The Saint

The Saint (1997)

Timing: 1:56 (116 min)

6.1/10
1080

5.986/10
4928

6.2/10
78000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 14

Actors and characters

Release date

1997-04-03

Country

United States, Russia

Production

Paramount, Mace Neufeld Productions, Rysher Entertainment, Studio Trite

Genre

Thriller, Action, Romance, Science Fiction, Adventure

Budget

$68 000 000

Revenue

$118 063 304

Website

Director

Phillip Noyce

Actors

Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Rade Šerbedžija, Henry Goodman, Alun Armstrong, Michael Byrne, Irina Apeksimova, Lev Prygunov, Charlotte Cornwell, Emily Mortimer
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Mace Neufeld, David Brown, Robert Evans, William J. MacDonald, Lis Kern, Paul Hitchcock, Robert S. Baker

Operator

Phil Meheux

Composer

Graeme Revell

Artist

Audition

Patsy Pollock, Elisabeth Leustig

Editing

Terry Rawlings
All team (22)

• 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.
• The nickname "Boris the Spider," used by Ivan Tretyak to communicate with The Saint, is a reference to a 1966 song by The Who.
• 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.