Honestly, if you grew up in the late '90s, you probably remember the sheer weirdness of the 1997 flick The Saint. It wasn't just another action movie. It was this bizarre, high-stakes experiment where Val Kilmer—fresh off walking away from the Batman franchise—decided to play a master thief with a tragic backstory and a suitcase full of some of the strangest wigs in cinematic history. It was meant to be the start of a massive franchise, a gritty but romantic rival to James Bond.
That didn't quite happen.
Instead, we got a movie that felt like a fever dream of Cold War leftovers and cutting-edge (for the time) tech. It’s got cold fusion, Russian oligarchs, and a soundtrack that basically defined the "electronica" craze of the decade. But looking back at The Saint movie Val Kilmer starred in nearly 30 years later, there is something surprisingly magnetic about it. It’s messy, sure, but it’s got a soul that most modern CGI-heavy spy thrillers completely lack.
The Man of a Thousand Faces (and Wigs)
The whole hook of The Saint is Simon Templar’s ability to vanish into thin air. He isn't just a thief; he's a "chameleon." In the movie, Kilmer uses these aliases named after Catholic saints—Thomas More, Bruno Hautenfaust, Martin de Porres—each with its own elaborate costume and accent.
Some of these work. Some? Not so much.
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There's a scene where he’s a long-haired artist, another where he’s a nerdy Russian scientist, and one particularly baffling disguise where he looks like a South African lothario in leather pants. It’s easy to poke fun at the prosthetics now. However, Kilmer actually leaned into the craft. He even wrote the poetry his character recites as "Thomas More." He was trying to do something deeper than just "action hero." He was playing an actor playing a character.
Phillip Noyce, the director, had a hell of a time balancing the studio's demands with Kilmer's artistic whims. Rumor has it Kilmer was constantly pushing for more disguises, while Paramount was worried it would get too confusing or clash with their other big spy property, Mission: Impossible. You can kind of see the friction on screen. The movie jumps between being a serious political thriller and a flamboyant costume parade.
Why the Ending You Saw Isn't the Real One
Here is a bit of trivia that most casual fans missed: the version of The Saint that hit theaters was significantly retooled after disastrous test screenings.
In the original cut, Elisabeth Shue’s character, the brilliant but naive Dr. Emma Russell, actually dies. She’s stabbed in the leg with a poison-tipped cane by the villain’s son, Ilya Tretiak, and collapses during a lecture at Oxford. Simon Templar then goes on a rampage of revenge in Moscow to take down the Tretiak empire.
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Test audiences hated it. They didn't want the girl to die. They wanted the romance.
So, the production rushed back for reshoots. They changed the ending so Emma survives and the movie concludes with a massive, somewhat cheesy public demonstration of cold fusion in Red Square. It turned the film into more of a "miracle" story than a dark revenge tragedy. Phillip Noyce has mentioned in interviews over the years that he’d still love to release a Director’s Cut with the original, darker ending. Honestly, it might have made the movie a cult classic rather than just a "middling" box office success.
The Numbers and the Legacy
- Budget: Roughly $90 million (huge for 1997).
- Box Office: Around $169 million worldwide.
- The Car: A Volvo C70 (a nod to the Volvo P1800 from the 1960s TV show).
- The Tech: He uses a Nokia 9000 Communicator, which was basically the first smartphone.
The movie performed okay, but not well enough to justify the sequel everyone expected. It's a shame, really. There’s a version of this franchise where Templar continues to evolve, using his billions to pull off Robin Hood-style heists. Instead, the property went into a long dormancy, with various reboots and TV pilots struggling to get off the ground for decades.
That '90s Soundtrack Magic
You can't talk about The Saint movie Val Kilmer headlined without mentioning the music. It was the era of the "Mega-Soundtrack." We’re talking Underworld, Orbital, The Chemical Brothers, and Daft Punk. The "Saint Theme" was reworked by Orbital into this driving, techno-heavy anthem that still slaps.
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It gave the movie a specific texture. While the plot was about old-school Russian politics, the sound was the future. It made the film feel cooler than it actually was. Even if you don't remember the specifics of the cold fusion formula (something about "heavy water" and "Pd-D"), you probably remember the vibe of Simon Templar skulking through a rainy London street to a breakbeat.
What Actually Matters Now
If you're going to revisit The Saint or watch it for the first time, don't go in expecting John Wick or Skyfall. It’s a product of its time—a bridge between the campy spy era and the gritty realism that would come later with Bourne.
Kilmer is arguably at his peak "Val Kilmer-ness" here. He’s aloof, slightly arrogant, but undeniably charming. He and Elisabeth Shue have a weird, sweet chemistry that holds the center of the movie together, even when the plot about a Russian energy crisis starts to drag.
Next steps for the curious fan:
- Watch the credits closely: The voice of the radio announcer at the very end is actually Sir Roger Moore, the original TV "Saint."
- Look for the Volvo: Keep an eye out for a white Volvo P1800 parked on the street in London; it’s a direct Easter egg for fans of the 1960s series.
- Check out "Val": If you want to see the man behind the masks, the 2021 documentary Val offers a heartbreaking and beautiful look at Kilmer's life, including behind-the-scenes footage from his big movie sets.
The film didn't change the world, but it remains a fascinating snapshot of an actor trying to redefine what a hero looks like. It's a bit clunky, a bit dated, but perfectly '90s.