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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

    Featured In Issue 112, September 2006

    Picture3.5
    Sound4.5
    WSR Score4
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Paramount Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    070394
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG13
    (Rating Reason):
    Action violence and some sexuality
    (Retail Price):
    $29.95
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (HD-30)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    100
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    1
    (Theatrical Year):
    2001
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    07/25/06
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Simon West
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    Dolby Digital+ 5.1, DTS 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    Lara Croft (Jolie) is a resilient, sexy, and armed adventurer who was born into wealth and trained at the most elite schools. Traveling to dangerous and mysterious locales around the globe, Lara is in constant search of rare, lost crypts and long-forgotten empires. Now she must face her greatest challenge yet: to find two halves of an ancient artifact buried in space and time. Once whole, this ancient object gives the bearer the godlike power to control time and even undo the past. But to get there, Lara must first take on a dangerous secret society, the Illuminati. The fate of mankind rests in the hands of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

    Special features include audio commentary with Director Simon West, five featurettes: the 25-minute behind-the-scenes Digging Into Tomb Raider, seven minutes training Ms. Jolie titled Crafting Lara Croft, the eight-segment The Visual Effects Of Tomb Raider, nine minutes worth of stunts, and an eight-minute look at the game; four deleted scenes; a U2 music video; an alternate main title; teaser and theatrical trailers; and previews.

    While the 2.35:1 VC-1-encoded HD DVD picture does deliver rich hues and well-balanced skintones, shadow delinenation is slightly lacking, making the picture seem somewhat flat, especially when compared to other HD DVD releases. Source element artifacts can become a distraction at times, with fine film grain and dirt apparent throughout the presentation. Edge enhancement can be seen on some high-contrast transitions, although it isn't overly distracting. Most scenes do look very detailed and clear, although other scenes seem to have a slight defocus that doesn't look natural. (Danny Richelieu)

    The Dolby® Digital Plus and DTS® Digital Surround™ encodings of this soundtrack are exciting, with well-placed images around the soundstage and amply deep and tight bass delivered through each of the six channels. Fidelity is not perfect, as there is a slight hiss that can be heard over the dialogue at times. The added fidelity of the Dolby Digital Plus encoding, however, does do wonders for believability and phantom imaging around the soundstage, really bringing the listening space into the action. This is a first-rate soundtrack, with few faults. (Danny Richelieu)

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