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Summary: The world's famous video-game heroine, Lara
Croft, comes to life in this non-stop action to save the world from
ambitious and evil people trying to obtain the mythical Triangle of Light to
rule the world. You don't need to be familiar with the video game in
order to enjoy this great action adventure film. Angelina Jolie is
terrific as the superhero Lara Croft. Strongly recommended.
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The Story
The ultimate video-game heroine, Lara Croft (Angelina
Jolie), finds herself longing for her father, Lord Croft (Jon Voight), who
has died suddenly. As the planetary alignment closes in, Lara
continues her father's work to search for the Triangle of Light and at the
same time tries to discover the motives of the secret Illuminati society
through its lawyer Powell (Iain Glen) who is mysteriously obsessed with the
mythical clock which promise to unlock the power to the Triangle of Light.
"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" is action packed
adventure, a cross among James Bond, Indiana Jones, and the Mummy, but with an attitude. The
computer graphics animation sequences along with unprecedented stunts
performed by Angelina Jolie herself will have you riveted to the screen screaming,
laughing and cheering Lady Lara all the way to the end. It will be an
adventure you won't soon forget!
Angelina Jolie is superb in playing Lara Croft. She
did many of the amazing stunts herself, after months of intense
training. One of the bonus features highlights the dedication that she
puts into many of the physical action sequences. I'm convinced that
Angelina Jolie may be the only actress capable of playing Lara Croft.
The Extras
The "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" Special
Collector's Edition DVD contains an incredible set of bonus materials.
Paramount Home Video seems to be paying more attention to the bonus features
in their recent DVD releases, and this one is certainly an example of their
recent focus on the quality and quantity of bonus features. I like the
user-friendly menu that automatically advances to the next featurette:
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Commentary by Director Simon West
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Four Deleted Scenes: Powell Kills Wilson, Powell and
Pimms, You Might Try to Kill Me, Lara and Alex in Venice
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Alternate Main Title Sequence
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Digging Into Tomb Raider: cast and crew
interviews featuring Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, director Simon West and
more from casting through on location filming.
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"Crafting Lara Croft" is about the different aspects of
physical training Angelina Jolie underwent for the role.
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"The Stunts of Tomb Raider" is a must see segment
featuring the amazing skills Angelina Jolie accomplished before and
during filming.
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"Visual Effects of Tomb Raider" features
eight amazing
computer graphic sequences:
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"Are You Game?" A look at the Tomb Raider
video game phenomenon and its transition onto the silver screen.
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U2 Music Video: "Elevation" Tomb Raider
Mix
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DVD-ROM Features:
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen DVD is very good. The colors are accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is very good. Unfortunately, there are
a few film specks in the video transfer. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well balanced and the surround channels are effectively
and aggressively employed to capture the awesome sound design. The dialog
consistently comes across crystal clear.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES
STR-V444ES A/V receiver, NHT 2.1 as left/right main speakers, NHT 1.1C center channel speaker, NHT
SuperZero as surround speakers, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable XP speaker
wires, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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