Master thief Simon Templar is hired by a Russian oil tycoon to steal a cold fusion formula. (from IMDb)

Ah, the classic 90's thriller. On the heels of 1996's Mission: Impossible - also a 1960's TV show adaptation - comes 1997's The Saint. It's a stylish (for the 90's; i.e. it's dated) romantic action film starring Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue that has all the hopes of launching a franchise, but none of the muscle to successfully do so. If Chain Reaction was a watered down version of The Fugitive, The Saint is the watered down version of Mission: Impossible. But, oddly enough, The Saint is still kind of charming. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it offers one of my favorite Val Kilmer performances, running around Europe under the guise of a Roman Catholic saint as a thief with a soft spot for Elisabeth Shue's shy scientist character, Dr. Emma Russell (in what is probably my favorite role for Elisabeth Shue, too).

Admittedly, I've never seen the original TV series the film is inspired by, but in the film, Val Kilmer embodies an orphan who adopted the name Simon Templar and, as an adult, goes around under the aliases of various saints. It's undoubtedly a fun sandbox for Kilmer to get to play in and he's excellent in the role. He and Shue have great chemistry, too, and the two of them together make the film worth watching. A painfully dated soundtrack, however, and a distinct 90's vibe do keep the film from feeling relevant 29 years later. Phillip Noyce, who brought us the two Harrison Ford Jack Ryan films, seems to know how to handle the romantic moments here, but kind of fumbles around with the action. After rewatching the film for this review, I googled why a sequel was never made. The film underperformed at the box office and, rumor has it, Kilmer was a challenge to work with. Furthermore, an early cut of the film had Emma getting killed two-thirds of the way through the movie, with the third act being a big revenge action finale. While I'm grateful they changed the ending - since Emma is genuinely one of the best things The Saint has going for it - it kind of explains the lackluster third act in the film. The middle feels like it takes its time, and then the finale kind of... fizzles a bit. As much as I don't want to see a version of the film where Emma dies, I'd be really curious to see how that original finale would play out.

Kilmer's identity play is a lot of the fun of the film. The "action" aspects aren't super exciting, but Kilmer's clearly having fun, and it makes it more enjoyable to watch. Whenever I see Rade Šerbedžija in anything since this film, I always think of him as "The villain from The Saint," as he ended up appearing in Mission: Impossible II and Batman Begins, among many other films. I suppose that makes his portrayal of Ivan Tretiak rather memorable. The villain with the most screentime is probably Valeriy Nikolaev as Ivan's son, Ilya Tretiak, and he proves to be the main antagonist for Simon. I also was surprised to see Emily Mortimer, who would later go on to much bigger and more prominent roles, play a small part as a victim of one of Simon's thieving schemes.

The content for the film is a bit lighter in the profanity department - although there is still one (stupid) use of the "F" word - and even the violence isn't too bad for PG-13 (although there is some blood). The biggest caution is the sexual content. Simon is a womanizer (kind of like 007), as we see him quickly bed Mortimer's character, and then he and Emma share quite a few kissy scenes with frequent disrobing. Seriously, it's like the pair have some aversion to clothes. Seriously though, shortly after Simon meets Emma under one of his aliases, the two end up helping each other out of their shirts and then end up in bed together. We briefly see them embracing and kissing under the covers before the scene ends. A later scene has Emma stripping down to her underwear to help Simon who's experiencing hypothermia. It's not a sexual scene, but it's meant to be steamy nonetheless (pun not really intended). And the pair end up helping each other out of their clothes and hopping into bed together yet again before the end of the movie. Ilya is seen snorting powder a couple times, and Simon is seen frequently drinking. And circling back to violent content, Simon takes a pocket knife out at one point and digs the blade into his forehead to make himself bleed. We see blood spurt out as a result. And later, a character's face is burned and we see the red blistering wounds on their skin.

This new 4K release is the film's debut in the format, although I have to say, I wasn't super impressed with the transfer. At times, it's very crisp and clear, but the film feels muted overall and fuzzy - which a lot of movies of the time tend to feel. But I've seen much older films look sharper and more colorful than this 1997 movie. Granted, this is still the best the movie has ever looked, but this transfer is not a good example of the 4K format. This Limited Edition Steelbook release includes a Blu-Ray disc as well, but the only special feature in the entire set is a director commentary included on the Blu-Ray disc. I would have loved to see a retrospective or some deleted scenes from the original cut, but alas, none of that is included here. A digital copy is included, however. (But it is not compatible with Movies Anywhere.)

The Saint may not be a great action thriller, but it's a charming little time capsule of late 90s cinema. Memorable performances from Kilmer and Shue make it worth watching, but its so-so execution, dated soundtrack and even overly sensual content hinder the film from being something greater.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 8/25/26)