This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) by Alan Silvestri.
I feel that Alan Silvestri’s score to the poorly titled film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is one of his most severely underrated and fantastic efforts since the turn of the century. The film, too, I think is a fun, popcorn Indiana Jones-lite adventure with great chemistry between Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler, although a lot of the movie is silly with a capital “S”. Silvestri’s score, a personal favorite of mine that I’ve championed for years, is rousing, energetic, and contains noteable contemporary electronics, the latter of which may have turned off many film score fans, but I think they are integrated quite well and match the film wonderfully. Occasionally the synths are very ambient, meandering and droning, but this is kept to a minimum. Otherwise, there is a full workout for orchestra recorded at Abbey Road with musical accents evoking the various locales of China and Africa. The main theme for the movie is one of Silvestri’s best and most fun. I personally think that The Cradle of Life trumps G.I. Joe, The Avengers, and The A-Team and stands tall next to his triumphant epic scores The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing. Silvestri took over the project from the original composer, Craig Armstrong, who has one all-electronic cue that survived in the film (whether he recorded more is unknown).
The original Varese Sarabande CD offered a reasonable 59min 56sec of score, which featured a lot of excellent cues and some great lengthy selections among them, and it’s a CD I’ve enjoyed for many years. However, in viewing the film just recently, I was delighted to learn that the complete score in fact runs 88min 15sec, resulting in approximately 28 minutes of unreleased score. In some film scores, the unreleased material hews close enough to the existing release that it doesn’t really warrant an expansion, but sometimes, as is the case with The Cradle of Life, the unreleased material so broadens the scope and palette of the score that it screams for an expansion. Additionally, when you factor in the fact that three cues have alternate CD/film versions, the total score time comes to 103 minutes!
Highlights of the unreleased material include what I feel was sorely lacking on the existing album, which is some more gentle, softer music for the quieter moments between Croft and Sheridan (“Shanghai Rendezvous” and “Love and Betrayal”). “Croft on Water” is a really great introduction to the character, as Croft performs jet ski acrobatics and the cue transitions to mysterious/spiritual tones as she discusses the Luna Temple. The nearly 10-minute film version of “Journey to the Cradle of Life” is a very interesting counterpart to the album version and is an epic musical journey. Craig Armstrong’s sole cue “Lab Scene” is interesting to hear what he would’ve done for the score.
As is often the case with Silvestri’s very long epic scores, and it is his gift as a composer, he is able to consistently make the score varied and interesting enough to sustain attention at a much longer interval and avoid redundancy. I honestly think all 88 minutes of the complete score (plus film version alternates) deserve to be released as they are all worthy parts of a very enjoyable and thrilling whole. More than just deserving an expansion, this score deserves to be recognized by those who have previously dismissed it, whether through apathy or through aversion to electronics or whatever – it truly is a glorious modern adventure score by one of today’s modern masters of film music.
Additionally, a few notes are made in the cue-by-cue and track-by-track sections of the complete score and CD track listings; these include mentions of alternate film versions of CD tracks as well as one track (“Lab Scene”) written by the film’s original composer, Craig Armstrong.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 59min 56sec COMPLETE FILM VERSION SCORE RUNTIME: 88min 15sec UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 28min 19sec
COMPLETE FILM VERSION SCORE RUNTIME + CD VERSIONS OF “ARRIVAL IN CHINA”, “JOURNEY TO THE CRADLE OF LIFE” AND “THE CRADLE OF LIFE”: 103min 20sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
1. Opening (1:30) 2. Croft on Water (4:02) 3. The Luna Temple (7:15) 4. Shark Attack (3:00) 5. Jonathan Reiss (3:04) 6. I Need Terry Sheridan (5:33) 7. Enlisting Sheridan (1:23) 8. Arrival in China (2:11) – (film version) 9. Special Delivery (1:49) 10. Captured by the Shay Ling (5:53) 11. Escape from Chen (3:58) 12. Shanghai Rendezvous (2:51) 13. Flower Pagoda Battle (5:32) 14. Lab Scene (7:13) – (written and produced by Craig Armstrong) 15. Skydive Getaway (3:55) – (extended from CD version) 16. Love and Betrayal (4:45) 17. Orb Transmission (1:40) 18. Journey to the Cradle of Life (9:33) – (film version) 19. The Cradle of Life (6:31) – (film version) 20. Pandora’s Box (5:17) 21. Not Meant to Be Found (0:43) 22. Lara Croft – Tomb Raider (0:52)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Opening (1:40) 2. The Luna Temple (7:44) 3. Shark Attack (3:19) 4. I Need Terry Sheridan (5:40) 5. Arrival in China (1:47) – (CD version) 6. Captured by the Shay Ling (6:00) 7. Escape from Chen (4:19) 8. Flower Pagoda Battle (5:42) 9. Skydive Getaway (2:12) – (edited CD version) 10. Orb Transmission (1:42) 11. Journey to the Cradle of Life (6:23) – (CD version) 12. The Cradle of Life (6:34) – (CD version) 13. Pandora’s Box (5:24) 14. Not Meant to Be Found (0:45) 15. Lara Croft – Tomb Raider (0:52)
I've been re-listening to this score, and I'm glad I did! I've read that Silvestri was told by director Jan de Bont to dial up the electronics, so it would be interesting to hear non-electronic versions of some of these tracks... or at least a remixing with the electronics dialed down. "Shark Attack" is still a classic and gets regular play. Count me in for an expanded edition!
I've been re-listening to this score, and I'm glad I did! I've read that Silvestri was told by director Jan de Bont to dial up the electronics, so it would be interesting to hear non-electronic versions of some of these tracks... or at least a remixing with the electronics dialed down. "Shark Attack" is still a classic and gets regular play. Count me in for an expanded edition!
I would buy an expansion in a heartbeat!