Tomb Raider series
Encyclopedia
Tomb Raider is a media franchise
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
British archaeologist Lara Croft
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
by Core Design
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
.
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Tomb Raider is a media franchise
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
British archaeologist Lara Croft
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
by Core Design
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
.
{| style="float: center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" "position: center"
|-
|
Tomb Raider is a media franchise
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
British archaeologist Lara Croft
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
by Core Design
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
.
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The central character in Tomb Raider is the British archaeologist Lara Croft, a female adventure
r in search of ancient relics used by Thor
, the God of Thunder, King Arthur
and many others. Lara was created by one-time Core designer Toby Gard
, and grew out of a number of ideas discarded in early concepts. She appears almost invariably with brown shorts, boots and small backpack, a dark green or blue sleeveless top, holsters on both sides of her hip for dual wielded pistols which carry around 30 bullets together. Over the course of the series, her 3D model
has undergone gradual graphical improvements, as well as enlarged (and later reduced) breast size.
Over the course of time, the Tomb Raider series' canon has undergone various changes or retcons. These changes correspond to the series entering a new medium, such as comic books or film, or being taken over by another game developer. For example, in the first Tomb Raider game manual, Lara Croft is said to have survived a plane crash in the Himalayas at the age of twenty one, and was later disowned by her parents, who are still living. However, in the comics, Lara lost both her parents and her fiancé in the crash. The films make no mention of a plane crash, Lara's mother died when she was too young to remember, and her father died under different circumstances. When development of Tomb Raider was transferred from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics, Lara's biography, was that she and her mother survived a plane crash and later, her mother disappears in the site where they crashed (see Tomb Raider: Legend). She was then left to her father, who did not take part in the crash, and he was later killed by Jaqueline Natla, a recurring character in the series, leaving Lara an orphan. However, in the Lara Croft movie, Lara's father gets killed by the Illuminati (see Tomb Raider).
In addition to the voice actresses who have been responsible for Lara Croft's spoken dialogue during the games, a number of women have taken on the role of Lara for applications outside of the games themselves. Six different women have served as the official Lara Croft model for publicity purposes, including model Nell McAndrew
, actress Rhona Mitra
, and, most recently, gymnast Alison Carroll
, who held the job until 2010 and is reportedly going to be the final Lara model as part of a new direction for the character. American film star Angelina Jolie
portrayed Lara Croft in two feature-length Tomb Raider films, which together grossed nearly US$500 million worldwide, making her role as Lara the most well known and widely seen of any other.
Nearly fifteen years after the release of the original game, Lara is still one of the most famous and recognizable video game characters in the history of the medium. The debate over whether she is an icon of female empowerment
or a vessel for male titillation has existed for as long as she has, but the huge effect she has had on both gaming and popular culture
in general can not be denied.
Tomb Raider is one of the best-selling video games franchises of all time. Excluding the sales of the portable adaptions, TV remote-controlled versions and mobile phone releases, the series has collectively sold over 35 million units.
The original game, titled Tomb Raider, made its début on the Sega Saturn
, PlayStation
, and PC
. Despite being released on the Saturn first alongside PC, it was one of the titles responsible for the PlayStation's success in the mid 1990s. The games present a world in 3D
: a series of tomb
s, and other locations, through which the player must guide Lara. On the way, she must kill dangerous creatures or other humans, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artefact
.
Tomb Raider, an early example of the 3D genre, uses third-person shooter
mechanics. The player's camera follows her, usually over her shoulder or from behind. Until Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, the game's environments were largely orthogonal
, as a result of the creators' decision to extend the 2D
platform game genre
to a 3D world. This is shown through Tomb Raider's gameplay, which is very reminiscent of older platform games like Prince of Persia
and Flashback that had a heavy focus on timed jumping interspersed with combat.
Each game has introduced new weapons and moves; by the fourth game, Lara could back flip off ropes and turn around in mid-air to grab a ledge behind her. Tomb Raider: Legend introduced an electromagnetic grapple that Lara can attach to metal objects and can, amongst other things, be used to make rope swings and pull metal objects (and enemies) toward her. Standard moves in Lara's range of abilities include the somersault, a roll, climbing techniques, the ability to swim, a swan dive manoeuvre, and a handstand. In Tomb Raider III, a sprinting move was introduced that allowed Lara to quickly speed up while a bar in the lower corner of the screen drained her stamina. In Tomb Raider: Chronicles, Lara was able to bar-swing and somersault/roll out of crawl spaces higher than ground level.
The storyline is usually driven by the quest for a powerful artefact, with Lara in a race against a sinister shadow league who want to obtain the relic for their own purposes. These artefacts usually possess mystical powers and may be of supernatural, or even alien, origin. Often in the series, the antagonist uses the artefact or bits of it to create terrifying mystical monsters, creatures, and mutants which Lara must defeat throughout the journey.
Originally, the Tomb Raider Games were developed by Core Design
, and a game was released annually. However, the pressure grew so much on the team that they decided to kill Lara Croft off at the end of the fourth game. Still, a fifth game was released, which consisted of a series of flashbacks with Lara Croft's funeral serving as framing story for the various tales. The sixth instalment Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness revived the character and was to start a trilogy. The game infamously featured a darker more city-based setting and included stealth-elements and also introduced a new playable character for a short time in the game. The game was a failure, thus ending the Core Design Era.
In the early 2000s, a series of hand-held titles were released for the GAME BOY color and GAME BOY Advance, which were developed by other developers, neither Core Design (except the second GameBoy game) nor Crystal Dynamics and are therefore not considered to be part of the series.
Crystal Dynamics
, known for their work on the Legacy of Kain series, relaunched the series with Tomb Raider: Legend which brought the character back to its tomb raiding roots. It was the first time since the original Tomb Raider that Lara Croft's original creator, Toby Gard returned to work on a sequel. The game heavily expanded on Lara Croft's background, detailing on the loss of her mother in early childhood and how she followed her father's footsteps to find her (therefore beginning her archaeology career). Following the success of Legend a remake of the original was produced and released almost a year later, called Tomb Raider: Anniversary. The game expanded on some of the plot lines, further setting up the follow-up to Legend, which was released in late 2008: Tomb Raider: Underworld. The game featured the conclusion of a loose Trilogy that forms Anniversary, Legend and Underworld.
Following that, the Structure in Crystal Dynamics changed and part of the team worked on a new spin-off, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, while another began working on a reboot of the franchise.
On 18 August 2010, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix released a download-only title, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
, the first game in the series not to bear the name Tomb Raider. The omission of the Tomb Raider branding was said to separate Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light from the "pillar" Tomb Raider games, which are also still being produced.
In an interview with GamingIndians.com, Ian Livingstone
, Life President of Eidos Interactive, announced that the next Tomb Raider was currently in the works. Livingstone stated "I think [it] will surprise a lot of people and reinvigorate the franchise."
The official site revealed the next Tomb Raider game which is simply titled Tomb Raider, It is described as a reboot of Lara Croft. It is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2012.
s. The exception is Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness which was recorded live by the London Symphony Orchestra
at Abbey Road Studios
, London
, in 2002.
A few Tomb Raider soundtrack
s have had official releases made (see: Soundtracks). However, the majority of the in-game music has yet to be commercialized. Eidos has expressed no concern (despite considerable fan demand) in 15 years of publishing the franchise. Even though score commercialization became common ground during the late 2000s (with music being sold from blockbuster
titles such as the Halo
, Assassin's Creed
, and Mass Effect
series), soundtracks to the Tomb Raider saga remain unreleased.
The composers are unable to sell their music independently because under employment as in-house composers (at either Crystal Dynamics
or Core Design
), they are also tied to Eidos (as the parent company) by contract. Subsequently, Eidos owns the licensing rights to the composers' material. An example of this is Troels Folmann's recycled music from Tomb Raider: Legend and Anniversary (plus O'Malley's
Underworld
) present in the 2010 game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
, .
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; margin:auto;"
|+ Developed by Core Design
!width=120|Data/Game
!width=160|Tomb Raider
(1996)
!width=160|Tomb Raider II
(1997)
!width=160|Tomb Raider III
(1998)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
The Last Revelation
(1999)
!width=160|Tomb Raider
Chronicles
(2000)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
The Angel of Darkness
(2003)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|General mood || Classical music
,
Ancient Mystery
|| Classical music,
Fantasy
|| Classical music,
Adventure
|| Ancient,
Mythical
|| Military
,
Fear
|| Obscure
,
Chased
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main composer || Nathan McCree
|| Nathan McCree || Nathan McCree || Peter Connelly
|| Peter Connelly || Peter Connelly
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Collaborator(s) || Martin Iveson
|| n/a || Martin Iveson,
Peter Connelly,
and Matthew Kemp || n/a || n/a || Martin Iveson,
Peter Wraight (orchestrator),
and David Snell (conductor)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main theme duration|| 3:15 || 2:46 || 2:18 || 2:17 || n/a || 3:08
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Material expanse || ~17 minutes || ~19 minutes || ~35 minutes || ~18 minutes || ~16 minutes || ~51 minutes
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Commercialization || Promotional only || Promotional only || Promotional only || n/a || n/a || Standalone,
Enclosure
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; margin:auto;"
|+ Developed by Crystal Dynamics
!width=120|Data/Game
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Legend
(2006)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Anniversary
(2007)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Underworld
(2008)
!width=160|Tomb Raider
(2012)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|General mood || World
,
Modern
|| Dramatic,
Atmospheric
|| Journey
,
Chased, Relaxation
|| Unsettling,
yet Familiar
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main composer || Troels B. Folmann
|| Troels B. Folmann || Colin O'Malley
|| TBA
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Collaborator(s) || n/a || n/a || Troels B. Folmann
(supervisor)
||TBA
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main theme duration || 2:20 || 3:37 || 3:33 || n/a
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Material expanse || ~180 minutes
(loop forms)
|| ~56 minutes || ~110 minutes || n/a
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Commercialization || Enclosure || Enclosure || Enclosure || TBA
|}
The basic instrumentation for the Tomb Raider scores is orchestral, though the games adopt different instrumentation and tone with each instalment in the series. Nathan McCree
's style when scoring the first Tomb Raider is most similar to Classical music
, especially the cues with a fast tempo. Additionally, slow tempo cues are built on a minimalist
base using minimalist cells
and two to four repeated musical notes. Different instruments like the vibraphone
, strings
, harp
, or woodwinds provide a mysterious setting for the player.
The main theme of the first Tomb Raider game was composed by Nathan McCree. A solo oboe melody orchestrated with choirs and strings, exposing for the first time the four most important musical notes, the signature, the motif
of the entire series. These notes are composed in a most conjunct melodic manner possible: G-A-F-G. The original motif is followed immediately after by the sequenced motif
with A-A-G, giving at the same time the possibility of looping the theme and the feeling of completion. Variations of this tune, especially the G-A-F-G motif has been used throughout all Tomb Raider games, including the second movie, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
.
The symphonic sounds of the earlier games composed by Nathan McCree were created using Roland Corporation
's Orchestral Expansion board for their JV series modules (JV-1080
Synthesizer Module & SR-JV80-02 Expansion Board).
Stings
were used very often to warn the player about an impending danger, or if the player discovers a certain area. As an example, if the player picks up a secret object or, in later games, if he/she discovers an area with that object, a short vibraphone
sound may be heard indicating the player has found a "Secret". The sound has been used in the first five Tomb Raider video games, including Tomb Raider: Anniversary, though it has some minor sound variations.
With Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, the composer changes for the first time in the series, Peter Connelly
being the next composer to come, he tries to respect Nathan's musical style of the series, keeping the stings and similar orchestration. For the main theme of "The Last Revelation" he sequences with a vibraphone the original motif in a 4 musical note minimalist cell, used from the beginning to the end of the melody.
Angel of Darkness is the first game to bring underscores, previous games using stings and full scores only. Furthermore, as another premier for the series, the score has been performed by a real orchestra (London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Snell). This game combines the style of Danny Elfman
Batman
scores
with the classic Tomb Raider style. The basis of the main theme of this 5th game is the ending of the previous game.
Troels Brun Folmann brings with Legend a new kind of music style with underlying beats, just like electronic dance music
, that sometimes has small parts of an electronic-like orchestra, but instead of recreating the atmosphere of a real orchestra, Folmann uses a lot of echoes for its sounds. The title track starts off with the first few notes of Lara's original theme used in all the games before this one, being played with slight ornamentation on a Middle-Eastern duduk
.
Folmann's work for Anniversary is different from that of Legend, as it has no underlying techno
beats or electronic effects, and no underscores. Folmann uses more complex instrumentation and composition in his scoring, acquiring more woodwinds
, instrument articulation
, and ambience
. Folmann leaves somewhat of a trademark in his Anniversary music by adding a significant amount of chimes
throughout the score. Folmann composed the music in the style of an electronic orchestra. Some recognisable themes from the first game, composed by Nathan McCree, such as "Time to Run," "Puzzle Theme," and "Puzzle Theme II" have been recreated. The main theme can be described as a celebratory version of the original theme from Tomb Raider, as similar chord and instruments are used in the piece. The song starts off with a heavy crescendo
of woodwinds and low strings playing the famous Tomb Raider melody, and then breaks off into an almost playful arc, featuring parts of the harp
composition from the Tomb Raider theme. Pizzicato
strings, cascading pianos and celeste
, chimes, and glass instrumentation are prominent throughout this version, implying the fresh and modern twist that Folmann and Crystal Dynamics have placed in Anniversary.
The music supervisor of Underworld was Troels Brun Folmann, he also composed the main theme, while Colin O'Malley
scored the bulk of the music. Underworlds music is purely orchestral in style. There are pieces that do not loop, meaning they only play one time and are triggered on specific events. The score is made more of musical fragments, similar to the first five games of the Tomb Raider series with less constant music than in Legend. The first seconds of the main theme are the well known four-notes of the original Tomb Raider main theme. The end of the it gets louder than the beginning by adding choirs and percussion. It then drops into a solo performance of the same four-notes reminiscent of the Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness main theme.
2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light uses recycled musical cues from Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld by composers Troels Brun Folmann and Colin O'Malley.
The composer for Tomb Raider (2012) remains unannounced On 21 December 2010, a podcast
was released via the exclusive Game Informer
media coverage. As well as featuring an interview with the developers regarding selected publicized fan questions, it also included "a sneak peek at a track from the game itself" composed by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic. The music heard introduces piano
and guitar
layers, purporting darker undertones. This literally and symbolically creates a distinct feel for Tomb Raider; made explicitly separate to the rest of the music of the Tomb Raider franchise which the guitar as an instrument is particularly foreign to. Most similar to music from Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, fully orchestrated strings follow, which are accompanied
by percussion. The instruments develop into an inverted
minor
derivation of the classic Tomb Raider motif composed by Nathan McCree
in 1996. However, on the eve of the "Turning Point" CGI Trailer, which debuted on 3 June 2011, Dimitrijevic expressed that "none of the music [he] did for the game or the trailer will be used in Tomb Raider or the upcoming Tomb Raider Trailer." A new theme for the trailer was created, currently available as a ringtone from Tomb Raider's official website.
s have been created based on the Tomb Raider universe
: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001, and the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, both starring Angelina Jolie
.
adventure film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series; Lara Croft races against time and villains to recover a powerful artefact called the All-seeing eye
.
The film was directed by Simon West
and starred Angelina Jolie
as Lara Croft
. It was released in U.S. theaters on 15 June 2001 receiving mostly negative reviews from critics. Lara Croft: 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 second most successful video game adaptation to date (after Prince of Persia), grossing $274,703,340 worldwide.
returns as Lara Croft in the 2003
sequel to the original video game based film. This time, Lara Croft attempts to find Pandora's Box
which supposedly contains one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, before evil scientist, Jonathan Reiss, can get his hands on it.
This film was directed by Jan de Bont
and was released in U.S. theaters on 21 July 2003 receiving slightly higher reviews than the original. Despite the more favourable critical response, Cradle of Life suffered a disappointing opening weekend, as it debuted in fourth place with a take of $21.7 million, a 55% drop from the original's opening gross of $47.7 million. The film finished with a domestic gross of only $65 million. Total earnings amounted to $156.5 million.
's GK Films acquired the film rights and plan to release an origin story reboot by 2013. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
have been hired to pen the film.
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"| Film
| rowspan="2"| Release date
| colspan="3"| Box office revenue
| colspan="2" text="wrap"| Box office ranking
| rowspan="2"| Budget
| rowspan="2"| Reference
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| United States
|| Foreign
|| Worldwide
|| All time domestic
|| All time worldwide
|-
|Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
|15 June 2001
| $131,168,070
|$143,535,270
|$274,703,340
| style="text-align:center;"| #251
| style="text-align:center;"| #243
| style="text-align:center;"|$115,000,000
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
|25 July 2003
|$65,660,196
|$90,845,192
|$156,505,388
| style="text-align:center;"| #788
| style="background:lightgrey;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|$95,000,000
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|Total
|
|$196,828,266
|$234,380,462
|$431,208,728
|
|
| style="text-align:center;"|$210,000,000
|
|}
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"| Film
| colspan="2"| Rotten Tomatoes
| rowspan="2"| Metacritic
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| Overall
|| Cream of the Crop
|-
| Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
| 19% (154 reviews)
| 11% (9 reviews)
| 33% (31 reviews)
|-
| Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
| 24% (163 reviews)
| 25% (8 reviews)
| 43% (34 reviews)
|}
, which released several Tomb Raider comics
beginning in 1997. Alongside crossovers with the publisher's company-owned Witchblade
and creator-owned Fathom
, an eponymous ongoing series began publication in 1999, ending in 2004 with its fiftieth issue.
Ballantine Books
, in conjunction with Eidos, began publishing a series of original novels in the spring of 2004, beginning with The Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick
, which was followed by The Lost Cult by E. E. Knight
in August 2004 and then The Man of Bronze by James Alan Gardner
in January 2005. They generally followed the continuity of the video games (particularly Angel of Darkness) rather than the movies, although Lost Cult contained references to Cradle of Life. Man of Bronze differs from the first two books in that it is told in first-person narrative
from Lara Croft's point of view. Ballantine's contract only called for three novels, and it is not yet known if the book series will continue.
GameTap
aired a ten part animated short series called Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series from 10 July 2007 to 13 November 2007. The series consists of various artistic talent's renditions of Lara Croft. Minnie Driver
provides the voice for Lara Croft.
to seven of the Tomb Raider games exist as promotional items (and/or under enclosure), while some were available to consumers in specific retail editions with a limited window of opportunity to purchase. All marketable commodities are now out of print and have become rare collector's items. The majority of musical material for the games remains unreleased.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Promotional Sampler
! Composer(s)
! No. of Tracks
! Duration
! Format, Release
! Year
|-
| Tomb Raider: Toutes Les Musiques
| Nathan McCree
|34
| 00:54:51
| CD, Promotional
(Included with the French magazine Total Play, issue 14. Includes music from Tomb Raiders I, II and III.)
|1999
|-
| Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Collector's Edition) Soundtrack
| Peter Connelly
,
Martin Iveson
|8
| 00:18:48
| DVD
/CD, Enclosure, Standalone
(Europe pre-order "making-of" DVD/TRAOD Collector's Edition DVD/standalone CD)
| 2002/2003
|-
| Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Collector's Edition) Soundtrack
| Troels Brun Folmann
|13
| 01:03:17
| DVD
/CD, Enclosure
(TRA Collector's Edition, includes music from Tomb Raider: Legend)
|2007
|-
| Tomb Raider: Underworld (Limited Edition) Soundtrack
| Colin O'Malley
|10
| 00:23:48
| DVD
, Enclosure
(TRU Limited Edition)
|2008
|}
In addition:
, were eligible for inclusion in the six Paramount Parks
, theme parks owned and operated by Paramount (and later, CBS Corporation
). As such, three Tomb Raider rides were opened at various Paramount Parks: Tomb Raider: The Ride (both a HUSS Giant Top Spin at Kings Island
and a flying roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland) and Tomb Raider: FireFall (a suspended HUSS Top Spin at Kings Dominion). The Paramount Park's sale to Cedar Fair, L.P. was accompanied by a loss of rights to the Tomb Raider name, and subsequently, Kings Island's "Tomb Raider: The Ride" and Kings Dominion's "Tomb Raider: FireFall" were renamed "The Crypt", while Canada's Wonderland's "Tomb Raider: The Ride" was renamed "Time Warp."
With its investments and licensing pulled from the former Paramount Parks, the Tomb Raider ride franchise was started anew with Tomb Raider: The Machine at Movieland Studios, Italy. The ride, manufactured by Zamperla
, looks very much like the HUSS Top Spin ride, but is more advanced ride called a Windshear
.
The original (and only indoor, themed) Tomb Raider: The Ride at Kings Island was celebrated for the way it turned what is generally a typical "boring" thrill ride like a Top Spin (something found at most carnivals) into a highly interactive, themed dark ride complete with lava pits, volcanoes, icicles, and a giant goddess carving on the wall with laser eyes. The ride was synchronized to a specially-made Tomb Raider soundtrack and featured the real, six armed "Durga" goddess and water vase from the first movie, as well as the monkey warrior statues that come to life in the film. The ride is now named The Crypt and does not feature Lara Croft due to change in park owners.
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
British archaeologist Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 adventure thriller film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was a commercial success...
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 sword-and-sorcery action film written by Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard; directed by Mike Newell; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures...
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
.
Lara Croft
A map indicating places visited by Lara Croft during the video games:{| style="float: center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" "position: center"
|-
|
Tomb Raider is a media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
British archaeologist Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 adventure thriller film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was a commercial success...
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 sword-and-sorcery action film written by Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard; directed by Mike Newell; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures...
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
.
Lara Croft
A map indicating places visited by Lara Croft during the video games:{| style="float: center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" "position: center"
|-
|
Tomb Raider is a media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
consisting of video games, comic books, novels, theme park rides and movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, centring around the adventures of the fictional
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
British archaeologist Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
. Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the series developed into a lucrative franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
of related media, and Lara went on to become a major icon of the virtual gaming industry. The Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
has recognised Lara Croft as the "Most Successful Human Virtual Game Heroine" in 2006. The first six games in the series were developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
, whilst Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
developed the latest four; their fifth game is currently in production. Two movies - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 adventure thriller film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was a commercial success...
and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...
- have been produced starring American actress Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Lara Croft, the first of which is still the highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever released in U.S., and third worldwide behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 sword-and-sorcery action film written by Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard; directed by Mike Newell; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures...
and Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
.
Lara Croft
A map indicating places visited by Lara Croft during the video games:{| style="float: center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" "position: center"
|-
|
Tomb Raider
World Map
Video games:
Tomb Raider/Anniversary
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II is an action-adventure video game in the Tomb Raider series and is the sequel to the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, the game was originally released for PlayStation, Windows 95 in November 1997, Macintosh in 1998 and on the...
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider III is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third instalment in the Tomb Raider series, and the sequel to Tomb Raider II...
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is the fourth video game in the Tomb Raider series. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released on PC, PlayStation and eventually to the Sega Dreamcast with exclusive graphical and sound enhancements...
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tomb Raider Chronicles is the fifth game in the Tomb Raider series and the sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game was originally released in 2000 for PC, Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation...
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth instalment of the Tomb Raider series. The story continues from the events in Tomb Raider: Legend as a direct sequel, but also addresses unexplained plot elements by association with Tomb Raider: Anniversary; the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider...
Tomb Raider (2012)
Vilcabamba
Vilcabamba, Peru
Vilcabamba was a city founded by Manco Inca in 1539 and was the last refuge of the Inca Empire until it fell to the Spaniards in 1572, signaling the end of Inca resistance to Spanish rule.- History :...
Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
Atlantis
Location hypotheses of Atlantis
Location hypotheses of Atlantis are various proposed real-world settings for the island of Atlantis, a lost civilization mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 B.C. In these dialogues, a character named Critias claims that an island called Atlantis was swallowed by...
Maria Doria
Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
The Great Wall
Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
South Pacific
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Zapadnaya Litsa
Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku, is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five...
Paraíso
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Jan Mayen Island
Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
Arctic Sea
|}
The central character in Tomb Raider is the British archaeologist Lara Croft, a female adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
r in search of ancient relics used by Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
, the God of Thunder, King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
and many others. Lara was created by one-time Core designer Toby Gard
Toby Gard
Toby Gard is an English computer game character designer and consultant, notably creating female British archaeologist Lara Croft...
, and grew out of a number of ideas discarded in early concepts. She appears almost invariably with brown shorts, boots and small backpack, a dark green or blue sleeveless top, holsters on both sides of her hip for dual wielded pistols which carry around 30 bullets together. Over the course of the series, her 3D model
3D modeling
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
has undergone gradual graphical improvements, as well as enlarged (and later reduced) breast size.
Over the course of time, the Tomb Raider series' canon has undergone various changes or retcons. These changes correspond to the series entering a new medium, such as comic books or film, or being taken over by another game developer. For example, in the first Tomb Raider game manual, Lara Croft is said to have survived a plane crash in the Himalayas at the age of twenty one, and was later disowned by her parents, who are still living. However, in the comics, Lara lost both her parents and her fiancé in the crash. The films make no mention of a plane crash, Lara's mother died when she was too young to remember, and her father died under different circumstances. When development of Tomb Raider was transferred from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics, Lara's biography, was that she and her mother survived a plane crash and later, her mother disappears in the site where they crashed (see Tomb Raider: Legend). She was then left to her father, who did not take part in the crash, and he was later killed by Jaqueline Natla, a recurring character in the series, leaving Lara an orphan. However, in the Lara Croft movie, Lara's father gets killed by the Illuminati (see Tomb Raider).
In addition to the voice actresses who have been responsible for Lara Croft's spoken dialogue during the games, a number of women have taken on the role of Lara for applications outside of the games themselves. Six different women have served as the official Lara Croft model for publicity purposes, including model Nell McAndrew
Nell McAndrew
Nell McAndrew is an English glamour model.-Career:...
, actress Rhona Mitra
Rhona Mitra
Rhona Natasha Mitra , sometimes credited as Rona Mitra, is an English actress, model and singer.-Early life:Mitra was born in Paddington, London, England, the daughter of Anthony Mitra, a cosmetic surgeon, and Nora Downey...
, and, most recently, gymnast Alison Carroll
Alison Carroll
Alison Carroll is an English gymnast, model, and actress. She was the most recent Lara Croft model, from 2008 to 2010.- Biography :Alison Carroll was born in Croydon, Surrey in England....
, who held the job until 2010 and is reportedly going to be the final Lara model as part of a new direction for the character. American film star Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
portrayed Lara Croft in two feature-length Tomb Raider films, which together grossed nearly US$500 million worldwide, making her role as Lara the most well known and widely seen of any other.
Nearly fifteen years after the release of the original game, Lara is still one of the most famous and recognizable video game characters in the history of the medium. The debate over whether she is an icon of female empowerment
Empowerment
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...
or a vessel for male titillation has existed for as long as she has, but the huge effect she has had on both gaming and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
in general can not be denied.
Video games
Tomb Raider is one of the best-selling video games franchises of all time. Excluding the sales of the portable adaptions, TV remote-controlled versions and mobile phone releases, the series has collectively sold over 35 million units.
The original game, titled Tomb Raider, made its début on the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. Despite being released on the Saturn first alongside PC, it was one of the titles responsible for the PlayStation's success in the mid 1990s. The games present a world in 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
: a series of tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s, and other locations, through which the player must guide Lara. On the way, she must kill dangerous creatures or other humans, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artefact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
.
Tomb Raider, an early example of the 3D genre, uses third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
mechanics. The player's camera follows her, usually over her shoulder or from behind. Until Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, the game's environments were largely orthogonal
Orthogonality
Orthogonality occurs when two things can vary independently, they are uncorrelated, or they are perpendicular.-Mathematics:In mathematics, two vectors are orthogonal if they are perpendicular, i.e., they form a right angle...
, as a result of the creators' decision to extend the 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
platform game genre
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
to a 3D world. This is shown through Tomb Raider's gameplay, which is very reminiscent of older platform games like Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
and Flashback that had a heavy focus on timed jumping interspersed with combat.
Each game has introduced new weapons and moves; by the fourth game, Lara could back flip off ropes and turn around in mid-air to grab a ledge behind her. Tomb Raider: Legend introduced an electromagnetic grapple that Lara can attach to metal objects and can, amongst other things, be used to make rope swings and pull metal objects (and enemies) toward her. Standard moves in Lara's range of abilities include the somersault, a roll, climbing techniques, the ability to swim, a swan dive manoeuvre, and a handstand. In Tomb Raider III, a sprinting move was introduced that allowed Lara to quickly speed up while a bar in the lower corner of the screen drained her stamina. In Tomb Raider: Chronicles, Lara was able to bar-swing and somersault/roll out of crawl spaces higher than ground level.
Originally, the Tomb Raider Games were developed by Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
, and a game was released annually. However, the pressure grew so much on the team that they decided to kill Lara Croft off at the end of the fourth game. Still, a fifth game was released, which consisted of a series of flashbacks with Lara Croft's funeral serving as framing story for the various tales. The sixth instalment Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness revived the character and was to start a trilogy. The game infamously featured a darker more city-based setting and included stealth-elements and also introduced a new playable character for a short time in the game. The game was a failure, thus ending the Core Design Era.
In the early 2000s, a series of hand-held titles were released for the GAME BOY color and GAME BOY Advance, which were developed by other developers, neither Core Design (except the second GameBoy game) nor Crystal Dynamics and are therefore not considered to be part of the series.
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
, known for their work on the Legacy of Kain series, relaunched the series with Tomb Raider: Legend which brought the character back to its tomb raiding roots. It was the first time since the original Tomb Raider that Lara Croft's original creator, Toby Gard returned to work on a sequel. The game heavily expanded on Lara Croft's background, detailing on the loss of her mother in early childhood and how she followed her father's footsteps to find her (therefore beginning her archaeology career). Following the success of Legend a remake of the original was produced and released almost a year later, called Tomb Raider: Anniversary. The game expanded on some of the plot lines, further setting up the follow-up to Legend, which was released in late 2008: Tomb Raider: Underworld. The game featured the conclusion of a loose Trilogy that forms Anniversary, Legend and Underworld.
Following that, the Structure in Crystal Dynamics changed and part of the team worked on a new spin-off, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, while another began working on a reboot of the franchise.
On 18 August 2010, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix released a download-only title, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a fixed-camera 3D platform viewpoint action video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix for the PC, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and the iOS as part of the Tomb Raider series for digital download...
, the first game in the series not to bear the name Tomb Raider. The omission of the Tomb Raider branding was said to separate Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light from the "pillar" Tomb Raider games, which are also still being produced.
In an interview with GamingIndians.com, Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone OBE is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. He is a co-writer of the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and co-founder of Games Workshop....
, Life President of Eidos Interactive, announced that the next Tomb Raider was currently in the works. Livingstone stated "I think [it] will surprise a lot of people and reinvigorate the franchise."
The official site revealed the next Tomb Raider game which is simply titled Tomb Raider, It is described as a reboot of Lara Croft. It is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2012.
Music
All the scores to the Tomb Raider saga are produced by respective composers using software instrumentation, such as recording samples and electronic synthesizerSynthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s. The exception is Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness which was recorded live by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in 2002.
A few Tomb Raider soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s have had official releases made (see: Soundtracks). However, the majority of the in-game music has yet to be commercialized. Eidos has expressed no concern (despite considerable fan demand) in 15 years of publishing the franchise. Even though score commercialization became common ground during the late 2000s (with music being sold from blockbuster
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
titles such as the Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
, and Mass Effect
Music of the Mass Effect video game trilogy
The Music of the Mass Effect video game trilogy are the official soundtracks to Bioware's action role-playing game trilogy Mass Effect. The trilogy has not yet been completed with the final game expected to be released in early 2012.-Mass Effect:...
series), soundtracks to the Tomb Raider saga remain unreleased.
The composers are unable to sell their music independently because under employment as in-house composers (at either Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
or Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
), they are also tied to Eidos (as the parent company) by contract. Subsequently, Eidos owns the licensing rights to the composers' material. An example of this is Troels Folmann's recycled music from Tomb Raider: Legend and Anniversary (plus O'Malley's
Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley is a composer who has worked with CNN, the Walt Disney Company, the United States Air Force, Universal Studios, DC Comics and Electronic Arts....
Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth instalment of the Tomb Raider series. The story continues from the events in Tomb Raider: Legend as a direct sequel, but also addresses unexplained plot elements by association with Tomb Raider: Anniversary; the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider...
) present in the 2010 game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a fixed-camera 3D platform viewpoint action video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix for the PC, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and the iOS as part of the Tomb Raider series for digital download...
, .
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; margin:auto;"
|+ Developed by Core Design
!width=120|Data/Game
!width=160|Tomb Raider
(1996)
!width=160|Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II is an action-adventure video game in the Tomb Raider series and is the sequel to the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, the game was originally released for PlayStation, Windows 95 in November 1997, Macintosh in 1998 and on the...
(1997)
!width=160|Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider III is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third instalment in the Tomb Raider series, and the sequel to Tomb Raider II...
(1998)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is the fourth video game in the Tomb Raider series. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released on PC, PlayStation and eventually to the Sega Dreamcast with exclusive graphical and sound enhancements...
(1999)
!width=160|Tomb Raider
Chronicles
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tomb Raider Chronicles is the fifth game in the Tomb Raider series and the sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game was originally released in 2000 for PC, Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation...
(2000)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
The Angel of Darkness
(2003)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|General mood || Classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
,
Ancient Mystery
|| Classical music,
Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
|| Classical music,
Adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
|| Ancient,
Mythical
|| Military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
,
Fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
|| Obscure
Darkness
Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color...
,
Chased
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main composer || Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree is a music composer and sound effects editor for multimedia projects including computer games, television, live events, and radio. He worked mainly with Core Design, for the first three Tomb Raider games, among others. He worked also with profile names such as the Spice Girls and...
|| Nathan McCree || Nathan McCree || Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly is a video game composer and sound designer. He worked mainly with Core Design on several Tomb Raider games, amongst Eutechnyx, Ubisoft Reflections....
|| Peter Connelly || Peter Connelly
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Collaborator(s) || Martin Iveson
Martin Iveson
Martin Iveson is a British video game composer and deep house, hip-hop, and jazz artist under nicknames Atjazz, Spaceman, and Nuke....
|| n/a || Martin Iveson,
Peter Connelly,
and Matthew Kemp || n/a || n/a || Martin Iveson,
Peter Wraight (orchestrator),
and David Snell (conductor)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main theme duration|| 3:15 || 2:46 || 2:18 || 2:17 || n/a || 3:08
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Material expanse || ~17 minutes || ~19 minutes || ~35 minutes || ~18 minutes || ~16 minutes || ~51 minutes
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Commercialization || Promotional only || Promotional only || Promotional only || n/a || n/a || Standalone,
Enclosure
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; margin:auto;"
|+ Developed by Crystal Dynamics
!width=120|Data/Game
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Legend
(2006)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Anniversary
(2007)
!width=160|Tomb Raider:
Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth instalment of the Tomb Raider series. The story continues from the events in Tomb Raider: Legend as a direct sequel, but also addresses unexplained plot elements by association with Tomb Raider: Anniversary; the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider...
(2008)
!width=160|Tomb Raider
(2012)
|- style="text-align:center;"
|General mood || World
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
,
Modern
|| Dramatic,
Atmospheric
|| Journey
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
,
Chased, Relaxation
Relaxation (psychology)
In psychology, relaxation is the emotional state of low tension, in which there is an absence of arousal that could come from sources such as anger, anxiety, or fear. Relaxation is a form of mild ecstasy coming from the frontal lobe of the brain in which the backward cortex sends signals, or...
|| Unsettling,
yet Familiar
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main composer || Troels B. Folmann
Troels Brun Folmann
Troels Brun Folmann is a composer specialized in epic orchestral music featured in TV-shows, trailers and video games, such as the Tomb Raider series, and commercial/trailers for films such as Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Illusionist, 10.000 BC, America's Got Talent 2009 and over 50...
|| Troels B. Folmann || Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley is a composer who has worked with CNN, the Walt Disney Company, the United States Air Force, Universal Studios, DC Comics and Electronic Arts....
|| TBA
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Collaborator(s) || n/a || n/a || Troels B. Folmann
(supervisor)
||TBA
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Main theme duration || 2:20 || 3:37 || 3:33 || n/a
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Material expanse || ~180 minutes
(loop forms)
|| ~56 minutes || ~110 minutes || n/a
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Commercialization || Enclosure || Enclosure || Enclosure || TBA
|}
The basic instrumentation for the Tomb Raider scores is orchestral, though the games adopt different instrumentation and tone with each instalment in the series. Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree is a music composer and sound effects editor for multimedia projects including computer games, television, live events, and radio. He worked mainly with Core Design, for the first three Tomb Raider games, among others. He worked also with profile names such as the Spice Girls and...
's style when scoring the first Tomb Raider is most similar to Classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, especially the cues with a fast tempo. Additionally, slow tempo cues are built on a minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
base using minimalist cells
Cell (music)
The 1957 Encyclopédie Larousse defines a cell in music as a "small rhythmic and melodic design that can be isolated, or can make up one part of a thematic context." The cell may be distinguished from the figure or motif:...
and two to four repeated musical notes. Different instruments like the vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, or woodwinds provide a mysterious setting for the player.
The main theme of the first Tomb Raider game was composed by Nathan McCree. A solo oboe melody orchestrated with choirs and strings, exposing for the first time the four most important musical notes, the signature, the motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
of the entire series. These notes are composed in a most conjunct melodic manner possible: G-A-F-G. The original motif is followed immediately after by the sequenced motif
Sequence (music)
In music, a sequence is the immediate restatement of a motif or longer melodic passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice. It is one of the most common and simple methods of elaborating a melody in eighteenth and nineteenth century classical music...
with A-A-G, giving at the same time the possibility of looping the theme and the feeling of completion. Variations of this tune, especially the G-A-F-G motif has been used throughout all Tomb Raider games, including the second movie, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...
.
The symphonic sounds of the earlier games composed by Nathan McCree were created using Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
's Orchestral Expansion board for their JV series modules (JV-1080
Roland JV-1080
The Roland JV-1080 is a Sample-based synthesizer/sound module in the form of a 2U rack design.-Features:...
Synthesizer Module & SR-JV80-02 Expansion Board).
Stings
Sting (musical phrase)
A sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in television shows and films as a form of punctuation—for example at the end of a scene, or as a dramatic climax is imminent...
were used very often to warn the player about an impending danger, or if the player discovers a certain area. As an example, if the player picks up a secret object or, in later games, if he/she discovers an area with that object, a short vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
sound may be heard indicating the player has found a "Secret". The sound has been used in the first five Tomb Raider video games, including Tomb Raider: Anniversary, though it has some minor sound variations.
With Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, the composer changes for the first time in the series, Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly is a video game composer and sound designer. He worked mainly with Core Design on several Tomb Raider games, amongst Eutechnyx, Ubisoft Reflections....
being the next composer to come, he tries to respect Nathan's musical style of the series, keeping the stings and similar orchestration. For the main theme of "The Last Revelation" he sequences with a vibraphone the original motif in a 4 musical note minimalist cell, used from the beginning to the end of the melody.
Angel of Darkness is the first game to bring underscores, previous games using stings and full scores only. Furthermore, as another premier for the series, the score has been performed by a real orchestra (London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Snell). This game combines the style of Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
scores
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
with the classic Tomb Raider style. The basis of the main theme of this 5th game is the ending of the previous game.
Troels Brun Folmann brings with Legend a new kind of music style with underlying beats, just like electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
, that sometimes has small parts of an electronic-like orchestra, but instead of recreating the atmosphere of a real orchestra, Folmann uses a lot of echoes for its sounds. The title track starts off with the first few notes of Lara's original theme used in all the games before this one, being played with slight ornamentation on a Middle-Eastern duduk
Duduk
The duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
.
Folmann's work for Anniversary is different from that of Legend, as it has no underlying techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
beats or electronic effects, and no underscores. Folmann uses more complex instrumentation and composition in his scoring, acquiring more woodwinds
Woodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
, instrument articulation
Articulation (music)
In music, articulation refers to the musical direction performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds.- Types of articulations :...
, and ambience
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
. Folmann leaves somewhat of a trademark in his Anniversary music by adding a significant amount of chimes
Tubular bell
Tubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
throughout the score. Folmann composed the music in the style of an electronic orchestra. Some recognisable themes from the first game, composed by Nathan McCree, such as "Time to Run," "Puzzle Theme," and "Puzzle Theme II" have been recreated. The main theme can be described as a celebratory version of the original theme from Tomb Raider, as similar chord and instruments are used in the piece. The song starts off with a heavy crescendo
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
of woodwinds and low strings playing the famous Tomb Raider melody, and then breaks off into an almost playful arc, featuring parts of the harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
composition from the Tomb Raider theme. Pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
strings, cascading pianos and celeste
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, chimes, and glass instrumentation are prominent throughout this version, implying the fresh and modern twist that Folmann and Crystal Dynamics have placed in Anniversary.
The music supervisor of Underworld was Troels Brun Folmann, he also composed the main theme, while Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley is a composer who has worked with CNN, the Walt Disney Company, the United States Air Force, Universal Studios, DC Comics and Electronic Arts....
scored the bulk of the music. Underworlds music is purely orchestral in style. There are pieces that do not loop, meaning they only play one time and are triggered on specific events. The score is made more of musical fragments, similar to the first five games of the Tomb Raider series with less constant music than in Legend. The first seconds of the main theme are the well known four-notes of the original Tomb Raider main theme. The end of the it gets louder than the beginning by adding choirs and percussion. It then drops into a solo performance of the same four-notes reminiscent of the Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness main theme.
2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light uses recycled musical cues from Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld by composers Troels Brun Folmann and Colin O'Malley.
The composer for Tomb Raider (2012) remains unannounced On 21 December 2010, a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
was released via the exclusive Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
media coverage. As well as featuring an interview with the developers regarding selected publicized fan questions, it also included "a sneak peek at a track from the game itself" composed by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic. The music heard introduces piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
layers, purporting darker undertones. This literally and symbolically creates a distinct feel for Tomb Raider; made explicitly separate to the rest of the music of the Tomb Raider franchise which the guitar as an instrument is particularly foreign to. Most similar to music from Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, fully orchestrated strings follow, which are accompanied
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
by percussion. The instruments develop into an inverted
Inversion (music)
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices...
minor
Major and minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor can describe a musical composition, movement, section, scale, key, chord, or interval.Major and minor are frequently referred to in the titles of classical compositions, especially in reference to the key of a piece.-Intervals and chords:With regard...
derivation of the classic Tomb Raider motif composed by Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree is a music composer and sound effects editor for multimedia projects including computer games, television, live events, and radio. He worked mainly with Core Design, for the first three Tomb Raider games, among others. He worked also with profile names such as the Spice Girls and...
in 1996. However, on the eve of the "Turning Point" CGI Trailer, which debuted on 3 June 2011, Dimitrijevic expressed that "none of the music [he] did for the game or the trailer will be used in Tomb Raider or the upcoming Tomb Raider Trailer." A new theme for the trailer was created, currently available as a ringtone from Tomb Raider's official website.
Films
Two feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s have been created based on the Tomb Raider universe
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001, and the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, both starring Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
A 20012001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
adventure film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series; Lara Croft races against time and villains to recover a powerful artefact called the All-seeing eye
Eye of Providence
The Eye of Providence is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle...
.
The film was directed by Simon West
Simon West
Simon West is an English-born film director. West started as a film editor with the BBC, then directed documentaries and commercials including many for Budweiser...
and starred Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
. It was released in U.S. theaters on 15 June 2001 receiving mostly negative reviews from critics. Lara Croft: 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
Charlie's Angels (film)
Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as three women working for a private investigation agency...
), and is the second most successful video game adaptation to date (after Prince of Persia), grossing $274,703,340 worldwide.
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
returns as Lara Croft in the 2003
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
sequel to the original video game based film. This time, Lara Croft attempts to find Pandora's Box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
which supposedly contains one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, before evil scientist, Jonathan Reiss, can get his hands on it.
This film was directed by Jan de Bont
Jan de Bont
Jan de Bont is a Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film director.-Early life and career:De Bont was born, one of 17 children, to a Roman Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands. His earliest work after studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy was with the Dutch avant garde director Adriaan...
and was released in U.S. theaters on 21 July 2003 receiving slightly higher reviews than the original. Despite the more favourable critical response, Cradle of Life suffered a disappointing opening weekend, as it debuted in fourth place with a take of $21.7 million, a 55% drop from the original's opening gross of $47.7 million. The film finished with a domestic gross of only $65 million. Total earnings amounted to $156.5 million.
Potential third movie
Graham KingGraham King
Graham King, OBE is a British film producer. He is also President and CEO of Initial Entertainment Group. He is best known for his Academy Award winning 2006 crime thriller film The Departed, which was awarded the Best Picture Oscar at the 79th Academy Awards.King was appointed Officer of the...
's GK Films acquired the film rights and plan to release an origin story reboot by 2013. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby are American screenwriters, known for their work on Children of Men and Iron Man. Their other work includes First Snow, which was also directed by Fergus, and rewrites on Cowboys & Aliens.-External links:...
have been hired to pen the film.
Box office performance
{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"| Film
| rowspan="2"| Release date
| colspan="3"| Box office revenue
| colspan="2" text="wrap"| Box office ranking
| rowspan="2"| Budget
| rowspan="2"| Reference
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| United States
|| Foreign
|| Worldwide
|| All time domestic
|| All time worldwide
|-
|Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
|15 June 2001
| $131,168,070
|$143,535,270
|$274,703,340
| style="text-align:center;"| #251
| style="text-align:center;"| #243
| style="text-align:center;"|$115,000,000
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
|25 July 2003
|$65,660,196
|$90,845,192
|$156,505,388
| style="text-align:center;"| #788
| style="background:lightgrey;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|$95,000,000
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|Total
|
|$196,828,266
|$234,380,462
|$431,208,728
|
|
| style="text-align:center;"|$210,000,000
|
|}
Critical reaction
{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan="2"| Film
| colspan="2"| Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
| rowspan="2"| Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| Overall
|| Cream of the Crop
|-
| Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
| 19% (154 reviews)
| 11% (9 reviews)
| 33% (31 reviews)
|-
| Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
| 24% (163 reviews)
| 25% (8 reviews)
| 43% (34 reviews)
|}
Other media
Tomb Raider was licensed to comic book publisher Top Cow ProductionsTop Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992.-History:...
, which released several Tomb Raider comics
Tomb Raider (comics)
The Tomb Raider comic book series are based on the character of Lara Croft, from the games produced by Eidos Interactive and Core Design.-Publication history:...
beginning in 1997. Alongside crossovers with the publisher's company-owned Witchblade
Witchblade
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
and creator-owned Fathom
Fathom (comics)
Fathom is a comic book created by Michael Turner and originally published by Top Cow Productions. It debuted in 1998 and was Michael Turner's first creator-owned comic book series. Fathom is currently published by Turner's own company, Aspen MLT....
, an eponymous ongoing series began publication in 1999, ending in 2004 with its fiftieth issue.
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, in conjunction with Eidos, began publishing a series of original novels in the spring of 2004, beginning with The Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
, which was followed by The Lost Cult by E. E. Knight
E. E. Knight
E. E. Knight is the pen name for a science fiction and fantasy writer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota and now resides in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, newborn daughter and young son....
in August 2004 and then The Man of Bronze by James Alan Gardner
James Alan Gardner
James Alan Gardner is a Canadian science fiction author.Raised in Simcoe and Bradford, Ontario, he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo....
in January 2005. They generally followed the continuity of the video games (particularly Angel of Darkness) rather than the movies, although Lost Cult contained references to Cradle of Life. Man of Bronze differs from the first two books in that it is told in first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
from Lara Croft's point of view. Ballantine's contract only called for three novels, and it is not yet known if the book series will continue.
GameTap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
aired a ten part animated short series called Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series from 10 July 2007 to 13 November 2007. The series consists of various artistic talent's renditions of Lara Croft. Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
provides the voice for Lara Croft.
Soundtracks
Four scoresSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to seven of the Tomb Raider games exist as promotional items (and/or under enclosure), while some were available to consumers in specific retail editions with a limited window of opportunity to purchase. All marketable commodities are now out of print and have become rare collector's items. The majority of musical material for the games remains unreleased.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Promotional Sampler
! Composer(s)
! No. of Tracks
! Duration
! Format, Release
! Year
|-
| Tomb Raider: Toutes Les Musiques
| Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree
Nathan McCree is a music composer and sound effects editor for multimedia projects including computer games, television, live events, and radio. He worked mainly with Core Design, for the first three Tomb Raider games, among others. He worked also with profile names such as the Spice Girls and...
|
| 00:54:51
| CD, Promotional
(Included with the French magazine Total Play, issue 14. Includes music from Tomb Raiders I, II and III.)
|
|-
| Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Collector's Edition) Soundtrack
| Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly
Peter Connelly is a video game composer and sound designer. He worked mainly with Core Design on several Tomb Raider games, amongst Eutechnyx, Ubisoft Reflections....
,
Martin Iveson
Martin Iveson
Martin Iveson is a British video game composer and deep house, hip-hop, and jazz artist under nicknames Atjazz, Spaceman, and Nuke....
|
| 00:18:48
| DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
/CD, Enclosure, Standalone
(Europe pre-order "making-of" DVD/TRAOD Collector's Edition DVD/standalone CD)
| 2002/2003
|-
| Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Collector's Edition) Soundtrack
| Troels Brun Folmann
Troels Brun Folmann
Troels Brun Folmann is a composer specialized in epic orchestral music featured in TV-shows, trailers and video games, such as the Tomb Raider series, and commercial/trailers for films such as Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Illusionist, 10.000 BC, America's Got Talent 2009 and over 50...
|
| 01:03:17
| DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
/CD, Enclosure
(TRA Collector's Edition, includes music from Tomb Raider: Legend)
|
|-
| Tomb Raider: Underworld (Limited Edition) Soundtrack
| Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley
Colin O'Malley is a composer who has worked with CNN, the Walt Disney Company, the United States Air Force, Universal Studios, DC Comics and Electronic Arts....
|
| 00:23:48
| DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Enclosure
(TRU Limited Edition)
|
|}
In addition:
- Several promotional tracks for all of the Tomb Raider games were distributed to the public. These are difficult to trace back to a source, and are unfortunately not part of any larger body of released music. Examples include Mediterranean Murder & Deep Sea Encounter from Tomb Raider: Underworld, that while clearly are from the game's soundtrack, do not appear in any official form. The releases were made to invoke pre-media hype before, or to meet public demand after the releases of the game(s) by Eidos, Core DesignCore DesignCore Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
or Crystal DynamicsCrystal DynamicsCrystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
. - There has been four releases of Tomb Raider Film soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s, 2 for Lara Croft: Tomb RaiderLara Croft: Tomb RaiderLara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 adventure thriller film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was a commercial success...
& 2 for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of LifeLara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of LifeLara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider...
(each a Various artists soundtrack compilation and an original scoreSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
).
Theme park rides
The film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and subsequent sequel, having been distributed and licensed by Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, were eligible for inclusion in the six Paramount Parks
Paramount Parks
Paramount Parks was an operator of theme parks and attractions, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. Viacom had assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994....
, theme parks owned and operated by Paramount (and later, CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
). As such, three Tomb Raider rides were opened at various Paramount Parks: Tomb Raider: The Ride (both a HUSS Giant Top Spin at Kings Island
Kings Island
Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...
and a flying roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland) and Tomb Raider: FireFall (a suspended HUSS Top Spin at Kings Dominion). The Paramount Park's sale to Cedar Fair, L.P. was accompanied by a loss of rights to the Tomb Raider name, and subsequently, Kings Island's "Tomb Raider: The Ride" and Kings Dominion's "Tomb Raider: FireFall" were renamed "The Crypt", while Canada's Wonderland's "Tomb Raider: The Ride" was renamed "Time Warp."
With its investments and licensing pulled from the former Paramount Parks, the Tomb Raider ride franchise was started anew with Tomb Raider: The Machine at Movieland Studios, Italy. The ride, manufactured by Zamperla
Zamperla
Zamperla is a designing and manufacturing company in Vicenza, Italy. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin operated rides commonly found inside shopping malls....
, looks very much like the HUSS Top Spin ride, but is more advanced ride called a Windshear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
.
The original (and only indoor, themed) Tomb Raider: The Ride at Kings Island was celebrated for the way it turned what is generally a typical "boring" thrill ride like a Top Spin (something found at most carnivals) into a highly interactive, themed dark ride complete with lava pits, volcanoes, icicles, and a giant goddess carving on the wall with laser eyes. The ride was synchronized to a specially-made Tomb Raider soundtrack and featured the real, six armed "Durga" goddess and water vase from the first movie, as well as the monkey warrior statues that come to life in the film. The ride is now named The Crypt and does not feature Lara Croft due to change in park owners.
External links
- WikiRaider (a wikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
dedicated to the series)
