MovieChat Forums > The Saint (1997) Discussion > An alternate ending?

An alternate ending?

posted 18 years ago by jagaforce
31 replies | jump to latest

I just finished watching this for like the 5th time on HBO (I first saw it in the theaters back in '97), and I absolutely love it! Now I just read here on imdb.com that the director Philip Noyce might in the future come up with a director's cut DVD which shows the alternate ending where Dr. Emma Russel dies and Simon avenges her death by killing Tretiak Jr., NO WAY IN HELL! I like the ending the way it is, and it is purely feel good fun, which is what this movie is all about. And besides, Elisabeth Shue is just so lovely that it would have been heartbreaking to see her die in the alternate ending. Let the movie stay the way it is, a pure classic! =)

I don't think that the Saint was trying to be a type of spy rip-off of anything, it deserves its own acclaim in the annals of classic espionage cinema together with the likes of James Bond (by the way, I loved the radio voice cameo of Roger Moore right before the ending credits roll, a lasting link to the original Saint and one of the best 007s ever).

I only wonder why was a sequel never conceived by either the director or the producers.

[–] seabreeze29 18 years ago

I totally disagree with you here because I like most of this movie except the ending, it didn't have any action and the villians were still alive. Rule of thump for any action films is that all villians must die.

So after reading the alternate ending, I hope they come out with the director's cut soon. I would probably like this movie a lot more with that ending.

[–] MrOstrich 18 years ago

There are 2 main pointers to there being an alternate, more action packed ending: 1) the chandalier being raised to the ceiling early on in the movie is an obvious reference to something that's going to kill someone (that classic hint during films: this is something "significant") and 2) when the villain's son comes into the room after Simon Templar's been talking to the Russian president, he whispers something to the Russian general and it's obvious he's trying to organise a fight in revenge for him being scarred by the exploding car.

Cambridge man you know. His uncle Bertie and I used to break wind for our college.

[–] excalibur1814 18 years ago

In all honesty, the film works for me because it has a start, a middle and an intelligent ending. The ending, in fact, was quite a shock as most 'action' ish films always habe the great big fight scene.

I would like to see the alternative ending but the 'happy ever after' end was truly a great way to end a very good 'different' movie.

i also liked the fact that music played, more or less, all the way through the film.

[–] cyberian2005 18 years ago

No way ,the comcept of being called Saint gets defeated as the the word "Saint" also signifies hope, which obviously ccmes in the "Happy End" created in the movie. Also Simon gives up all his 50Million for charity and remains to be called a "Saint"...

[–] gi4ouR 18 years ago

he didnt give up his money :) , check the ending again :)

[–] ChrisFrost 18 years ago

I read a script with the original ending. It was actually quite sad and touching, with Templar giving his 50 mil to charity and inadverdently giving a nun a heart-attack. THe last scene is him standing on a bridge remembering Emma, and promising to do only good.

Sad, but I prefer the original ending. Emma was too complex and likable a character to die. To appreciate how fleshed out Emma really is, look at a similar character (beautiful doctor swept into intrigue by handsome spy) in a similar movie (action spy thriller, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH): Dr. Christmas Jones. The writers fleshed her out a little, but they could have done more. Emma was a nearly three-dimensional character in comparison.

.

[–] sunflowerstarr 18 years ago

Actually he did. It is implied. In the ending (the one that was released originally) when he is driving in the car the announcer says something about an "anonymous donation" and I believe he mentions 50 mil, which in the early parts of the movie is his goal to earn to retire.

[–] budt3 18 years ago

I believe that they donated treidiak's money.

Be yourself, everyone else is taken

[–] Shinsei-NEN 14 years ago

Reporter: Donations totaling three billion dollars, were made today to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the United Nations Children's Fund. The funds were wired from the account, of jailed Russian tycoon van Tretiak. In other philanthropic news...

It's cleary said in the movie, he donated the Tretiak's money.

[–] aleka_oakland 15 years ago

i saw this first ending, but can't find it online, if you ever find it please give me the link. the only thing i find online is ending number 2 :(

[–] budt3 18 years ago

the villains were still alive, but they had been sentenced to life in a Russian prison, which I bet is two steps down from a Mexican prison.
That baby mobsters dance card is going to be very full, what with that pretty hair and all.

Be yourself, everyone else is taken

[–] Ysquare 17 years ago

I finished watching ''the Saint'' this second. He only donated the money he earned from Tretiak for stealing the cold fusion formula. Remember, first he asked for 1.5 billion, but Tretiak doubled it later on. Simon donated only those three billion dollars. The ending goes like this:

''Donations totalling three billion dollars were made today to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the UN Childrens Fund. The funds were wired from the account of jailed Russian tycoon Ivan Tretiak''

[–] aleka_oakland 15 years ago

I've seen another ending, where emma stays alive, and vilians are killed, but unfortunately i can not find it online , they used to show it in TV, and there Tretiak is killed by his son, Tretiak kills the scientist guy, Tretiak's son is accidentaly killed by val kilmer's character, and emma and simon stay together and give the machine to people. :( why are they showing different endings all the time :(

[–] bear022013-588-696101 13 years ago

GREAT FILM.

[–] DanielCraig007 10 years ago

Here is the much talked about alternate ending, where Ilya kills his daddy and then fights Val Kilmer on the chandelier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi6UFt6yAI8

[–] rafaelgarciagonzalez01 9 years ago

You must be american for your phillosophy that dead penalty must exist even for fiction villain.
P

[–] Kwone 18 years ago

Don't forget Emma Russell has heart attack, so if they make her die, they will only say she was killed in her heart problem

[–] w1cht3l 18 years ago

This film would still be low in rating, because the reason of low rating is due to boredom and the mature scenes, even if she dies or not, I don't think that this film can suddenly become good movie, just because she die or not.

because it's affected by the adult scenes that makes ppl to hate this movie.

[–] iantm 18 years ago

In the cut shown on USA, the film is almost completely unrecognizeable. Chunks are missing, and the last five-ten minutes of the movie are gone with a montage of the opening falling girl sequence, and scenes with simon and emma. The edit shown on USA probably lops about 30 minutes total off of the film's running time, and actually cuts some of the dead time in the film. It also has more of an open ending - as it isn't as clear as the original theatrical cut.

[–] darkfaceR 18 years ago

I only watch that she has heart attack at most.

if Emma is being killed I believe that even FEWER male fan would watch this movie, the rating may be much more lower. because most fans of saint loves Shue's Emma.

If the female cast dies, the rating must be lower than now.

[–] rafaelgarciagonzalez01 9 years ago

I don´t think so, Women loved Casino Royale and I suposse you know what happened with Eva Green character.
If they had stayed with the original tragic ending this could have been for The Saint was Casino Royale was for James Bond, and origin story with a tragic romantic and touching love story that tell us why Templar is a lonely crusade knight travelling throuh the world fighting the injustice and never having a seriour relationship with a woman.

[–] Despoina 18 years ago

I believe that many of you should know that it's due to the obscene scenes of this movie that makes it low rating, not because of emma's ending if she dies or not

[–] darkfaceR 18 years ago

Emma may be complicated to some watchers, but I don't think if she really died the movie would change in rating.

rating is affected by quality and the boredom this title gives, not if Shue was killed or not.

[–] trudylyn 18 years ago

I picked this movie up on DVD last night after avoiding it for ten years.
I saw it in Austin in a cinema when it first came out and I vaguely remmbered not liking it. I couldn't remember why until I watched it early this morning.
I actually got caught up in the story and the gags and paid a lot more attention to Elisabeth Shue, whom I thought was a very bad actress first time around. Val impressed me more I guess because of a recent dearth of heroic actors, Daniel Craig excepted.

Then the movie approached the last few minutes and I immediately had a sense of forboding, believing that she was about to die. It didn't happen. Okay, maybe another movie. I was happy that she didn't.

Then I listened to the director's commentary. There, at the end, he mentions the test prints, one involving the sad ending. Ah, so it wasn't my imagination!
So I must have seen one of the test prints in Austin. I have no intention of watching the alternate ending if it becomes available. It soured the rest of the flick.

[–] darkfaceR 18 years ago

she dies or not is just something that affects the storyline.

[–] robswoosh69 18 years ago

Since first seeing the trailer for The Saint and seeing the fight that occurred in Tretiak's mansion and Simon swinging on that chandalier i was looking forward to seeing it in the finished film. Very gutted that it was not in, however, i really did enjoy the first cut of the film. If the director is willing to bring out a directors cut (Alien 3 anyone?) then i certaninly will be watching it.

[–] bloefeld2001 17 years ago

I think Emma dying was a vital part on the story this movie was supossed to be.
Cause it´s a an "origin story" that tell us how Simon Templar became the character we know from the TV show.
In the TV show he was a crusader who travels through the world to fight evilness, why he act on that way?. Emma´s killing was supossed to be the answer.
It happened the same with Vesper/Bond on "Casino Royale", Vesper´s betrarying help to understand Bond being a emotionally crippled man

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

I think Emma dying was a vital part on the story this movie was supossed to be.
Cause it´s a an "origin story" that tell us how Simon Templar became the character we know from the TV show.
In the TV show he was a crusader who travels through the world to fight evilness, why he act on that way?. Emma´s killing was supossed to be the answer.

The film bears absolutely no similarity to the books or TV series, one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan. It could at least give us a explanation for the Saint using his skills and expertise for reasons other than personal profit and to a large extent this ends up being sidestepped with Emma living.🐭

[–] gordov2 14 years ago

What obscene scenes???? There is nothing obscene in this film. There are a few love scenes, but they are tame.

[–] bigbadwolf666 14 years ago

Completely agree!

There is a reason why the original test audience didnt like it. So why continue to screw with it?

the movie made millions for a reason and because it is the way it is. Many here give great posts about it. The movie is untypical, original, fresh, and a wonderful ending. Dont even bother messing with it. Just make a sequel and for godsake! make the bluray already!!!!!

But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me

[–] SSuqui 10 years ago

Actually, test audiences did like both endings. From Noyce's commentary on the DVD (transcribed by me):

"Anyone who's still listening to this commentary must be a true fanatic, and will no doubt be aware that there existed, at one time a different ending to the movie than the one you're now watching: As originally scripted, [Emma] died, supposedly of a heart attack, but, as Simon Templar was to discover, actually Emma Russell was poisoned by Tretiak's son, Ilya. We test screened two versions of the movie to recruited audiences in Los Angeles in late 1996: an "Emma Dies" version, and an "Emma Lives" version similar to the final cut. The audience response was equally enthusiastic; there didn't seem to be a clear-cut preference. So I discussed options with my producer, Mace Neufeld, whom I worked with on Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. We decided that the so-called 'happy ending' was more in the spirit both of the rest of the movie and the whole body of Simon Templar, Saint stories that had come before. In the months since, I've often asked myself: 'Did we make the right choice?' Well, the original ending was saved, and sometime in the future, maybe yet another Special Edition Video will appear, and we'll all be able to decide!"

Hope this clears up doubts.