a passing familiarity with Irish history—which most viewers seeking out this flick likely had—would know that Liam Neeson’s heroic firebrand of a reformer, the titular Michael Collins, met an early end via a sniper bullet during the Irish civil war.

Despite this (and Julia Roberts’ atrocious Irish accent), the film manages to do an admirable job of making Collin’s life carry more gravitas than a shaggy dog story leading to an inevitable execution. Instead, the moment is given the weight an icon like Collins deserves as Neeson portrays his conflicted loyalties throughout the film and the meditative pacing allows the audience to appreciate the implications of his actions throughout a military and political career defined by fearlessness in the face of tyranny.