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To characterize the plot as logical or believable does a disservice to Lady Croft. This film is in the spirit of outrageous video games and comic books, a movie that defies analysis and is simply to be enjoyed as escapist entertainment. As the film opens, Lara (Angelina Jolie) finds herself attacked by a deadly robot as she seemingly raids yet another tomb. So caught up in the visuals and the action that we do not ask what ancient civilization could have fashioned such a mechanical brute to lie in wait for an intruder over the course of thousands of years. After a superhuman effort, demonstrating great skill with weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and gymnastics, Lara walks away relatively unscathed (I'm not giving anything away here; this wouldn't be much of a film if the heroine was killed within the first two minutes). It quickly becomes clear that Lady Lara Croft is obscenely wealthy, having inherited a title, an estate, and gobs of cash from her beloved father, Lord Richard Croft (Jon Voight). The depth of her loss may be read in her face as she visits, deep within the palatial gardens behind the estate house, a simple memorial stone enclosed by a tent; it sadly reads, "LORD RICHARD CROFT - MISSING IN THE FIELD - MAY 15, 1985 - LOST BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN."

Lara's needs are provided for by a faithful butler, Hillary (Christopher Barrie, Chris Barrie to loyal Red Dwarf fans) and her very own eccentric geek and weapons designer, Bryce (Noah Taylor). Equivalent to MI6's Q, Bryce had tapped into Lara's enormous wealth to establish impressive research-and-development facilities within her estate house. The products of his creativity are impressive indeed. The estate has become a wonderful amalgam of a traditional manor house and bleeding edge technology. Lara will need every tool and every one of her formidable skills to succeed in her latest task, one that comes from a most unexpected source.

As the planets within our solar system come into a rare linear alignment, Lara is troubled by a dream of her father. She awakens to a metaphysical ticking that draws her to a secret cache left by Lord Croft years before. She finds an unworldly clock, an artifact that will become the object of a vicious raid. The significance of the clock becomes clearer when a letter arrives, sent at the advance instructions of her long-dead father. Lara is guided to a document within her father's library, left for her to find. It reveals that the clock is the key to finding the two halves of an ancient triangle forged from the exotic metals of an asteroid. When the power of the triangle was first understood, it was split and the halves separated to protect mankind. If the halves are recovered and rejoined, the possessor will restore the triangle's awesome power: the power to control time. A shadowy organization called the Illuminati seeks the triangle. Lara is tasked with finding the two halves and destroying them to avoid such absolute power from falling into the hands of evil.

Lara's adventures will take her to Cambodia and the frozen site of the crater impact in Siberia. Will she overcome her foes against all odds and save mankind? Will she outsmart and out- tough the brightest and the roughest the Illuminati can throw at her? Does Angelina Jolie have twenty-three tattoos?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is shown in anamorphic video and the transfer is great. Edge artifacts in the form of halos are virtually absent. Since compression of this 100-minute film had to be sufficient to make room for the extensive supplements found on this dual layer disc, I'm once again left to conclude that halos are not unavoidable artifacts caused by MPEG-2 compression. Small object detail is very good, so the video looks very film-like on the big screen. Colors are vivid and noise free. Ms. Jolie seems to favor a subdued palette for her wardrobe, but notice the visual fidelity of the bright orange robes on the Cambodian monks. Brightness and contrast are first rate. The many dark scenes have commendable shadow detail and compression artifacts are not visible. Nicely done, Paramount.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is as good as the video. It features very aggressive surround effects that - despite this not being an official EX mix - decode perfectly into three surround speakers. Deep room-shaking bass is used to great effect, crating the illusion of mass and the impact of serious explosions. The soundtrack is littered with popular songs whose fidelity is impossible to judge. Graeme Revell's orchestral score - designed to evoke audience reaction rather than offer well-developed themes - is nicely presented across a wide soundstage. Sound effects have great punch, with little of the audio compression that plagues so many other films. Dialog is crystal clear throughout.

There is an alternative English track in Dolby 2.0 surround, and a foreign language track in French. The audio tracks are supported by English subtitles and Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Paramount has mounted a very generous selection of extras for this release. There are no fewer than thirteen full screen featurettes with an aggregate running time of nearly seventy-two minutes. Crafting Lara Croft (6:48) describes Ms. Jolie's extensive training to transform her into a lean, mean fighting machine. Stunts (9:26) shows us how various stunts were set up and performed. I was impressed with how incredibly game Ms. Jolie was during the making of the film; she performed many of her own stunts, including the bungee ballet and the swinging ram. Digging into Tomb Raider (25:25) is the most comprehensive documentary of the group; it reveals much of the background behind the movie. Many of the principals share their views. Are You Game? (8:00) focuses on Lara Croft as a computer character. Here we learn more about the creation of the game and Lara in particular. As you'd expect, this short features quite a few scenes of the original Lara Croft (educating me about the shape the producers were trying to emulate when they enhanced Ms. Jolie). Visual Effects demonstrates how eight of the special effect sequences were created, each in its own separate short featurette. The last featurette I found is a little Easter Egg in the form of an interview (2:02) with Ms. Jolie and her real father and fellow actor, Jon Voight. Simply select the two wavey lines just below the Main Menu choice on the Special Features menu.

Simon West has provided a feature-length, screen-specific audio commentary. He wastes little time discussing character motivation or narrating onscreen action. Instead Mr. West offers insights into the making of the film and thankfully is less rehearsed then he was on his commentary for The General's Daughter. We learn a bit more about casting, how the practical effects were accomplished, the difficulties associated with location shooting, mishaps and missteps. Mr. West singles out Ms. Jolie for her enthusiasm and willingness to take personal risks on behalf of the production. We're treated to anecdotes and interesting asides, and he is open and forthright and seems genuinely pleased with the opportunity to speak about his film. Well done.

From the Special Features menu you may also choose Deleted Scenes. There are four, and each is shown in anamorphic video. The images are not as clean as the feature; one has excessive contrast, another poor black level, and all seem to suffer from edge combing. But the scenes fill some gaps and provide additional insight into the characters. None are essential to the story. The CGI Alternate Main Title is interesting. I was struck with its similarity to a concept found in Batman; perhaps that's why it was discarded. Finally, there's a music video by U2. Visuals in "Elevation" are a skillful blend of the artist and scenes from the film. The feature has twelve chapter stops.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

For the PC devotees among us, there is an extensive set of computer accessible DVD-ROM features on this disc. Enter the Web Site Archive to seek a large choice of options; you'll find several features normally found in conventional DVDs but presented here with more interactivity. The first section is Behind the Scenes in which there are several choices. A Director's Vision is a combination of significant text and an interview with the director. The video window for this interview and all the other DVD-ROM-based video vignettes is very small, so the resolution is probably rather low. (though since visuals take a back seat to the spoken word in these supplements, this is not an issue.) Production Design combines text with three little movies, interviews with the Kirk Petrucelli concerning a general discussion of production design, the vehicles, and Croft Manor. There is also a clever viewer you can download from iPIX to explore Croft Manor's main hall from any angle, or zoom in for a modest improvement in detail. In First Stop Iceland, the iPIX viewer gives us a panoramic view of one of the locations. The text describes the unique site and the tribulations of filming there, as does the associated Quicktime movie. Cambodian Adventure tells a similar tale for that Asian location. Here you will only find one iPIX exterior shot. Shooting at Pinewood describes set construction and shooting. An iPIX panorama allows a modest exploration of one of the big sets. Michael Redding describes the studio's history from within a short Quicktime movie.

The next section is called The Movie. The Story and Cast & Filmmakers are what you might expect. The Stills Gallery is presented in a rather unique way. After the stills load, they rotate before you as if mounted on an invisible cylinder. You may control rotation movement with your mouse cursor. Left-click on an image and another window opens to display a larger version of the still, and offers an alternative means to navigate through the pictures. Right-click on the rotating stills screen and a menu will open with a variety of options. Experiment and enjoy. Hint: click on the Play choice to return to the previous screen from the rotating stills. Image Archive offers a similar interface for images culled from the movie's prerelease web site. The Music section provides a list of the cuts on the soundtrack CD. Note that Graeme Revell's orchestral score is not featured.

The next section is aptly called Interviews. Here you will find Angelina Jolie, Simon West, Noah Taylor, and Iain Glenn offering comments not found elsewhere within this DVD's extensive supplements. There are eleven segments; each runs between one and two minutes. The Downloads section offers two screensavers and eight Wallpapers. Explore Lara's World brings you to a series of interconnected iPIX frames of several interconnecting rooms within Croft Manor. As you rotate, elevate, and zoom, you may click your way through doors, or bring up a feature when you double-click on a special icon. These features could be an additional still, or a little movie, or a puzzle that leads you to a hidden part. Clever and time-consuming. Finally, Webring demonstrates the worldwide reach of the Lara Croft character. Here we find samples of fan-based web sites dedicated to the film.

Last but certianly not least is the DVD Online Experience. Set to launch on street date, you have to have yoru disc in the drive to access this special site and content. Quite extensive is the "Tomb Raiders: Chronicles," where you get to play Lara Croft and work your way through three levels. Along with the interactive games on Shrek or The X-Files, this is one of hte best DVD-ROM-specific gaming experiences yet, and should provides hours of exploring. Finally, the site also offers an informative Timeline that traces Lara's history within various media, from games to comic books to this DVD.

Parting Thoughts