Tomb Raider Fan Film Delivers 20 Minutes of Brutal Action

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Tomb Raider Fan Film Delivers 20 Minutes of Brutal Action


CanCinema's Croft takes a shot at recreating the gritty action of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot.

Tomb Raider came back in a big way in 2013 thanks to a gritty reboot that, despite a <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7025-Tomb-Raider>few flaws here and there, was largely considered to be <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10207-Tomb-Raider-Review-An-Icon-Reborn>pretty fantastic. It should be no surprise that the game earned some fans, some of whom have taken to fashioning their own content based on the game.

Case in point, the folks at CanCinema recently released Croft, a twenty minute fan film based on the game. Boasting some very decent production value and acting, it follows Lara as she fights her way through a pack of nondescript baddies holding her friends hostage. The thing is action packed pretty much from start to finish and, while there is a bit of unfortunate shaky cam in a couple of spots, it's overall really well done and very exciting. If nothing else, it at least captures the more violent and brutal tone exuded by the game.

The ending is a bit on the wonky side, but overall if you're a fan of the new Tomb Raider or would just enjoy a short dose of no-holds-barred action, you could do a heck of a lot worse than this. Watch the video and let us know what you think. Does this capture the essence of Tomb Raider or does it miss the mark?

Source: <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQTW9V61jo#t>YouTube


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omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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I always enjoy films that are full throttle action, so I will have to watch this when I am given the chance.

Never been a fan of that word, pacing. Pacing means lets add boring bits, like extensive exposition, to take the excitement out of the film for reasons.

Though I get the feeling this is going to play on the whole hunger games, just by the look of the girl aiming a bow.
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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omega 616 said:
Never been a fan of that word, pacing. Pacing means lets add boring bits, like extensive exposition, to take the excitement out of the film for reasons.
Actually poor pacing would be if the movie went full throttle and then suddenly stopped for the sake of exposition, good pacing would be a smooth transition between action and exposition/slower paced story to have some room to calm down. Basicly if the movie needs to slow down you cant just change it over one scene, there needs to be something in the middle that serves as a bridge in the pace of the movie (unless you want it on purpose to catch people off guard, it usually works well when going from full stop to full throttle).
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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josemlopes said:
That might be most peoples definition but I think having an action film like the expendables do talky talky it makes me sleepy sleepy.

I'm not saying every film has to be "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" for an hour after a bit of a set up but I think if you build momentum don't stop it 'cos you want "to have some room to calm down".

You watch action films for action, most of the time the story is generic "terrorist wants to unleash terror and the hero has to stop him" (just how many films did I just boil down?), even the scenes are generic, how many shoot outs, car chases and fist fights have there been? There are always a rough number of times they appear in films as well (always 1 car chase, handful of shoot outs and 3 or 4 fist fights). Totally predictable!

So, pump up the action make more 100 MPH "AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" films, let pacing take a back seat.
 

Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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omega 616 said:
Never been a fan of that word, pacing. Pacing means lets add boring bits, like extensive exposition, to take the excitement out of the film for reasons.
Have you ever watched 120 minutes of non-stop action scene?

You'd get very fatigued of it very quickly.

While I agree that many action films suffer from an unfortunate ratio of cliche dialogue to fun-fun murder time, but pacing is still important, even in the dumbest or simplest of films.
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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omega 616 said:
josemlopes said:
That might be most peoples definition but I think having an action film like the expendables do talky talky it makes me sleepy sleepy.

I'm not saying every film has to be "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" for an hour after a bit of a set up but I think if you build momentum don't stop it 'cos you want "to have some room to calm down".

You watch action films for action, most of the time the story is generic "terrorist wants to unleash terror and the hero has to stop him" (just how many films did I just boil down?), even the scenes are generic, how many shoot outs, car chases and fist fights have there been? There are always a rough number of times they appear in films as well (always 1 car chase, handful of shoot outs and 3 or 4 fist fights). Totally predictable!

So, pump up the action make more 100 MPH "AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" films, let pacing take a back seat.
But the expendables has terrible pacing, a movie that keeps going 100MPH can still have good pacing as it keeps things consitent, the problem is when the change of pacing is jarring. The movie Crank is fast paced as fuck, even the slower paced parts are still rather fast paced and it ends up having good pacing because of that (the slower parts envolve the main character standing on his feet on top of a bike or burning his hand in a waffle machine).

Good pacing is having things be consistent and smooth, if the movie needs to slow down you better not do it over one scene unless its on purpose.

Im just trying to explain that pacing doesnt mean "slowing down" and that bad pacing can exist because the movie slowed down the wrong way (or simply because it did).
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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Zhukov said:
Have you ever watched 120 minutes of non-stop action scene?
I'm not saying every film has to be "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" for an hour after a bit of a set up ....


josemlopes said:
You mean when he is standing on the bike, it plays slow ass music and lasts about 2 mins and totally kills the momentum built up the entire film?

Like I said, my use of the phrase might be unconventional but I hate watching an action film with loads of talking, like it's trying to polish a turd by making a generic action movie having a deeper meaning.

It can be as slow of a transition as you like but still doesn't alter my opinion that the talking parts of action films are like holes in swiss cheese ... the bits with nothing to them, if you love swiss cheese you have to accept it has holes in but they aren't your favorite parts.
 

Seracen

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Sep 20, 2009
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Zhukov said:
omega 616 said:
Never been a fan of that word, pacing. Pacing means lets add boring bits, like extensive exposition, to take the excitement out of the film for reasons.
Have you ever watched 120 minutes of non-stop action scene?

You'd get very fatigued of it very quickly.

While I agree that many action films suffer from an unfortunate ratio of cliche dialogue to fun-fun murder time, but pacing is still important, even in the dumbest or simplest of films.
Perfect example: Crank vs Shoot 'Em Up

Both came out the same summer, both were fun, and I love both films. However, Shoot 'Em Up was far too breakneck for my tastes. Oddly enough, Crank was the film that had enough moments of downtime, in order to appreciate the crazy moments.

So yeah, pacing is extremely important. Watching Shoot 'Em Up is like running a marathon, whereas Crank is a much easier watch.


This film was alright, but I just didn't sympathize with the hostage. Maybe I'm just a jaded jackass. Lara going all Rambo on the baddies is akin to Superman fighting Lex Luthor. Oddly enough, the hero is so overpowered, they can be seen as the antagonist (ie the implacable force against which there is no victory).

But yeah, whenever the hostage was getting snarky, I was just thinking "er...why is she still alive?" That list of mistakes villains make has made an impression on my sensibilities.
 

shiajun

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Jun 12, 2008
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I think this condenses exactly the parts that I didn't like about the new tomb raider. All the good, intelligent bits about tomb raider taken off or put in the background to showcase some magically crack-shot evolution of Lara against waves of enemies, the oddly slow witted and confused villains, and the helpless friend who does practically nothing to help herself. It does capture the dirty and vicious way that Lara can take down enemies in the game, I'll give you that.
 

Extragorey

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Dec 24, 2010
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omega 616 said:
Never been a fan of that word, pacing. Pacing means lets add boring bits, like extensive exposition, to take the excitement out of the film for reasons.

Though I get the feeling this is going to play on the whole hunger games, just by the look of the girl aiming a bow.
Allow me to quote you yet again, sir.

Good pacing just means that you never feel the movie is progressing too fast or too slow, that's all. What "good pacing" actually entails varies depending on what type of movie it is and the target audience, etc.

Also, Lara's bow plays a large part in the game, so it makes sense to use it as a cover image.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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It is funny watching the whole Tomb Raider carousel happen again. The game comes out, everyone hates it, provides tons of legitimate criticism and you think its going to end up in the bottom, yet come the end of the year and its making GOTY lists from the same people that disliked it.
Theres something almost magical about this boob physics simulator.