Buy it... if you were one of the very few people who actually enjoyed this film during its run in the theatres, for William Ross' score is among the production's only highlights.

Avoid it... if you expect highly original themes and instrumental styles, neither of which was demanded of Ross for this putrid film.

Ross

T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous: (William Ross) The popularity of Jurassic Park and the relative availability of special effect techniques that could bring dinosaurs to life were responsible for a variety of dino-related films in the mid-1990's. One such entry was the short IMAX film T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous, released in 1998 to the super large screens in 3D format. Unfortunately, Brett Leonard's production had very little going for it. Of its 44-minute running time, the advertised dinosaurs are only on screen for a precious few minutes. The script instead spends its first half exploring the very poorly acted relationship between a teenage girl and her father, who happens to be a paleontologist. When people go to a short IMAX film, family problems aren't what they want to see, and it's a relief when the girl accidentally breaks a tyrannosaurus rex egg, a cloud of smoke appears, and she's transported back in time to be chased by the 15-ton monster. On the whole, the film was derided by critics for not delivering on the goods, even in the special effects department, where the rendering of the creatures isn't as sharp as in the competition. It's hard to imagine that any composer would turn down the opportunity to score another IMAX picture, because they so often utilize the grandest of orchestral soundtracks. For career orchestrator William Ross, such projects were his outlet for his own compositional efforts, and T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous represented a pretty typical outing. Known mostly for his orchestration of some of composer Alan Silvestri's best scores, Ross doesn't surprise anyone when he writes material that sounds generally similar to those works. In the case of T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous, though, the other elements of the production are so awful that you can't fault him for providing largely derivative music. While it would have been nice to hear a true adventure score in this circumstance, Ross was bound by the script to write mostly pleasant conversational pieces for the troubled relationship between the girl and her father. With that in mind, the listening experience of T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous on album sells itself just as short as the film on the whole. Still, there is a significant amount of strong material here to please any of the rare collectors of Ross' usually strong work.

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The score kicks off with its bold title theme on brass over rumbling, jungle-styled rhythms. It's a functional construct, though somewhat anonymous in its progressions. More engaging, ironically, is Ross' theme for the girl, Ally, first introduced on tender piano in "Ally." Any veteran Silvestri fan will recognize the style of this theme from Forrest Gump, though Ross expands upon the idea with an attractive woodwind performance of the theme over acoustic guitar in "Finding the Egg." He continues along the same lines in "Ally and Dad," which transfers the pleasant idea to a light, contemporary sound of piano and strings. The most troubled cue on album is "Journey to the Cretaceous," which utilizes very messy orchestral mayhem (highlighted by wild percussion and slurred brass) for the transition, though the track ends with a grand orchestral statement of the title theme. In "Meeting Barnum Brown," Ross goes west; he pulls some inspiration from Dimitri Tiomkin and John Barry in his Western-styled theme on harmonica and high strings over soft acoustic guitar. A fluttering effect on the harmonica at the end of this cue is very annoying. The only consistent action piece in the score is "Meeting T-Rex," which emulates John Williams' music for the subject until another lofty performance of the title theme is presented on majestic strings. The album concludes with a nice suite of both themes, opening with a triumphant fanfare version of the main theme. Of the remaining tracks, "Liz Falls" and "Meeting Charles Knight" are unremarkable and "Kiss and a Squeeze" is a misplaced source piece of old, big band jazz with lovable, animal-related lyrics for the male vocalist. Overall, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous is predictable but undemanding and enjoyable in its context. Ross' workmanlike music is appropriate at every turn, even if it isn't particularly memorable after it concludes. As with most of Ross' compositions, this score was released initially in promotional format. It eventually made the rounds under a makeshift label name, but the contents of the albums' music and packaging are the same. Given that it was only available through soundtrack specialty outlets at the time, the short product for T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous likely wasn't worth the price for most casual collectors, and it remains the kind of product best suited for fans of the individual IMAX picture. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download