Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

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Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Directed by Simon West

Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin & Colin Wilson

Written by Story: Sara B. Cooper, Mike Werb, Michael Colleary & Simon West Screenplay: Patrick Massett & John Zinman

Starring Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor & Daniel Craig

Music by Graeme Revell

Cinematography Peter Menzies Jr.

Editing by Dallas Puett, Glen Scantlebury, Eric Strand, Mark Warner & Stuart Baird

Distributed by Paramount Pictures & United International Pictures

Release date(s): United States - 11 June 2001 Australia - 21 June 2001 United Kingdom - 6 July 2001

Running time: 101 mins

Country: United Kingdom & United States

Budget: $115,000,000

Gross revenue: $274,703,340

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is the first of two films based on the Tomb Raider Series. In this action/adventure film Angelina Jolie portrays Lara Croft, the archaeologist adventurer who travels the globe in search of hidden tombs and ancient artefacts. The film was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was followed by a sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

Plot

The film opens with Lara Croft in an Egyptian tomb, seeking what appears to be a diamond on a display at one end of the chamber. As she approaches, however, she is suddenly attacked by a large robot. After an intense chase and battle with the robot, she manages to disable it by ripping out key motivational circuits. She then takes the diamond, which is actually a memory card labeled 'Lara's Party Mix,' and inserts it into a laptop computer inside the robot, whereupon it starts playing music. It is revealed that the scene took place in a practice arena in Lara's own home, and her assistant, Bryce, programmed the robot (nicknamed SIMON), to train and challenge her in combat.

The date is May 15, the day of the first phase of a planetary alignment, or syzygy, culminating in a solar eclipse on the Earth, which happens once every 5,000 years. In Venice, a secret order known as the Illuminati is searching for a key of great importance so that they can rejoin two halves of "the triangle," which they must do by the final phase of the alignment. Mr. Powell, a member of the Illuminati, assures that they are almost ready, but in reality he has no idea where to find the key.

Meanwhile, Lara's butler, Hillary, tries to interest her in several different projects, but she ignores them. May 15, as Hillary is aware, is the day that Lara's father disappeared many years earlier, and she has never recovered from his loss.

Later that night, Lara has a dream reminding her of what her father told her about the alignment, and an object linked to it called the Triangle of Light. After waking up, she becomes aware of a clock ticking somewhere in the house, and discovers a secret chamber beneath the stairs, in which there is a carriage clock that had spontaneously begun ticking. Bryce probes into it and discovers a strange device hidden inside the clock.

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

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

The next morning, Lara receives a letter from her father, arranged to arrive after the beginning of the alignment, whereupon he explains that the clock she found is the key to retrieve two halves of the mystic Triangle of Light, which 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 Lara manages to successfully grab the piece and escape the temple after fighting off and destroying a huge six-armed Brahman 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. Lara retrieves the last half of the Triangle, but when Powell tries to complete it, the halves won’t fuse together. He realizes that Lara 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. Lara reluctantly complies, and they then struggle for control of the Triangle, with Lara prevailing.

Lara 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. Lara 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 Lara that he killed her father and retrieved his pocket watch. Lara fights him to retrieve it, killing him in the process and escaping as the chamber comes down around her.

The movie closes back at the mansion, where Hillary and Bryce have a reprogrammed SIMON, ready to challenge Lara once again.

Sorce: wikipedia

Cast

Angelina Jolie - Lara Croft
Daniel Craig - Alex West
Jon Voight - Lord Richard Croft
Iain Glen - Manfred Powell
Noah Taylor - Bryce
Richard Johnson - Distinguished Gentleman
Chris Barrie - Hillary
Julian Rhind-Tutt - Mr. Pimms
Leslie Phillips - Wilson
Robert Philips - Julius, Assault Team Leader
Rachel Appleton - Young Lara
Henry Wyndham - Boothby's Auctioneer

Production

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 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 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 payed $6.8 million for premium cable TV rights. In total, $94 million put together.

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

Additional information

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 movie Street Fighter, penned an early draft of the Tomb Raider script in 1999, but it was rejected by Paramount. However, it was partially resuscitated for the 2003 sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The final draft of the script was attributed to five writers, including director Simon West.

The picture marked the feature film debut of television actor Chris 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 adopts an American accent for the role of Alex West. Angelina, being American herself, takes on an English accent.

Sorce: wikipedia

Reaction

Box office performance

Tomb Raider debuted at number one with $48.2 million, giving Paramount its second-best debut and the fourth-highest debut of 2001. It beat the opening record for a film featuring a female protagonist ($40.1 million for Charlie's Angels), and is the most successful video game adaptation to date, grossing $300,000,000 worldwide.

Critical reception

The film was panned by film critics. Rotten Tomatoes stated that only 18% of the critics gave the film positive reviews.

However, Roger Ebert had said "Did I enjoy the movie? Yes. Is it up there with the Indiana Jones pictures? No, although its art direction and set design are (especially in the tomb with all the dead roots hanging down like tendrils). Was I filled with suspense? No. Since I had no idea what was going to happen, should happen, shouldn't happen or what it meant if it did happen, I could hardly be expected to care. But did I grin with delight at the absurdity it all? You betcha."

Angelina Jolie's performance as Croft was both praised and criticized, earning her a nomination for the Golden Raspberry Awards as Worst Actress, as was the overall story.

Sorce: wikipedia