Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

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Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a movie adaptation of the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie (147 walls) as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on Jun. 15, 2001 (11 years ago).

A sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, was released in 2003 (9 years ago).

Plot

The movie opens with Croft in an Egyptian tomb, seeking a diamond at one end of a chamber. As she approaches she is attacked by a large robot. After an intense chase and battle, she disables it by ripping out its motivational circuits. She takes the diamond, which is revealed to be a memory card labeled 'Lara's Party Mix,' and inserts it into a laptop computer inside the robot, whereupon it plays music. Now it is revealed that the scene took place in a practice arena in Croft's home, and that her assistant, Bryce, programmed the robot, to challenge her in combat.

It is the day of the first phase of a planetary alignment, culminating in a solar eclipse on the Earth, which happens once every 5,000 years. In Venice, the Illuminati search for a key to rejoin halves of "the triangle," which must be done by the final phase of the alignment. Mr. Powell, an Illuminati member, assures that they are almost ready, but in reality he has no idea where to find the key.

Croft's butler, Hillary, tries to interest her in several projects, but she ignores them. 15 May, as Hillary is aware, is the day that Croft's father disappeared many years earlier. She has not recovered from his loss.

Later that night, Croft has a dream reminding her what her father said about the alignment, and an object linked to it called the Triangle of Light. Waking, she is aware of a clock ticking. Searching for it, she discovers a secret chamber with a carriage clock that had spontaneously begun ticking. Bryce probes it and discovers a strange device hidden inside the clock.

Since the device resembles a clock, Croft consults a clock expert friend of her father's, Mr. Wilson. She believes it is connected to the "Triangle of Light," but Wilson disavows knowledge of the clock or the Triangle. Croft encounters Alex West, a fellow tomb raider with unscrupulous methods. They are attracted to each other, but Croft cannot abide his for-profit attitude. That night, Croft is contacted by Wilson, who tells her that he gave her name to a man named Manfred Powell in regards of the clock. In reality, Wilson is also a member of the Illuminati.

The next day, Croft sees Powell in his home, and shows him photographs of the clock. Later, while discussing it with Bryce, she points out that Powell was lying about his knowledge. That night, armed commando troops invade the house and steal the clock despite Croft's attempts to fend them off.


Ta Keo at Angkor.The next morning, Croft receives a letter from her father, arranged to arrive after the beginning of the alignment, where he explains that the clock is the key to retrieve two halves of the mystic Triangle of Light, which is revealed to be an object of phenomenal destructive power that granted its wielder power over time and space. Initially housed in a city built by those who worshipped the object, misuse of the Triangle's power destroyed the city and so it was split into two halves; one was hidden in a tomb in Cambodia, the other half in the ruined city itself, in 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, but Croft manages to successfully grab the piece and escape the temple after fighting off and destroying a huge six-armed guardian statue.

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

Croft then finds herself in a strange alternate existence facing her father. 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. She 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 he 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, Everyone turns to leave, but Powell tells Croft that he killed her father and retrieved his pocket watch with a picture (wallpaper) of Lara's mother inside. Croft fights him to retrieve it, killing him and escaping as the chamber comes down around her.

At the mansion, Hillary and Bryce are shocked to see Croft 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 Croft once again. Hillary reveals a silver tray holding Croft's pistols, which she takes with a smile.

Cast

• Angelina Jolie (147 walls) as Lara Croft
• Daniel Craig (33 walls) as Alex West
• Jon Voight as Lord Richard Croft
• Iain Glen as Manfred Powell
• Noah Taylor as Bryce
• Richard Johnson as Distinguished Gentleman
• Chris Barrie as Hillary
• Julian Rhind-Tutt as Mr. Pimms
• Leslie Phillips as Wilson
• Henry Wyndham as Boothby's Auctioneer
• Olegar Fedoro as Filipino Commander

Production

Development

Tomb Raider went through many drafts and several writers, which resulted in production delays. In 1998 (14 years ago), 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 (18 years ago) video game movie Street Fighter, penned an early draft of the Tomb Raider script in 1999 (13 years ago), but it was rejected by Paramount. However, it was partially resuscitated for the 2003 (9 years ago) sequel Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The final draft of the script was attributed to five writers, including director Simon West.

Financing

Lara Croft was financed through Tele-München 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 movie has not gone into production. By selling them the copyright for $94 million and then buying it back for $83.8 million, Paramount pictures (wallpaper) 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 movie 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 TV rights. In total, $94 million was put together.

The deal between Eidos, Tomb Raider's publisher, and Paramount pictures (wallpaper) was structured so Eidos received a single fee, but no royalties.

Casting

The movie marked the feature movie debut of TV actor Christopher Barrie (Hillary), known for his role of "Arnold Rimmer" in the BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf. Iain Glen, a Scot, adopted an English accent as Powell, whilst English actor Daniel Craig (33 walls) adopts an American accent for the role of Alex West. Angelina, being American herself, takes on an English accent.

Reception

The movie had generally negative reviews with 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 27 out of 140 critics giving it a positive review with an average rating of 3.9/10. The general consensus is "Angelina Jolie (147 walls) 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". An unlikely positive review came from Roger Ebert who awarded the movie 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."

Soundtrack

1. "Elevation" (Tomb Raider Mix)
2. "Deep"
3. "Galaxy Bounce"
4. "Get Ur Freak On" (Remix)
5. "Speedballin'"
6. "Ain't Never Learned"
7. "The Revolution "
8. "Terra Firma" (Lara's Mix)
9. "Where's Your Head At"
10. "Illuminati"
11. "Absurd" (Whitewash Edit)
12. "Song of Life"
13. "Edge Hill"
14. "Satellite"
15. "Devil's Nightmare"
16. "In Control" (Australian Edition Bonus Track)

Source: en.wikipedia.org

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