The Saint (1997) Reviews

• A guilty pleasure

  Crewgrrl202004-03-20

  I love this movie. As a movie buff, I must admit, objectively, this is a bad movie. The writing is ridiculous, the plot is convoluted, and Val Kilmer's accents are bizarre. But I love this movie. It is that wonderful combination of danger and romance that makes for great fantasy. The chemistry between Kilmer and Shue holds this movie together. It is a delight to watch them realize that their skin deep attraction goes much deeper. If you can suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the ride, the Saint is a fun movie. Despite its flaws, the Saint is a guilty pleasure to indulge in when your own life is lacking in explosions, gun fights, and sudden, passionate romances.

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• Am I the only one to like it?

  Rammstein-22000-02-22

  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.

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• Val Kilmer's performance is incredible

  Lotts2004-10-16

  I thoroughly enjoyed this film and not just because of Val Kilmer's accomplishment at successfully being eye-candy, but also because of the amazing personality transformations his character goes through in front of the mirror. The story line itself is pretty impressive and I loved that although it keeps you guessing, you don't end up wondering, "What the hell is going on?' The science side is played down enough for the audience to know it's there but not to get distracted by its details. I don't know if the theory actually works, but after watching the film I don't really care - that isn't the point of the movie. The thing that surprised me the most though was the leading female scientist, played by Elisabeth Shue. It's obvious from the start that she's going to be the 'love interest' but her characters personality always puts a question to the question, will they actually end up together. She's shy and nervous of people, but is incredibly open, honest and warmly lovable - an almost perfect contrast to Kilmer's über-suave, identity-confused, international thief-for-hire/spy. But that's the very thing that makes them ideal for each other, they might just be able to help each other with their character flaws and so you root for them both on a rather grand scale. I was vaguely baffled by the inclusion of random, suffering Russian civilians towards the latter half of the film, but considering that they were a film device to make the baddie look bad, the goodie look good and the 'common people trapped in the middle' look down right fantastic, they do their job rather well (apart from one woman who rats out our hero). All in all, they makes sure the audience are still caring if the common people are helped by the good guy, and hoping that the bad guy will eventually get his comeuppance. However, back to my original point. I still think that the film's main achievement is putting Val Kilmer in an interesting role that shows off just how good he can be; he's observant, yet unobservable; seductive, yet not a cad; confident but riddled with insecurities. Moreover, in the early stages of the film, British students are no longer misrepresented as drunken, whoring lay-abouts, but as attentive learners who actually show up for lectures. Impressive stuff. Yours Sincerely, A Proud British Student.

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• Pleasantly surprised

  dcobbimdb2004-10-10

  Maybe my expectations were too low going in after reading a slue of terrible reviews, but I thought it was a good solid movie and very entertaining. Val Kilmer was great in his disguises and rolls. Elisabeth Shue was attractive as ever and played her part well. The movie kept on a continual pace, and kept the action and suspense throughout. There were a few things I thought were lame and it got a little unrealistic at times, but all in all it was a good solid movie. Maybe even a good action / romance date movie. If you haven't seen it (as I hadn't until today), give it a try. It has action, suspense, romance, and a little comedy thrown in for good measure. It runs in at just about 2 hours long, so long enough to get a good plot, some twists & turns and yet not bore you. There will always be people that pick plot holes in movies and just love proving that it's road kill. If you're one of those people, maybe you should stay away, but if you want a good entertaining popcorn movie it's worth a watch.

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• Simon Templar against Russian mobsters in a moving international intrigue

  ma-cortes2010-05-29

  The movie deal with Ivan Tretiak ( Rade Serbedzja ) and his son ( Nikolayev ), Russian Mafia chiefs who want to create an oil crisis in Moscow and seize power as a result . They agree Simon Templar ( Val Kilmer ) , -master of disguises and great international criminal- , and send him to Oxford to steal a secret formula for cold fusion from U.S. scientist Emma Russell ( Elisabeth Shue ) who cooked up the recipe . That formula will give Tretiak a source of cheap energy and deal of money as result . But Templar falls in love with Emma and they attempt to outwit the two megalomaniacs and his hoodlums , hiding from them in Moscow . Meanwhile , Simon Templar is continuously changing identities and being relentlessly pursued by the police ( Alun Amstrung ). The Russian magnate with an eye on the presidency of the Russian Empire plans a coup détat. This exciting picture is packed with frantic action, thrills, suspense, tension and an enjoyable love story . However , it contains a silly and dumb final set on the square of Moscu . The story bears little resemblance to the 60s British TV series on which it is based because of the complex argument is quite different . Brief acting by Emily Mortimer and uncredited Roger Moore as voice in car radio . Splendid musical score by Graeme Revell based on the catching leitmotif of the 60s series . The motion picture is regularly directed by Phillip Noyce . Rating : Average and overlong though entertaining. This character based on Leslie Charteris' novel was formerly adapted for cinema with George Sanders and Louis Hayward and for TV in the classic series starred by Roger Moore and subsequently by Ian Ogilvy in the 70s and the 80s performed by Simon Dutton and produced by Robert S. Baker the same producer of the recent rendition.

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