The Saint

Never reveal your name. Never turn your back. Never surrender your heart.
The Saint (1997)
Timing: 1:56 (116 min)
6.2/10
84 363

no scores
6.1/10
1286
6.2/10
78000
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Release date
Budget
$68 000 000
Box office
$118 063 304
Website
Director
Scenario
Producer
Mace Neufeld, David Brown, Robert Evans, William J. MacDonald, Lis Kern, Christine Forsyth-Peters, Paul Hitchcock, Robert S. Baker
Camera operator
Phil Meheux
Composer
Artist
Joseph C. Nemec III, Sarah Hauldren
Audition
Patsy Pollock, Elisabeth Leustig
Editing
Terry Rawlings
Whole Team (54)

Short description

Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.

What's left behind the scenes

  • Mel Gibson and Ralph Fiennes were considered for the leading role.
  • The voice of the radio commentator belongs to Roger Moore, who played Simon Templar in the British television series of the 60s.
  • Roger Moore was going to produce a film version of the television series "The Saint" back in the 80s, and Pierce Brosnan was considered for the lead role at that time.
  • While filming in Oxford, the filmmakers closed the university's library to visitors, which caused outrage among students preparing for exams.
  • Val Kilmer turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as Batman for this film.
  • Hugh Grant was offered the lead role.
  • Ralph Fiennes was offered $1 million for the lead role.
  • In the early stages of the film's production, Sydney Pollack was the first candidate to direct.
  • A Volvo P1800 car can be seen parked directly in front of The Saint's London apartment building. This type of car was used in the original 1960s series.
  • The original Saint used aliases all starting with the initials S.T., while Kilmer's character used the names of Christian saints, regardless of their initials.
  • Johnny Depp, Kevin Costner, and Arnold Schwarzenegger all turned down the role in the film.
  • Berl Baer wrote a novella based on the film's screenplay.
  • The tunnels of Fort Amherst, located in Medway, South-East England, were used during filming as Moscow collectors, where Templar and Russell hide.
  • In scenes where Simon Templar (Val Kilmer) portrays the long-haired artist Thomas Moore, he speaks with a Cape Town accent. The poems of Moore featured in the film were written by Val Kilmer.
  • At the end of the film, when Simon Templar is driving in a car and listening to a radio broadcast about three billion dollars donated to charity, the reflection of sunlight on the windshield creates a halo around Simon's head.
  • Two different endings were filmed: in one, Emma Russell (Elizabeth Shue) remained alive, and in the other, she died. Despite test audiences preferring the latter ending, the film's director, Phillip Noyce, ultimately chose the former.
  • The holy pin that Elizabeth Shaw gives to Val Kilmer's character is a reference to the original emblem of the television series.
  • The song playing in the Russian apartment where Simon and Emma are hiding is a Turkmen song by Atabay Charygulyev.
  • The Saint refrained from killing, even the main villains, who remained alive to face trial. The Charteris version of the Saint had no moments of hesitation in taking another life.
  • Young Simon is left-handed, while older Simon is right-handed.
  • When Emma enters Simon's house in England, she leaves the door wide open and continues into the room. In the subsequent scene, the door is closed.
  • In the middle of the airport hall, Simon orders a cup of coffee, which is brought to him two seconds later by the same waitress.
  • When Emma enters the house in the English countryside, she approaches a table where her cards are laid out. On the table is a 14-inch NEC CRT monitor, which is completely black. A few moments later, when Simon appears, the monitor is already gray with a black panel.
  • When Ilya Tretyak (son of Ivan Tretyak) has Simon in his sights as he steals the microchip at the beginning of the film, it can be noticed that the revolver is not loaded.
  • The nickname "Boris the Spider," used by Ivan Tretyak to communicate with The Saint, is a reference to a 1966 song by The Who.
  • Mel Gibson and Ralph Fiennes were considered for the lead role.
  • The voice of the radio commentator belongs to Roger Moore, who played Simon Templar in the British television series of the 1960s.
  • Roger Moore intended to produce a film version of The Saint TV series back in the 1980s, and Pierce Brosnan was the choice for the lead role at that time.
  • Val Kilmer turned down the chance to play Batman again for a role in this movie.
  • Ralph Fiennes was offered 1 million dollars for the lead role.
  • In the early stages of production, Sydney Pollack was the first choice for director.
  • The nickname 'Boris the Spider', used by Ivan Tretyak to communicate with the Saint, is a reference to a 1966 song by The Who.
  • The original Saint used aliases where all initials were S.T., whereas Kilmer's character used the names of Christian saints, regardless of the initials.
  • Johnny Depp, Kevin Costner, and Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down the role in the film.
  • Burle Barer wrote a novella based on the film's screenplay.
  • In the scenes where Simon Templar (Val Kilmer) portrays the long-haired artist Thomas Moore, he speaks with a Cape Town accent. The poems by Moore heard in the film were written by Val Kilmer.
  • Two different endings were filmed: in one, Emma Russell (Elizabeth Shue) survived, and in the other, she died. Although the audience at the test screenings preferred the second ending, director Phillip Noyce ultimately chose the first.
  • The holy pin that Elizabeth Shue's character gives to Val Kilmer's character is a reference to the original emblem of the television series.
  • The Saint abstained from killing, even the main villains, who remained alive to stand trial. Charteris's version of the Saint had no hesitations about taking another life.

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