VHS Tomb Raider

Paramount Home Entertainment pressed "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" on VHS in 2001, timing the release to the film's home video run just months after it closed its theatrical dates. The tape is a standard clamshell case, and the cover art is the one everyone remembers: Angelina Jolie in full gear, gray tank, holster belt, dual pistols, and that signature braid centered against a dark background. Silver banner across the top, gold lettering on the title treatment. This is the mass-market retail pressing, not a promotional screener or a rental-only strip.

The film itself cleared $275 million worldwide on a $115 million production budget, which made it the highest-grossing film based on a video game at the time of its release. That record had been held by "Mortal Kombat" (1995) for six years before "Tomb Raider" knocked it off in summer 2001. Jolie came into the project off her Oscar win for "Girl, Interrupted" (2000) and walked out of it as a bankable action lead, which changed the conversation around women headlining blockbusters in a meaningful way. Director Simon West had done "Con Air" in 1997, so the studio knew what they were getting: lean plotting, practical stunt work, and a camera that treats its lead as a credible physical presence rather than a set piece. The video game lineage goes back to Core Design's 1996 original on PlayStation and Saturn, a title that had already moved the conversation around what a digital action protagonist could look like before a single frame of the film was shot.

This copy presents as an unplayed or near-unplayed retail tape. The clamshell should be intact with no cracks along the spine hinge, the label print on the cassette body itself should be clean and fully saturated, and the tape ribbon should show no visible slack or pooling near the spools. Run your thumb along the spine hinge before committing to a shelf display versus a sealed storage setup.

OWNER VERIFY: Confirm this is the 2001 Paramount retail pressing and not a rental-market issue or a later repress. Rental editions often carry a different UPC block and a strip or sticker on the case.