Dragonheart: A New Beginning

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Why bother, make a sequel of a movie that didn't succeed. Hollywood and its various companies surely works in mysterious ways and Dragonheart 2: A New Beginning hasn't got those amazing special effects, (they are not bad though), the cast is unknown and the director and producers did roughly have material for a movie lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes. In others words, don't expect something of it. Its not bad, it however doesn't succeed its predecessor. So I can repeat and say the same thing about the score. Mark McKenzie is a respected and highly talented composer, and surely outweighs the competition with this effort but its falls just short of Edelman's highly respected and memorable score for the first. McKenzie did use Edelman's main theme and while this of course sounds excellent I thought McKenzie's own themes sounded perfect nonetheless. As we all know, McKenzie is no rookie and he can truly breath emotional and melodic life into any feature film. So he does with Dragonheart 2, the main theme surely brings the fans back to the lesson but both McKenzie's main heroic theme (I'm Flying?!') and the emotional theme ('My Heart goes With You') listen fantastically. Again it is shown why he remains such a beloved composer.

The main theme of Edelman receives the most attention and comes to life in 'Dragonheart: A New Beginning, Main Titles' and 'Of my Heart to Thee I Give', among the shorter versions. Also to note is the re arranged flying music in track 2 and the stunning, truly stunning string work in track 6. Count these tracks as the highlights of the album. But as well as the score sounds and works, it are the short tracks that disappoint, I mean 'Serenade to the Stars' and 'Renaissance Banquet' all sound lovely but aren't highly memorable. And the many short tracks or sudden action moments do sound good, but miss excellence. And unlikely but true, the score ends with a vocal performance of 'My Heart goes With You'. This song is adequate but doesn't fit with the movie and surely brings back memories of a dated Disney song, Pocahontas perhaps. Let me tell this, the composition is fantastic and Rona Figueroa can not only fight in the movie but has a hell of a voice, but it simply doesn't add to the tale of knights and dragons. So, McKenzie fans will surely discover moments worth hearing again, and in a way this once more shows his exceptional talents. And people that wanted more of the theme of Dragonheart will receive their thrill with certain moments. But Dragonheart: A New Beginning doesn't outdo Edelman's first score when it comes to quality, amusement and thematic power.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Dragonheart: A New Beginning Main Titles * (4.49) Excellent Track

2. I'm Flying?! (2.17) Excellent Track

3. Knighthood And The Old Code (1.57)

4. Friar Peter Went To Heaven * (1.28)

5. Liam's Awesome Fight (1.34)

6. My Heart Goes With You (Instrumental) (2.16) Excellent Track

7. Dungeon, Skeletons & A Dragon (3.42)

8. Serenade To The Stars (1.03)

9. Dragon Heaven * (1.18)

10. Roland Bullies Geoff (1.21)

11. Renaissance Banquet (1.24)

12. Chinese Battle The Knight (2.11)

13. Withered Heart Tale (0.52)

14. Tai Chee (0.45)

15. Terragoth Ambush! (2.10)

16. Prophetic Transformation (1.20)

17. Dragon Fight! (1.25)

18. My Wise Master And Closest Friend (1.28)

19. Of My Heart To Thee I Give * (1.42)

20. My Heart Goes With You: Rona Figueroa (3.19)

* Contains Dragonheart Theme composed by Randy Edelman

Total Length: 39.36

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Mark McKenzie ===