Yeah, little friends. The first film by the most famous archaeologist in pop culture, born in the Tomb Raider video games dating from the mid-1990s, turns 20! The first Croft in the cinema was Angelina Jolie, in the 2001 and 2003 blockbusters. In order to indulge in the nostalgia, tell us about some curiosities about the first films of the English adventurer. So fasten your seat belts, it will be difficult!
Angelina Jolie and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
As in all blockbusters, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) went through a selection process to choose her protagonist, the actress who would live the British Lara Croft. Before Angelina Jolie was elected, however, other actresses were being considered. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Demi Moore were two of the main actresses considered for the role.
In addition to these two, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Nicole Eggert, Elizabeth Hurley and even Anna Nicole Smith were considered for the role.
Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Liv Tyler and Denise Richards (?!) Refused the role of archaeologist offered to them. I need to comment, Denise Richards declined !? What did she have best to do?
Enjoy watching:
On the other hand, Milla Jovovich, Kirsten Dunst and Fairuza Balk even did tests to live the character. Obviously, the studio didn’t choose them. Jovovich would come to live another character in a movie based on the game, in the Resident Evil franchise, and Dusnt would take the lead female role in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise.
Another curiosity is that Jennifer Love Hewitt (I know what you did last summer) was caught by “Sean Young syndrome”. I explain. Actress Sean Young was mad at the time for a role in Tim Burton’s Batman films, and for the second time, she reached the top of the jump dressed as Catwoman in front of the director in her office. Hewitt also campaigned intensively to make Croft live in the movies, and even after Jolie left, the actress continued to promote her interest in the character, as in 2009 on an MTV show.
Closest came actress and model Kelly Brook (Piranha 3D), who was in talks to replace Jolie after she left the franchise. The role ended with Alicia Vikander in this reboot.
Director
As we know, Simon West (Con Air – The Escape Route and The Expendables 2) and Jan De Bont (Maximum Speed and Twister) directed the first and second films respectively. However, before West was confirmed as the first film’s commander, Stephen Herek (Creatures and the Three Musketeers) would be the director. Herek chose to direct Rock Star (2001), a group drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
On the other hand, director Simon West changed the luck of ordering Falcão Negro em Perigo (2001) to make the first Tomb Raider. Did he make the right choice? Ridley Scott would later direct the war film.
Reflection of the Games
Of course, being a game-based movie, the movie should emulate a lot of its counterpart. Therefore, fans might notice details, like when Butler Hillary (Christopher Barrie) protects herself with a tray, or when Croft (Jolie) pronounces “A-ha” when meeting the Wolves in the movie – in the games, each element discovered for her, the adventurer lets his expression escape. In addition, of course, to the movement and posture of the protagonist, like drawing weapons in the middle of a jump, how to dive into the water and do somersaults backwards – all famous moves for the experienced player. To that end, Angelina Jolie needed yoga and kickbox classes to prepare for the role. She also learned to use weapons.
Other curiosities:
It’s easy. Lara Croft’s dad, Lord Richard Croft, was played by Angelina Jolie’s own real-life father, actor Jon Voight.
At the time, Tomb Raider (2001) was the highest-grossing woman-starring action-adventure film in history, grossing over $ 130 million at the US box office and a little over of $ 270 million worldwide. That figure has now been surpassed by Wonder Woman (2017), which collects more than $ 820 million worldwide.
Angelina Jolie trained for six months to get in shape for the film.
The actress was extremely hesitant to wear the character’s shorts in the opening scene, in which she trains with robot Simon. Eventually, she agreed to use them because she knew it would make fans of the game happy.
In the video game, Lara Croft has more curvy shapes than Angelina Jolie in real life. The fictional character wears a bra size two figures taller than the actress. In the movie, Jolie must have used a padding number on top of her because she thought two numbers above would be too much of a stretch. In the second film, the actress refused to use the padding and wears bras to her measure.
Makeup was used to cover the large tattoo that Jolie has (or had) on her arm near her shoulder. But in some scenes, like the shower, you can see the tattoo covered.
Speaking of the shower scene, originally Jolie would be nude to look like a moment from the game. However, to avoid further censorship and to continue with the PG-13, the scene was cut, leaving only the back of the actress and the side of her chest exposed.
The scene in which Angelina Jolie drives the Land Rover through the forest had to be repeated over and over again. This is because the car is open and snakes, bugs, and other types of animals have fallen into the car, terrifying the star.
Angelina Jolie was injured while filming the famous bungee ballet. She did her own scenes, and on the first take, she injured her ankle when she mistakenly landed on the chandelier. Filming had to stop and the scene had to be recorded again after it was recovered. It was the one she had guaranteed in interviews at the time.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is the first film set in Cambodia, after a hiatus of more than three decades, dating from Lord Jim (1965).
Angelina Jolie has brought her character’s weapon holsters home. Has it been used for erotic purposes?
Angelina Jolie agreed to make the first film because of the places she would be visiting. She fell in love with Cambodia and eventually moved to the site to help with social causes. It was there that she met and ended up adopting her first child, Maddox.
To test her sanity during the filming, Angelina Jolie took drug tests. That’s because there were concerns from the producers, as at the time there were rumors about the actress’ constant drug addiction and her controversial relationship with Billy Bob Thornton.
For the role of young Lara Croft, little actress Rachel Appleton was scalded. It was his only job in his career.
The James Bond films (as well as those of Indiana Jones) were strong influences in the making of the Tomb Raider games. Coincidentally, Daniel Craig, the current 007, plays Alex West, Croft’s adventure partner in the first film.
Still speaking of Daniel Craig, the actor did not want to return to the sequel.
Angelina Jolie is the only actress born in the United States.
The first film was criticized for hiding the star’s tattoos in a “poor” way. So in this sequel your arm is never exposed. In the scene where she appears in a bikini at first, the arm without tattoos overlaps the other, never focusing on the tattooed arm.
As said, in this sequel, Jolie refused to use the padding on her bra, using one of her own measurements, giving the character more realistic dimensions.
One of Jolie’s stuntmen in the sequel was male. It can be noticed in the scene where she and her partner are jumping in a special costume, known as the “flying squirrel”, from the top of a building. In such a scene, no computer effects were used and everything really happened in front of the cameras.
The second Tomb Raider was released exactly ten years after the first film Angelina Jolie made in her life, also a continuation, the action sci-fi Cyborg 2 (1993) – the first feature film starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Who would say! The Oscarizada star follows in the footsteps of the Belgian fighter.
Speaking of cult trash movies, many argue that this footage is practically a new take on Warriors of Fire (Red Sonja, 1985) – a movie that should have made Conan history, but due to copyright law, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to settle for a generic Conan. The plot of the two Fire Warriors and the second Tomb Raider brings the heroines who need to collect a valuable item for a mighty man (who will turn out to be the villain), and on their journey they rely on the help of a mercenary, who becomes a lover. .
The Origin of Life has been banned in China because, according to them, “tarnishes the country’s reputation, giving the false impression of a chaotic scenario, without government, and controlled by secret societies.”
As in the first film, several movements of Lara in the games have been reproduced, among the most memorable is the scene in which she climbs and jumps with a stick towards a helicopter.
At the time of The Origin of Life, Angelina Jolie said she had no interest in playing the character for the third time. Still, there were plans for a new Tomb Raider with Jolie – canceled in early 2004.
It was the last Tomb Raider in 15 years, until the recent release of Tomb Raider – The Origin, starring Swedish Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft.
