Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - Original Score: The Deluxe Edition

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider—The Cradle of Life (2003) was the second of two action-adventure movies starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, the protagonist of the popular Tomb Raider (1996) videogame series. Brilliant, resourceful and athletic, Lara Croft is a modern, female Indiana Jones who battles evil in a globetrotting quest for antiquities.

The Cradle of Life was directed by Jan de Bont - his last directorial effort to date - and costarred Gerard Butler (as Croft's old flame) and Ciarán Hinds (as the villain) in a search for the mythical Pandora's Box.

Scoring the sequel was Alan Silvestri, hired by producer Lawrence Gordon to compose a last-minute replacement score. Given competing mandates of traditional/symphonic (by de Bont) and contemporary/rhythmic (by the studio), Silvestri fused both concepts into an expansive, pulse-pounding and dynamic score for the film's world-spanning adventure. As always with Silvestri, he doesn't just capture the film's action and settings, but its emotions.

The Cradle of Life was released by Varèse Sarabande in an hour-long program at the time of the film. This Deluxe Edition expands the program to 94 minutes across two discs, featuring the glorious Silvestri symphonic approach that has been a hit from Back to the Future to The Avengers. Liner notes by Tim Greiving include new comments by Silvestri, de Bont and scoring mixer Dennis Sands.