Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Information

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (also known as simply Tomb Raider) is a 2001 action-adventure film based on the Tomb Raider video game series featuring the character Lara Croft, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, it was directed by Simon West and revolves around Lara Croft trying to obtain ancient artifacts from the Illuminati.

The film was released on June 15, 2001, and received generally negative reviews from critics for its stylized action and bland plot, although Angelina Jolie was praised for her performance. Tomb Raider was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend. A sequel, titled Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life, was released in 2003.

Plot

In pursuit of a diamond, Lara Croft battles a large robot in an Egyptian tomb; she disables it by ripping out its circuits. The diamond, revealed to be a memory card, is inserted into a laptop computer inside the robot to play music. The fight took place in a practice area of Lara's home and the robot was programmed by her technical assistant Bryce to challenge her in combat. The first phase of a planetary alignment, culminating in a solar eclipse, arrives. In Venice, the Illuminati search for a key that will rejoin halves of "The Triangle", which must be completed by the final phase. Manfred Powell, an Illuminati member, assures that they are almost ready, but actually has no idea of the location.

Hilary, Lara's butler, tries to interest her in several projects, but on account of the anniversary of her father's disappearance, Lara is not interested. She dreams of her father telling her about the alignment and an object linked to it, the Triangle of Light, and awakens to a clock ticking. Lara finds the clock and Bryce discovers a strange device hidden inside. Lara consults a clock expert friend of her father's, Wilson, who claims no knowledge of the clock or the Triangle when Lara mentions a possible connection. Wilson gives Lara's name to Powell in regards of the clock. Lara encounters Alex West, a fellow tomb raider with unscrupulous methods and for-profit attitude.

Lara shows Powell photographs of the clock; she later points out to Bryce that Powell was lying about his knowledge. That night, armed commandos invade the house and steal the clock despite Lara's attempts to fend them off. The next morning, a letter from her father, arranged to arrive after the beginning of the alignment, explains that the clock is the key to retrieve the halves of the Triangle of Light, an object of phenomenal destructive power which grants its wielder power over time and space. The Triangle destroyed the city it was housed in after misuse of its power. It was then separated in half; one was hidden in a Cambodian tomb, the other in the ruined city, now part of modern-day Siberia. Her father urges her to find and destroy both halves before the Illuminati can find it.

In Cambodia, West figures out part of the puzzle on how to retrieve the triangle half. However, West is incorrect and Lara figures out the true puzzle, informing West and Powell that what they thought was the correct holder for the key was but a reflection. She reminds Powell that they only have so many seconds before the opportunity is gone for another 5,000 years. Powell, realizing West was wrong and that Lara is right, and that she is the only one who can solve the puzzle, throws her the clock. Lara proves she is right as she inserts the key and the half of the triangle is revealed. Before everyone can leave, the liquid metal which came out with the piece brings the statues in the temple to life and attacks the team killing some members. Lara is left to fight off and destroy a huge six-armed guardian statue which is the last one to come to life. She successfully defeats it and leaves the temple by diving through a waterfall. She then travels to a Buddhist town where a young monk welcomes her. After a worship service, an aged monk who serves as the chief gives Lara some tea and as they converse, he reminds her to get a much needed rest to continue her father's mission, implying that that monk might have been Lara's father's acquaintance.

She and Powell arrange to meet in Venice, since each of them has what the other needs to finish the Triangle. Powell proposes a partnership to find the Triangle, and informs Lara that her father was a member of the Illuminati, which she vehemently denies. Though hesitant at first, she, along with Bryce, meets with Powell for the trip to Siberia.

Entering the tomb, the teams discover a giant model of the solar system, which activates as the alignment nears completion. Lara retrieves the last half of the Triangle, but when Powell tries to complete it, the halves will not fuse. He realizes that Lara knows the solution to the puzzle, and kills West in order to persuade her to complete the Triangle to save both West's life and her father's. Lara reluctantly complies, and they then struggle for control of the Triangle, with Lara prevailing and saving West's life.

Lara then finds herself in a strange alternate existence facing her father Lord Richard Croft (Jon Voight). He explains that it is a "crossing" of time and space, and urges her to destroy the Triangle instead of using it to save his life. Lara leaves her father and returns to the chamber, where time is slowly running backwards from the point where Powell killed West. Croft takes the knife Powell threw into West's chest and reverses it, then destroys the Triangle, which returns time to its normal flow and directs the knife into Powell's shoulder. The chamber begins to self-destruct. As everyone turns to leave, Powell reveals to Lara that he murdered her father and stole his pocket watch with a picture of Lara's mother inside as a trophy. Lara and Powell engage in a hand-to-hand fight. Lara kills him, retrieves the pocket watch, and escapes as the chamber crumbles.

At the mansion, Hilary and Bryce are shocked to see Lara wearing a dress. She goes into the garden to her father's memorial, then returns inside, where Bryce has a reprogrammed SIMON, ready to challenge Lara once again. Hilary reveals a silver tray holding Lara's pistols, which she takes with a smile.

Cast

• Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft
  • Rachel Appleton as Young Lara
• Jon Voight as Lord Richard Croft
• Daniel Craig as Alex West
• Iain Glen as Manfred Powell
• Noah Taylor as Bryce Turing
• Richard Johnson as the Distinguished Gentleman
• Chris Barrie as Hillary
• Julian Rhind-Tutt as Mr. Pimms
• Leslie Phillips as Wilson
• Robert Philips as Julius, assault team leader

Production

Development

Tomb Raider went through many drafts and several writers, which resulted in production delays. In 1998, writer Brent V. Friedman, who had co-written Mortal Kombat: Annihilation the year before, penned an unproduced Tomb Raider script. Producer and screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, who wrote and directed the 1994 video game film Street Fighter, penned an early draft of the Tomb Raider script in 1999, but it was rejected by Paramount. The final draft of the script was attributed to five writers, including director Simon West.

Financing

Lara Croft was financed through Tele Mnchen Gruppe (TMG), a German tax shelter. The tax law of Germany allowed investors to take an instant tax deduction even on non-German productions and even if the film has not gone into production. By selling them the copyright for $94 million and then buying it back for $83.8 million, Paramount Pictures made $10.2 million. The copyright was then sold again to Lombard Bank, a British investment group and a further $12 million was made. However, to qualify for Section 48 tax relief, the production must include some UK filming and British actors, which was acceptable for a film partially set in the United Kingdom. Presales to distributors in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain made a further $65 million. Showtime paid $6.8 million for premium cable television rights. In total, $94 million was put together.

The deal between Eidos, Tomb Raiders publisher, and Paramount Pictures was structured so Eidos received royalties.

Casting

The announcement of the film generated significant discussion about who would be cast to play Lara Croft. Numerous actresses (and non-actresses) were rumoured to be on the shortlist to play her and countless others declared their interest in the role, most notably Jennifer Love Hewitt, Famke Janssen, Jennifer Lopez, Rhona Mitra, Elizabeth Hurley, Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Diane Lane, Demi Moore and Denise Richards, with many considering the latter the favourite to win the role. British glamour models Linsey Dawn McKenzie and Jordan were also rumored by some tabloids be in the running for the part.

The casting of Jolie was controversial among many fans of the Tomb Raider series, who felt she wasn't physically appropriate enough to play the large-breasted heroine; others complained about an American actress being hired to play a British character; others cited Jolie's tattoos and well-publicised controversial personal life. Director Simon West dismissed these concerns and said, in reference to Jolie's penchant for sexual knife play, "it was always Angelina. I mean, Lara sleeps with knives and doesn't take shit from anybody. That's [Angelina] down to a tee." Jolie wore a padded bra to increase her bust size when playing Lara. As she explained to NY Rock in June 2001: "C'mon, I'm not so flat chested to begin with. When I wear a tight T-shirt, I look a certain way. So it wasn't like we had to completely change me. You know, we just had to enhance me a little. I'm a 36C. Lara, she's a 36D. And in the game, she's a double D, so we took her down some. But we did give her a bit of padding there. For me, it was simply one size. So it was like having a padded bra. But no, I am not flat chested anyway. So we still made it Lara Croft, but we didn't go to any extremes. And Lara doesn't apologize for herself, and for having that, you know, recognizable shape. So I'm not going to apologize for her either."

The film marked the feature film debut of television actor Chris Barrie, known for his role of Arnold Rimmer in the BBC science fiction comedy series Red Dwarf. Iain Glen, a Scot, adopted an English accent as Powell, while English actor Daniel Craig adopts an American accent for the role of Alex West. Jolie, being American herself, takes on an English accent. Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie's father, plays Richard Croft, Lara's father in the film.

Filming

Principal photography for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider took place from July 30 to November 30, 2000. Portions of the film were shot on location at the Ta Prohm temple, located in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. The film was the first major motion picture to be shot in Cambodia since Lord Jim in 1964, following the country's occupation by the Khmer Rouge regime. In addition to on-location shooting, a majority of the film's production also took place on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios.

Release

Reception

The film received generally negative reviews, earning a 20% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 31 out of 157 critics giving it a positive review with an average rating of 3.9/10. The general consensus is "Angelina Jolie is perfect for the role of Lara Croft, but even she can't save the movie from a senseless plot and action sequences with no emotional impact". IGN gave the movie the lowest score, a 0.0 ("Disaster") rating, condemning everything from character performances to the ending. A positive review came from Roger Ebert, who awarded the film three out of four stars and said, "'Lara Croft Tomb Raider' elevates goofiness to an art form. Here is a movie so monumentally silly, yet so wondrous to look at, that only a churl could find fault."

Box office performance

Tomb Raider was a box office success. The movie debuted at number one with $48.2 million, giving Paramount its second-best debut and the fifth-highest debut of 2001. It beat the opening record for a film featuring a female protagonist (($42.3) million for Scary Movie) as well as the opening record for a video game adaptation ($31 million for Pokmon: The First Movie), and is one of the highest grossing video game to film adaptations. The movie has grossed a total of $274,703,340 worldwide. An updated adjusted boxoffice would bring the movie's box office around $350 million.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards, these awards included: Best Female Performance and Best Fight scene, but the film lost to Moulin Rouge! and Rush Hour 2 respectively. The film was also nominated for Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie - Drama. Angelina Jolie was nominated for the Worst Actress Golden Raspberry Award for her role in the film, but she lost to Mariah Carey in Glitter.

Music

Soundtrack

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 soundtrack album to the film. The various artists soundtrack was released June 15, 2001. The Score was later released on June 25, 2001. The movie also featured the songs "Lila" by Vas and "Piano Concerto in F Minor" performed by Hae-Wong Chang. These were not featured on the soundtrack. Also used in the movie were elements of "Elevation (Influx Remix)" by U2. This was uncredited.

and Joi

|title6=Ain't Never Learned |length6=3:46 |music6=Moby |title7=The Revolution |length7=4:17 |music7=BT |title8=Terra Firma |length8=5:06 |music8=Delerium featuring Aude |note8=Lara's Mix |title9=Where's Your Head At |length9=4:43 |music9=Basement Jaxx |title10=Illuminati |length10=3:14 |music10=Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins |title11=Absurd |length11=3:40 |music11=Fluke |note11=Whitewash Edit |title12=Song of Life |length12=7:03 |music12=Leftfield |title13=Edge Hill |length13=7:00 |music13=Groove Armada |title14=Satellite |length14=3:39 |music14=Bosco |title15=Devil's Nightmare |length15=6:04 |music15=Oxide & Neutrino }}

Score

For the first Tomb Raider film, Nathan McCree was hired, though the producers eventually decided that a feature-length film needed a feature-name composer. Therefore, they hired Michael Kamen, despite the fact that his score for the similarly cult X-Men the previous year failed to arouse the interest of many of the concept's followers. Kamen wrote and submitted a demo for Tomb Raider, but no feedback on that music was returned by the director or producers. Only during the process of recording a second demo did Kamen finally hear back from the Tomb Raider team, and by then, the lack of enthusiasm for the relationship on both sides caused Kamen to seek other projects that were more promising to him (namely, the HBO show Band of Brothers, requiring 10 hours of music). Thus, the producers of Tomb Raider were forced to hire another composer at the very last minute. The man hired for the last minute assignment was Graeme Revell. He composed the soundtrack in less than two weeks. He did not use the original Tomb Raider theme.

The CD was released through Elektra Entertainment, but as noted by Revell and after failed attempts to stop the pressings, the tracks were mislabeled. For example, the opening track includes both the Main Titles and Lara Croft at Home cues together. The resulting score was so poorly received that the composer himself issued an apology through his website. The track list was later revised.

|title1=Tomb Raider Main Titles/Lara Croft at Home |length1=3:14 |title2=Powell and the Illuminati |length2=2:13 |title3=Lara Dreams of Her Father |length3=2:58 |title4=The Clock |length4=1:46 |title5=Alex West and Mr. Wilson |length5=3:01 |title6=Home Invasion |length6=3:59 |title7=The Letter |length7=4:05 |title8=Journey to Cambodia |length8=1:25 |title9=Angkor Wat |length9=2:00 |title10=Deep in the Temple |length10=7:36 |title11=Lara Battles Stone Monkeys |length11=3:32 |title12=The Brahman |length12=1:31 |title13=Siberia |length13=2:52 |title14=The Planetary Alignment |length14=5:08 |title15=Lara Defeats Powell |length15=3:38 }}

Sequel and reboot

Angelina Jolie returned in the sequel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life. While it was viewed as a critical improvement over its predecessor, it did not repeat its financial success, grossing $156 million compared to the previous installment's $274 million.

GK Films first acquired the rights to reboot the film in 2011. In April 2016, MGM and GK Films announced a reboot of the film starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft with Roar Uthaug directing. It was released March 16, 2018.

Home media

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released on DVD on November 13, 2001; a Blu-Ray release followed on June 3, 2008. A 4K UHD Blu-Ray release followed on February 27, 2018.

See also

• List of films featuring eclipses