T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (IMAX)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

From time to time, you just have to see an IMAX film, its always short and it covers beautiful and spectacular visuals from any genre. And so we thought the same of T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous. But this is not just an IMAX feature, it moves like a short film, with a discovery of an egg, father and daughter taking it to their museum to discover the truth behind it, and when father is away the daughter takes a trip back to the Cretaceous and sees T-Rex in person. Basically not a bad idea to cover it as a film, but the first 20 minutes you don't see any dinosaurs and after that, briefly a shot or several, because she also meets legendary people through her trip down memory lane. Basically its not what you call an IMAX documentary and the effects I call equally average, because Walking with Dinosaurs covered them better, and to visualize a feature like that is all what kills this short film. But luckily William Ross, movie composer and orchestrator was on board to cover the music, and he basically handled it like a film. The theme is there and a daughters theme and that's it, because don't expect either John Williams' like Jurassic Park momentum, because again Ross hasn't got the time to present the wonder of the animals, because they are hardly there in the first place. Still, with all due respect, the themes are nice but just not special, and so is the short soundtrack all the same. The main theme appears in 'Main Title' and the percussion and strings lead to it, basically its a fanfare ala he used in Tin Cup but just not that grand. And little Ally has her own piano theme in the next track 'Ally', which leads to a brief fanfare of the main theme.

The following track by then has the main theme but in a fashion that you think its another theme because here its less epic but more beautiful, but hardly is it used in the form like it is used here and that's sad, 'Liz Falls' nonetheless presents the discovery dig with it. Basically this score is shifting between themes, like 'Ally and Dad' bringing back the piano theme for Ally before it briefly has a fanfare that listens like Alan Silvestri's Father of the Bride, or so it sounds. 'Journey to the Cretaceous' has some dark mystifying music for the confusion that Ally is confronting when she makes the trip, but again it isn't that special, and the chase of the Raptors is followed by loud orchestral music without hardly pinpointing the next best theme, Ally's theme and the lovely version of the main theme who end the cue. Apart from the strange jazz song in 'Kiss and a Squeeze', the rest follows the basic formula, with the themes making one or another their point. Just different is luckily 'Meeting Barnum Brown' which has harmonica, solo guitar and a theme reminding you basically of the old west, not grand but it just does it that way. 'Meeting T-Rex' has the themes returning but also again the loud and orchestral attacking music, and it all fits with the scene so at that point, at least Ross was following the visuals when he in fact had 2 dinosaurs to score by. Luckily we have all 2 themes returning, and all in their best form for 'Finale', first a great fanfare for the main theme (which adds some epic strength to that) before Ally's theme makes a nice finale version with orchestra and then the finale blast is for the emotional version of the main theme which is by far the best version there is. All these final versions make at least this track worth it. Yet all the same, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous is like its film, normal and fun for a time yet not special. Its however William Ross that adds some life to it because I rather hear the score again then see the film, and therefore its something of a flashback to return to it from time to time.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (3.33)

2. Ally (1.27)

3. Liz Falls (1.57)

4. Finding The Egg (1.55)

5. Ally And Dad (3.00)

6. Journey To The Cretaceous (5.39)

7. Meeting Charles Knight (2.07)

8. Kiss And A Squeeze (2.02)

9. Meeting Barnum Brown (4.42)

10. Meeting T-Rex (6.45)

11. Finale (4.02) Excellent Track

Total Length: 37.08

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

=== Link to Composer Site: William Ross ===