Simon Templar: Tod im Vergnügungspark

The series from which this TV movie originates comes in for a lot of criticism, but largely because hardly anyone saw it! In fact, the stories are far closer in spirit to the original Leslie Charteris novels than either the Ian Ogilvy series that preceded, or the Val Kilmer movie that followed them, and Simon Dutton's Saint, whilst lacking the cheeky charm of George Sanders or Roger Moore, is stylish and debonair with an air of menace about him.

This particular film has an odd but engaging plot, combining a story about the machinations surrounding the selling of a theme park (pure 'Dynasty') with a case of human sex trafficking (like something from a Hong Kong revenge movie). Whilst a little overlong, it does see the Saint actually doing some international jet-setting (thanks to Australian co-production), and features a thrilling fifteen minute proto-parkour sequence, very much ahead of its time, involving the Sydney monorail system and a tall ship! The 80s will never be cool, and the Saint perhaps needs a lighter touch (the character sometimes betrays his 1920s origins - kidnapped underage girls forced into prostitution in foreign cities aren't really "damsels in distress" looking for a "white knight", Simon), but this is better than you've probably heard.