Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life

"The lady returns."

2003 1h 57m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 4,646

AdventureActionFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Off the coast of the volcanic island of Santorini, the intrepid archaeologist Lara Croft makes the unexpected discovery of a pulsating golden orb able to guide its holder to the mythical Pandora's Box. As the legendary artifact contains ancient mysteries of unfathomable power - said to contain one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, Lara is tasked by MI6 to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. With the aid of former Marine turned mercenary Terry Sheridan, she travels the world in pursuit of the precious item in a race against time; she must beat the unscrupulous Nobel Prize-winning scientist turned bioterrorist, Jonathan Reiss, to it.

“The lady returns.”

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Cast

Angelina Jolie
Lara Croft
Gerard Butler
Terry Sheridan
Ciarán Hinds
Jonathan Reiss
Chris Barrie
Hillary
Noah Taylor
Bryce
Djimon Hounsou
Kosa
Til Schweiger
Sean
Simon Yam
Chen Lo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jan de Bont
Writers: Dean Georgaris, Steven E. de Souza, James V. Hart
Languages: English, Mandarin
Countries: Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $95M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mandarin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Tomb Raider Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

796+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jan de Bont, shot by David Tattersall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jan de Bont directs. David Tattersall behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. Michael Kahn cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $95M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 23 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mandarin.
4International production across 5 countries: Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Part of the "Tomb Raider Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6796+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Jan de Bont, shot by David Tattersall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler and Ciarán Hinds carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The lady returns.".
12IMDB entry: tt0325703 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 29 themes, including "medallion", "biological weapon", "shanghai, china", "riddle".
14Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: David Tattersall
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: Michael Kahn
Makeup / hair: Darlene Forrester
VFX supervisor: Steven Begg
Sound: Steve Boeddeker
Stunt coordinator: Simon Crane
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $95,000,000
Box office: $160,099,222
Return: 169% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)

Part of

Tomb Raider Collection

Tomb Raider is a series of action-adventure movies, centering around the exploits of Lara Croft, a fictional British archaeologist-adventurer.

Also by

Jan de Bont

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Community reviews

What people are saying

The Movie Mob2023-02-11
★ 7/10
The Cradle of Life is still an outrageous action adventure full of stunts and gunfights, but this time, the style and directing minimize the cliche and maximize the fun! The Cradle of Life benefits from a larger budget, a new director, and a little less cheese. While this Tomb Raider film still has plenty of ridiculous moments, this time, they are more fantastical than cliche, which for a video game character, feels like a step in the right direction. The first film seemed more influenced by Blade and style Matrix, whereas the sequel takes its cues from Mission: Impossible. Lara Croft is a globe-trotting, gun-wielding, archeological super agent, but even with how larger-than-life that sounds, Angelina Jolie and Jan de Bont make it feel more grounded and believable. I appreciated the more practical feel of the effects and incredible stunts. In addition, Gerard Butler’s duplicitous romantic interest keeps the story more unpredictable and engaging. There were gun battles, exotic locations, plenty of expendable bad guys, and an awesome action heroine kicking butt! I couldn’t ask for more!
Andre Gonzales2023-07-10
★ 6/10
Equally as good as the first. It's just like the video game. So there storyline was pretty much made for them. Good movie though.
CinemaSerf2025-01-20
★ 6/10
Proof, if it were ever really needed, that Gerard Butler really is just eye candy! He's ex Royal Marine "Terry" who allies with our intrepid relic hunter "Lara" (Angelina Jolie) as she embarks on another adventure to save the world. This time it's the megalomaniac "Reiss" (Ciarán Hinds) who is trying to obtain a talisman that will enable him to release the worst effects of the legendary "Pandora's Box" onto an unsuspecting world and leave him ruling the roost. The clue to it's long-hidden whereabouts is a pulsating golden orb and both team "Croft" and team "Reiss" know that's what they are going to have to locate before they can obtain this ultimate power. What's quite impressive about this sequel is that it managed to retain the services of Jolie and attract the always reliable Djimon Hounsou as it tells us a story respectful of cultures across the globe and extols the virtues of leaving well alone. As ever, there is plenty of action, destruction and even a bit of smart-mouthedness and Jolie did look like she was enjoying just throwing caution to the wind amidst a studio of green-screen and taut cables. There's a fair degree of teatime menace and the special effects guys have let rip with plenty of effective visuals to keep the pace rollicking along fine. It's a throw away adventure film with no ambitions to be anything else, and on that basis it effortlessly engages for a couple of hours essentially knitting a few stand-alone episodes into one. You ought to know what you are going to get when you watch it, and if you accept that premiss then it doesn't disappoint.