Val Kilmer plays suave espionage hero Simon Templar – aka The Saint – and Elisabeth Shue costars in this atmospheric mix of bold adventure and grand romance. An array of sophisticated gadgetry is at Templar’s command as he plunges into a cloak-and-dagger netherworld of move and countermove. Cool, too, is Templar’s knack for coming up with the right disguise at the right time. Each close-call escape is a breathless miracle – and no one knows miracles better than a saint.
What We Thought:
The Saint originally came out in 1997 and despite being a Val Kilmer fan, I probably haven’t seen it since then. Because of that, watching this new 4K Limited Edition Steelbook release felt like seeing it for the first time. I remembered some of it, but not much.
The name The Saint comes from a series of books from Leslie Charteris who created the Simon Templar character (the character Kilmer plays in the movie). The books would lead to a radio program that Vincent Price was a part of and then a 1960s British series of the same name that starred James Bond himself Roger Moore. There was also a sort of reboot series called Return of the Saint in the late 70s, but if you remember the show, you think of the Roger Moore version.
The movie starts off with a young version of Kilmer’s character at a religious orphanage where he’s treated badly and escapes after a terrible accident. As an adult he’s a well paid thief who travels the world stealing whatever someone is willing to pay for using disguises and names of saints. He wants to hit $50 million and then call it quits, but finds himself involved with a Russian billionaire who wants him to steal a formula for cold fusion from Elisabeth Shue. He falls for Shue and she falls for the man with the name of a Saint and soon finds herself involved in his Russian situation.
The movie feels like it really wanted to be the next Mission: Impossible franchise. M:I was based on an old TV show like The Saint and features world traveling, disguises, love stories and action. Like the early M:I movies, it’s also very 1990s, the Russians are the bad guys, controlling energy is big news and the soundtrack features bands like Duran Duran, Sneaker Pimps, Moby, Luscious Jackson, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Duncan Sheik, and Everything but the Girl. Sneaker Pimps’ 6 Underground was a huge song. The soundtrack sounds fantastic in 4K.
The Saint was a small hit at the box office, but never went any further. Watching it now, I can see why. Kilmer made for a great Simon Templar, but the disguises were a bit much and Mission: Impossible did it all much better. It reminds me of Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie, made for a younger audience at the time who weren’t familiar with the source material and neither went beyond one film. I hadn’t seen the film in over 25 years and found myself enjoying it, but understanding why it didn’t go further. The 4K looks fantastic and there’s some nice bonus features as well. If you are a Steelbook collector definitely add this to your collection and if you’re a fan of the film, the upgrade to 4K is worth it.
The Nerds Templar 