Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (or just Tomb Raider) is a movie based on the popular Tomb Raider video game series featuring the character Lara Croft. It was released during the summer of 2001. Lara in the screen role was not portrayed as an CGI character, but was played by movie actress Angelina Jolie.
The film was shot on location at Angkor, Cambodia.
During the summer of 2003, the sequel, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, made its way into theatres across the United States and other countries around the world.
Tagline: Who is Lara Croft?
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler A member of a rich British aristocratic family, Lara Croft is a "tomb raider" who enjoys collecting ancient artifacts from ruins of temples, cities, etc. worldwide, and doesn't mind going through death-defying dangers to get them. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and foreign languages - and does them all in tight outfits.
The planets of the solar system are going into astronomical conjunction (which occurs every 5,000 years), and a secret society called the Illuminati is seeking an ancient talisman that gives its possessor the ability to control time. Although the 'first phase' of the conjunctions occurs on May 15, the plot perhaps refers to the alignment that actually happened on May 5 2000.
The Illuminati need a certain clock/key to help them in their search, and they have to find the talisman in one week or wait for the next planetary alignment to find it again. Lara happens to find that key hidden in a wall of her mansion. The Illuminati steal it, and Lara gets on old letter from Lord Richard Croft, her deceased father, telling her about the society's agenda (Her father was a defected member, who hid the key). Now, she must retreive the key and find and destroy the talisman before the Illumanti can get their hands on it.
There are at least two references to the second game of the series, like the dagger of Xian which is auctioned. On the other hand, the plot presents some deviations from the games and the comics: while the comic-book Lara lost her parents in a plane crash, from where she was the only survivor, in the movie her mother died while she was little, while her father Richard (instead of Henshingly) died in 1985 'in the Field'. Also, her butler is the young Hilary, instead of the old Winston, appearing in the games (in the comics he is called Jives).
Main cast
- Angelina Jolie - Lara Croft
- Jon Voight - Lord Richard Croft
- Iain Glen - Manfred Powell
- Noah Taylor - Bryce
- Daniel Craig - Alex West
- Richard Johnson - Distinguished Gentleman
- Chris Barrie - Hillary
- Julian Rhind-Tutt - Mr. Pimms
- Leslie Phillips - Wilson
Trivia
- The casting of Jolie was controversial among many fans of the Tomb Raider series, who felt she was physically inappropriate to play the large-breasted heroine; others complained about an American actress being hired to play a British character. Prior to Jolie being cast in the role, numerous other actresses (and non-actresses) were rumored to be in consideration, most notably Demi Moore. UK nude model Linsey Dawn McKenzie was also rumored by some media to be in the running for the part.
- Jolie wore a padded bra during filming in order to approximate Lara Croft's physical dimensions; this was abandoned for the second movie.