The Saint (1997)

Director:

Phillip Noyce

Writers (WGA):

Leslie Charteris (character)
Jonathan Hensleigh (story)

Release Date:

4 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Cunning. Devious. Dangerous. Treacherous.

Plot:

Simon Templar has no real family, no real home and Simon Templar isn't even his real name. Yet Simon Templar ...

Plot Keywords:

Fusion | The Saint | Disguise | Energy | Thief

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Simon Templar
Elisabeth Shue	...	Dr. Emma Russell
Rade Serbedzija	...	Ivan Tretiak
Valeri Nikolayev	...	Ilya Tretiak (as Valery Nikolaev)
Henry Goodman	...	Dr. Lev Botvin
Alun Armstrong	...	Inspector Teal
Michael Byrne	...	Vereshagin, Tretiak's Aide
Yevgeni Lazarev	...	President Karpov (as Evgeny Lazarev)
Irina Apeksimova	...	Frankie (as Irina Apeximova)
Lev Prygunov	...	General Sklarov (as Lev Prigunov)
Charlotte Cornwell	...	Inspector Rabineau
Emily Mortimer	...	Woman on Plane
Lucija Serbedzija	...	Russian Prostitute
Velibor Topic	...	Skinhead
Tommy Flanagan	...	Scarface

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence, brief strong language, some sensuality and drug content.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Foreign Affairs Ministry building, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The voice of the radio announcer at the end of the film is Roger Moore, who played the Saint on British television in the 1960s before going on to greater fame as James Bond in the 1970s.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Emma enters Simon's English country house she leaves the door wide open and continues into the room. In a subsequent shot, the door is closed.

Quotes:

Dr. Emma Russell: After all, you are my personal saint.
Simon Templar: You have to be a very good, and usually very dead person to become a saint. And more importantly, you need to work three miracles. Now, get to work.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hamlet 2 (2008)

Soundtrack:

Out Of My Mind

Am I the only one to like it?

I liked this movie. Not as "The Saint" but as an elaborate action movie with a twist. Val Kilmer bears nothing in him that even gets close to Roger Moore's character - but if you look away from that and try to see it as an ordinary film, it's really good.

First of all, Val Kilmer performs fairly well, despite his weird accents. I really liked his artist type guy who seduces Emma Russell, he was great fun.

As for the story, well...I didn't bother to check for anomalies, I knew I'd find plenty. I only have two more things to say:

1. Elisabeth Shue is absolutely stunningly beautiful in this film.

2. The cool car that we only get to see a few seconds is a Volvo C70, a worthy replacement for the Volvo P1800 that Moore's Saint drove around in.