Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jan de Bont
Produced by	Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin
Screenplay by	Dean Georgaris
Story by	Steven E. de Souza James V. Hart
Starring	Angelina Jolie Gerard Butler Noah Taylor Ciarán Hinds Djimon Hounsou Til Schweiger Christopher Barrie
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	David Tattersall
Editing by	Michael Kahn
Studio	Mutual Film Company BBC Films Tele München Gruppe Toho-Towa Lawrence Gordon Productions Eidos Interactive
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (United States) United International Pictures (United Kingdom/Internationally) Concorde Filmverleih (Germany) Toho-Towa (Japan)
Release date(s)	July 21, 2003 (2003-07-21) (premiere) July 25, 2003 (2003-07-25) (United States) August 14, 2003 (2003-08-14) (Germany) August 22, 2003 (2003-08-22) (United Kingdom) September 20, 2003 (2003-09-20) (Japan)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	Germany Japan United Kingdom United States
Language	English Mandarin
Budget	$95 million
Money made	$160.1 million

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life is an exciting action and adventure film released in 2003. It was directed by Jan de Bont. This movie is based on the popular Tomb Raider video game series. Angelina Jolie plays the main character, Lara Croft. Other actors in the film include Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, and Djimon Hounsou.

The film was made by companies from different countries. These included the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. It is a sequel to the first Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie from 2001. Many critics thought The Cradle of Life was better than the first film. They especially liked the action scenes. Angelina Jolie also received praise for her role as Lara Croft.

Even though it was liked by critics, the movie did not earn as much money as the first one. It made $160.1 million worldwide. The first film had earned $275 million. However, The Cradle of Life was still considered a financial success. There were plans for another sequel, but they were stopped. This happened because Angelina Jolie decided not to play Lara Croft again.

What is the Story of the Film?

Lara's New Adventure Begins

The story starts on Santorini island in Greece. A big earthquake uncovers an ancient place called the Luna Temple. This temple was built by Alexander the Great to keep his most valuable treasures. Inside, Lara Croft and her team find a glowing orb. This orb has a strange code etched into it.

Lara is a treasure-hunting archaeologist. Her group is attacked by the Lo brothers, Chen and Xien. These brothers are powerful crime lords. They lead a Chinese crime group called Shay Ling. The Lo brothers steal the orb. Lara manages to escape with a special medallion.

The Search for Pandora's Box

Later, MI6 (a British spy agency) contacts Lara. They tell her about Pandora's box. This is a legendary object that supposedly holds a deadly plague. The box is hidden in a mysterious place called the Cradle of Life. Only a magical sphere can lead the way to it. This sphere is the same orb that Chen Lo stole.

Chen Lo plans to sell the orb to Dr. Jonathan Reiss. Reiss is a famous scientist and a rich businessman. But he has become a dangerous arms dealer. He wants to use the plague as a weapon. Lara agrees to help MI6. She wants to stop Reiss from getting the orb. She asks MI6 to release her old friend, Terry Sheridan. Terry knows a lot about Chen Lo's criminal group.

Chasing the Orb Around the World

Lara and Terry sneak into Chen Lo's hideout. He is illegally moving Terracotta Soldiers there. Lara defeats Chen Lo in a fight. She learns that the orb is now in Shanghai, China. In Shanghai, Chen's brother Xien tries to give the orb to Reiss. But Reiss betrays Xien and kills him. Lara secretly puts a tracker on the crate holding the orb.

Lara and Terry find the orb in a lab in Hong Kong. However, Reiss and his men capture Lara. Reiss tells her his evil plan. He wants to release the plague and only save people he thinks are worthy. Terry saves Lara just in time. They grab the orb and escape using wingsuits.

Finding the Cradle of Life

The next day, Lara uses the orb. It shows her the location of the Cradle of Life. It is in Kenya, Africa, near Mount Kilimanjaro. Lara sends this information to her friend Bryce back at Croft Manor. But Reiss and his men break into the mansion. They capture Bryce and Hillary, Lara's butler.

Lara travels to Kenya. She meets her old friend Kosa. They ask a local tribe about the Cradle of Life. The chief tells them it is in a crater. It is protected by "Shadow Guardians."

Facing the Shadow Guardians

As they start their journey, Reiss's men attack them. They kill the tribesmen. Lara is outnumbered and has to surrender. Reiss uses her friends as hostages. He forces Lara to lead him to the Cradle of Life. At the crater, they meet the Shadow Guardians. These are strange monsters that appear from wet spots on dead trees. The creatures kill most of Reiss's men.

Lara finds a "keyhole" and drops the Orb into it. The creatures disappear. The entrance to the Cradle of Life opens up.

Inside the Cradle

Lara and Reiss are pulled into the Cradle. It is a maze made of a strange, crystal-like material. Inside, the usual rules of physics do not apply. They find a pool of black, highly corrosive acid. Pandora's Box floats in this acid. Terry arrives and frees the hostages. He then joins Lara.

Lara fights Reiss. Reiss gets his gun and tries to shoot Lara. He wants to throw her into the acid and take Pandora's Box. But Terry distracts him and saves Lara. Lara then knocks Reiss down. She throws him into the acid pool, which kills him. Terry then says he wants to take the box for himself. Lara sadly shoots him when he refuses to give up. She puts the box back in the acid pool and leaves.

The next morning, Lara says goodbye to the villagers. She gets ready to leave. Her friends are getting their faces painted by African women. Lara warns them it is for a wedding ceremony. Her friends quickly escape and leave with Lara.

Who are the Main Actors?

• Angelina Jolie plays Lara Croft, the adventurous archaeologist.
• Ciarán Hinds is Dr. Jonathan Reiss, the dangerous villain.
• Gerard Butler plays Terry Sheridan, Lara's old flame.
• Chris Barrie is Hillary, Lara's loyal butler.
• Noah Taylor plays Bryce, Lara's tech-savvy friend.
• Djimon Hounsou is Kosa, Lara's friend in Kenya.
• Til Schweiger plays Sean.
• Simon Yam is Chen Lo, one of the crime lords.
• Terence Yin plays Xien, Chen Lo's brother.
• Tom Wu is Sean's Man.
• Graham McTavish plays the Submarine Captain.

How Was the Movie Made?

Filming Locations and Budget

The film had a budget of $95 million. This was less than the first movie's budget of $115 million. It was funded by Tele München Gruppe. The Japanese company Toho-Towa also helped distribute the movie around the world.

Filming took about three and a half months. This included six-day shoots in real places. They filmed in Hong Kong, Santorini (Greece), and Llyn Gwynant in North Wales. North Wales was used to look like mainland China. They also spent two weeks in Kenya. They filmed in Amboseli and Hell's Gate. The rest of the movie was filmed on soundstages in the United Kingdom. One scene was set in Shanghai, but it was filmed on a set, not in the actual city.

Lara's Special Jeep

The movie also showed the new 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Lara first drives it after parachuting into the moving vehicle in Africa. Jeep's design team worked with the film's production designers to customize it. Three special Jeeps were built for filming.

Jeep also made 1,001 limited-edition Tomb Raider models for sale. These Jeeps were only available in silver, like the one in the movie. They did not have the special custom parts. Jeep's vice president, Jeff Bell, said the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was the most capable Jeep ever. He felt it was fitting for Lara Croft to use it in the movie's extreme environments. Even with all this, Lara's Rubicon was on screen for less than two minutes in the final film.

Director's Thoughts

Director Jan de Bont said he did not enjoy making the movie. He felt the studio interfered too much. He also mentioned that the video game creators were involved. They had a say in the story, which he didn't know at first. This led to many changes.

However, he liked working with Angelina Jolie. He found her to be a very interesting person. He said she had strong opinions but in a good way. He felt she was difficult to work with, but it wasn't a problem for him. He ended up liking her very much.

Music from the Film

Soundtrack Album

The official soundtrack album was released on July 22, 2003. It features songs from various artists.

The song "Did My Time" by Korn was meant to be on the soundtrack. However, due to issues with Korn's record company, it was not included. The song still plays during the film's end credits.

Original Film Score

Alan Silvestri composed and conducted the film's musical score. The London Symphony Orchestra performed it. The score album was released in 2003.

When Was the Movie Released?

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life was first released on DVD and VHS on November 18, 2003. A Blu-ray version came out later on October 8, 2013. A very high-quality 4K UHD Blu-ray was released on February 27, 2018. In the United Kingdom, about 4.8 million people watched the film on television in 2007. This made it one of the most-watched British films on TV that year.

Future of the Film Series

In March 2004, producer Lloyd Levin said that The Cradle of Life had earned enough money internationally. This meant Paramount Pictures could fund a third film. However, plans for a third movie were soon stopped. Angelina Jolie announced that she did not want to play Lara Croft a third time. She said she was happy with the last movie and didn't feel she needed to do another one. In 2018, the film series was restarted with a new movie called Tomb Raider. In this new film, Alicia Vikander played Lara Croft.

See also

• List of films based on video games