Taglines: Cunning. Devious. Dangerous. Treacherous.
The Saint movie storyline. Simon Templar has no real family, no real home and Simon Templar isn’t even his real name. Yet Simon Templar, also known as the Saint for his use of creating false identities using the names of Catholic saints, is one of the world’s most successful thieves. Slick, debonair and a master of disguise, Simon manages to outwit the police again and again.
On his next job Simon is hired by the Russian Mafia to steal a cold fusion energy formula from scientist Emma Russel, however the mission backfires as he falls for the pretty, intelligent scientist. Simon and his new love must now manage to outwit the Russian Mafia and work out the energy formula before the worst happens and the US is affected forever.
The Saint is a 1997 espionage thriller DeLuxe Color film in Panavision, starring Val Kilmer in the title role, with Elisabeth Shue and Rade Šerbedžija, directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Jonathan Hensleigh and Wesley Strick. The title character is a high tech thief and master of disguise that becomes the anti-hero while using the moniker of various saints while paradoxically living in the underworld of international industrial theft. The film was a financial success with a worldwide box office of $169.4 million, rentals of $28.2 million, and continuous DVD sales.
It is loosely based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as “The Saint”, which ran until 1983. The Saint character has also featured in a series of Hollywood movies made between 1938 and 1954, a 1940s radio series starring Vincent Price (and others) as Templar, a popular British television series of the 1960s which starred Roger Moore, and a 1970s series starring Ian Ogilvy.
The Saint (1997)
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Rade Serbedzija, Valeriy Nikolaev, Henry Goodman, Emily Mortimer, Irina Apeksimova, Alun Armstrong, Michael Byrne
Screenplay by: Jonathan Hensleigh, Wesley Strick
Production Design by: Joseph C. Nemec
Cinematography by: Phil Meheux
Film Editing by: Terry Rawlings
Costume Design by: Marlene Stewart
Set Decoration by: Peter Young
Art Direction by: Alan Cassie, Nick Palmer, Lucy Richardson, Leslie Tomkins
Music by: Graeme Revell
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence, brief strong language, some sensuality and drug content.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: April 4, 1997
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