Product Description

Val Kilmer sizzles as Simon Templar, Aka the saint, a gentleman thief and master of disguise caught in a deadly web of international intrigue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6921 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 1998-10-07
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.com
Lightly enjoyable but a disappointment in the context of author Leslie Charteris's popular character, the Saint--who has been played by several actors, most notably George Sanders--this 1997 film is more in keeping with the requirements of high-octane contemporary action than it is the requirements of a particular legacy. Val Kilmer plays Simon Templar, the mercenary spy, who is hired to steal a fusion formula but falls in love with the scientist (Elisabeth Shue) who cooked it up. Kilmer's portrayal bears little resemblance to Charteris's rakish hero, and the film itself becomes increasingly improbable and ponderous the longer it goes on. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

You don't believe in all that critic mumbo jumbo do you?
Just the other night I caught "The Saint" on television, and I was rapt. Aside from the movies ride through Russia, and the ingenious escape methods of Val Kilmer's character, Simon Templar, a theif with interesting disguises and gadgets, it is the love story that has taken me. Elisabeth Shue's character makes your heart ache: someone so beautiful to be so alone and in search for the magic of love. The chemistry between Kilmer and Shue is absolutely overwhelming, and it makes me wonder why I have read so many critic reviews on this movie that have shot it to the dirt? Why listen to critics anyway? What exactly do they expect? This is a movie where you have to see the beauty and the fun that it displays, and understand the purity and magnificence of true, spirited love. Critics can dog this movie all they want, where it's action may not excite the "Armageddon" fans, and it's suspense may not grip the "Scream" fans, the excellence of this movie is left for those who can relate to it. In this world that lacks magic, is filled with disappointments, and sad, repeititive activities, this movie is the spice that anyone's life can use. Yes, critics, shake your heads in disgust, just know that The Saint's love story alone by far trascends the over-rated greatness of "Titanic" and other such movies that everyone went mad over. Judge a movie by what it gives to you, not by what you expect of it. "The Saint" is definitly 1 of very few movies that will soon be entering my movie collection.

Great modern spy movie
I really liked this film, and yes, I have seen the series with Roger Moore. I note that the reviews here so far seem to fall into two camps: people who never saw the series, and loved the film, and people who loved the series, and just can't get over their disappointment that their beloved character wasn't faithfully portrayed on the big screen.

No, Val Kilmer's Simon Templar is not the same as Roger Moore's. but this isn't really such a bad thing. The movie is a really nice, underrated spy thriller. It's got action, romance, exotic locals, love-to-hate-em villains, a likeable hero, and a plot that doesn't strain suspension of disbelief too far. What more do you want in a popcorn movie?

I'll admit, if you're a real fan of the series or the books it might have been nice to have a movie that reflects the original a little more faithfully. But it might be well to recognize that the series was not without its faults as well. For one thing, it always bothered my about the series that Simon Templar is an unadulterated good guy, who never, ever does anything really criminal or base or rotten, yet everywhere he goes, the local authorities are watching him like hawks, as though he is some kind of arch criminal.

I'm also rather thrown for a loop that some of the reviewers here blast the movie for being unbelievable, and then decry Val Kilmer's Simon Templar because he's not like the "real" Saint. True, this version is not all that faithful to the spirit of Leslie Charteris' character, but that Saint was a freelance, adventuring do-gooder, a man who read the papers eager to find a cause to involve himself in. His moral code was strong, and his motives were also pure: he would never hurt, steal from, or kill anyone who doesn't completely deserve it. In short, the Saint was the Robin Hood of the twentieth century. Folks, let's face it, this is not the most believable character in fiction. I grant you, it's certainly fun, and it might have played well in the pulp era of the 1920s in which the character orignated (or even the early to mid 60s when the series was made), but the producers of the film probably felt (and perhaps not wrongly, let's grant) that this sort of thing was just too much for audiences to swallow in today's more cynical era.

If you can get over the fact that this is not really Leslie Charteris' Saint, then you will find this movie to be a really fun, entertaining spy thriller. I recommend it.

The Saint
I did see the original series, but still really liked this movie. Val Kilmer made a great Simon Templar! I thought his multiple personalities embodied in his disguises were well done. The accents, languages, and mannerisms were also what were expected of him. There was a nice balance of romance and suspense, which is what made this highly enjoyable.