Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

The Saint Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 10, 2021

Director Phillip Noyce's (Blind Fury, Patriot Games) The Saint was once considered a surefire franchise starter with Val Kilmer playing the role of a master of disguises. The film is based on the Leslie Charteris book series which debuted in the 1920s and was followed by a steady deluge of entertainment variants, including a radio program, feature films, and a television series starring James Bond's Roger Moore. Rather than the start of something special, however, the film "earned" Kilmer a Razzie Award notation, undeserving yet still emblematic of the film's problems that would ultimately see it score fairly big at the box office only to fade into cinema oblivion if only then to find a modicum of success in later years amongst a small army of admirers.

Simon Templar (Kilmer), a.k.a. "The Saint," is a world-renowned thief who has been in the game his entire life. But he's ready to turn to a new chapter in his life when his bank account reaches $50,000,000. His career may be on the downswing but he's still at the top of his game. However, his latest mission is to steal a prized microchip from a secure Russian facility owned by the wealthy politician Ivan Petrovich Tretiak (Rade Šerbedžija) and protected by his son, Ilya (Valery Nikolaev). When the plan goes awry, The Saint is forced to retreat but quickly finds himself back in business with Tretiak to steal a "cold fusion" power formula from renowned American Electrochemist Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue) that will revolutionize the energy industry -- and profit and promote Tretiak even higher. However, Emma and The Saint quickly find themselves on the run from Ilya and his goons.

What follows is a quasi-romance between Emma and The Saint and a series of medium pace action scenes playing out amidst and against a slowly developing story and a slightly convoluted plot that leave the movie feeling tiresome and tedious rather than energetic and forward moving. Noyce slows the pace and muddles the story for little tangible gain, particularly through a slothful middle stretch that might have been edited with more reckless abandon in order to improve the movie's structural integrity. As it is the film never can quite realize the potential within or the satisfying open featuring a young Simon Templar experiencing a key life altering event or the microchip theft which is attractively executed and photographed. The rest of the film presses down on fun and energy, sapping the picture of the very essentials that should propel it to success.

At least Kilmer's work in the movie is fun and, really, one of the few reasons to watch. Despite the Razzie Award nomination he's quite adept and engaging in turning into, and turning on, the various personalities. He falls into a multitude of characters; the disguises cannot fool the audience and indeed don't always fool everyone on the screen, but the way he shifts his posture, stature, tone of voice, and other physical characteristic and mannerisms brings a certain draw to the character. The audience is always eager to see how he will look, and what he will do with the character, as each scene develops. It's a shame that Noyce and Scriptwriter Jonathan Hensleigh bog the film down with logistical complications because the potential for something interesting is plainly in evidence; Kilmer fits the character like a glove and it would have been interesting to see him play it under better circumstances.

The Saint Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount releases The Saint to Blu-ray with a passable, if not middling, 1080p transfer. The opening sequence looks meshy and filtered, poorly defined and unable to offer the sort of HD yield one would expect to find. The picture improves somewhat following the opening titles, though that look from the open never quite lifts. Grain is a bit aggressive and sharp but generally pleasing. The picture holds to good, firm details, albeit with some inherent softness at play. Close-ups fare rather well, offering tightly defined essential detail, but medium and long shots struggle to show crisp, clear imagery, in these instances looking softer and less natural than would be considered "ideal." Fortunately, the essential facial, clothing, and environmental details satisfy when tightly framed. Colors are drab. There's no sense of brilliance at play here, the picture instead favoring a flat, unassuming color output that handles basics well enough, including blacks and skin tones, but there's no feel for punch, depth, or intensity. The picture is frequently home to a steady barrage of mild-to-moderate speckles, betraying the print's age and lack of clean-up. At least compression artifacts are few and far between. It's clear Paramount more or less dropped this one onto Blu-ray without the same care and attention given to its best Blu-ray products, which in recent times are many.

The Saint Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount brings The Saint to Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack (curiously, while the back cover image on this website lists TrueHD as the primary audio option, my copy states Dolby Digital 5.1; rest assured whichever one you receive will feature the lossless option). The track is not particularly exciting even in its lossless configuration. As the film opens, it sounds stifled at reference volume, struggling to present with high energy yield and crisp clarity. The track is certainly serviceable as it is, even lacking in muscle. Front side spacing is more than adequate while music and ambient details alike filter through into the rear channels. There is no severe shortage of well balanced stage engagement, with both revolving elements and discretely placed sounds populating the track from beginning to end. The track is home to a wealth of well defined support ambient content, none of it fully lifelike but well capable of pulling listeners into any number of sonically interesting soundscapes, both interior and exterior alike. Dialogue is clear and center positioned for the duration. While this lossless track is nothing special, it does well enough in delivering the movie's sound design with efficiency if not imperfection.

The Saint Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Saint includes two extras: a filmmaker audio commentary track and a theatrical trailer. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Phillip Noyce explores the film in detail.
• Original Theatrical Trailer (480i, window box, 2:07).

The Saint Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Saint is too densely packed, too convoluted to care much about its plot. Character beats are likewise inauthentic and overworked, but Kilmer at least brings some flair to the part. Noyce simultaneously overcooks and underdelivers. This is an unbalanced film with too much narrative, character, and stylistic shortcomings and confusions to recommend. Paramount's Blu-ray isn't all that great, either, offering passably efficient video and audio. Supplements are limited to a lone audio commentary track. Pass.