The Saint

Well, I take that back. I wasn't crazy about Val Kilmer.

I loved George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Ian Ogilvy and Roger Moore as The Saint. Since this version featured two ex-saints, Ogilvy and Moore, I wanted to see it.

Yikes.

This is a TV movie, and if you've been having trouble sleeping, this is just the thing. What a slow-moving bore replete with flashbacks of little Simon and the past life of his assistant (Eliza Dushku). And next to no plot.

Ian Ogilvy looked awful -- someone said here Moore looked awful - give the man a break - he was in his mid-'80s (this was made in 2013 as a TV pilot and was not picked up - what a shock). No one is dazzling forever.

Lots of karate-type moves. That's about it. At an hour and a half, it felt like Birth of a Nation.

Simon Rayner didn't excite me, although I'm sure he's very good in other films. But what could one expect from him, no doubt trying to stay awake.

First of all let me start by saying i think the really bad reviews on this are a little uncalled for. I actually enjoyed it and it was good to see Roger Moore the original saint in it if only for 1 minute, and Ian Ogilvie who played the return of the Saint in a more substantial role' Give it a try and judge the movie for yourselves, don't take my word or anyone else's word.

It's quite frustrating to see a such a good movie idea as The Saint go to waste again and again since the original. Past that, this version is OK to watch if one has nothing else to watch, at a time when one MUST watch something... It has here and there some bits of good humor, action and acting ,but all in all it cannot shake off the B movie feel.

Accept this for what it is- a failed television pilot with added scenes added to pad it out to movie length.

The main reason this never made it to series has to be Eliza Dushku. She is a "black hole" that causes all action to stop any time she is on camera. She behaves as if she is heavily medicated -- delivering each and every line with the same flat monotone. I wonder why any performer with such a severely limited range can have a career even in Hollywood.

The other major failing here is with the basic plot. It is about as generic as possible, Absolutely nothing in this film is even remotely new or fresh -- it all has a "seen this all before many many times" aspect to it.

British international thief Simon Templar (Adam Rayner) is known as The Saint. Patricia (Eliza Dushku) is his girl Friday. They are recruited to rescue a kidnapped girl as a devastating past is revealed.

This character has had many reincarnations. This is generally inferior mostly due to the directing efforts of Ernie Barbarash who seems to have made a career of second tier B-movies. It's also notable for Roger Moore's final film. There is some fun chemistry between the leads but the movie doesn't have the writing to accentuate it. It's probably the biggest missed opportunity among so many others.