Let me introduce...Simon Templar
by Gord Lacey (All reviews) |
6/04/2002 |
Simon Templar made his first appearance in a book, not on TV as I had originally thought. In 1928 Leslie Charteris released his novel, "The Saint Meets The Tiger". This character would appear in over 100 novels and stories, 9 movies from RKO, radio dramatizations on the BBC, a movie staring Val Kilmer and, of course, a TV series lasting 118 episodes with Roger Moore as the title character.
I've always liked Roger Moore as James Bond and I've known that Sean Connery was the second choice (behind Moore) to start the series of movies, but it was rather interesting to find out that it was Moore who was the second choice to play The Saint. If Patrick McGoohan hadn't turned down the role it would have changed the feel of this series as well as the entire Bond franchise.
This set features the following episodes:
The Time To Die
An avenging killer likes to play games with his victims. The Saint rewrites the rules.
The Master Plan
The Saint goes up against a ring of drug smugglers.
The House on Dragon's Rock
The people of a small Welsh town are terrified by a strange experiment conducted in their midst.
The Scales of Justice
A string of suspicious heart attacks arouses Simon's curiosity.
The Fiction Makers Part 1
While visiting a mystery novelist, Simon is mistaken for his host by a criminal gang.
The Fiction Makers Part 2
Confused criminals for The Saint to plot their next crime.
The People Importers
The Saint uncovers a smuggling ring that deals in human cargo.
Video
As with their other "Cult TV" releases, A&E has done a nice job with the video. The colors in the video appear nice and bright and rich with color. The print contains dust and some minor flaws and the odd glitch here and there, but overall it's a nice transfer. The episodes of "The Saint" take place around the world and stock footage is shown for these locations. Unfortunately these are lower quality prints and contain quite a bit of dust and grain. Audio
A mono audio track from the 60s isn't anything to jump up and down about, but it serves it's purpose. The audio is nice and clear and without any major problems. While a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is great for a show like "Thunderbirds", I'm quite happy with a mono track. Extras - How we rate extras
Trailers
There are trailers for each episode in the set which last 1 min each.
Photo Gallery
There are 16 photos on the first disc and 26 on the second featuring scenes from the 7 episodes.
Roger Moore Biography
5 still frames with information on Roger Moore. This is found on disc 1.
Roger Moore Filmography
6 still frames with Roger Moore's filmography. This is found on disc 1.
History of "The Saint"
3 still frames containing the history of "The Saint". This is found on disc 2. Summary
While I prefer the James Bond character over The Saint, this show is fun to watch. My only complaint is A&E has started with the first color season and not released the show in order. The episodes in this set have a new opening song from the 1968 season. |
