As is customary, Jones entertains with his sensibility for rich,
harmonic, memorable themes for
Dinotopia. There is no overwhelming brass
affair, as in 1999's
Cleopatra or 1993's
Cliffhanger, but instead
Jones anchors the score with a more classically-inclined string theme. It's a very
emotionally uplifting thematic construct, building upon the utopian sense of
goodness that James Horner introduced in
The Land Before Time, but expanded
to Jones' lush standards. The score flows from one pleasant cue to another, with
lyrical passages often overlapping in neighboring material. Even the action cues,
as well as those meant to represent the dangerous parts of the lost continent, are
melodic in their presentation and continue Jones' dynamic employment of the full
ensemble in every circumstance. There aren't action sequences as awe-inspiring as
those in parts of
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (Jones' most
ambitious action material in the early 2000's), nor is there the level of deep,
reflective fright as heard in
From Hell the previous year. The orchestra
never tears into the atmosphere, as in
Dark City. Jones steers a very steady
ship in
Dinotopia, with lengthy segments of music performed with deep
harmonic satisfaction by the masterful ensemble. The positive nature of the music
may cause it to take on the personality of a children's score, but even so, the
power of its performance extends its reach far beyond the typical music in that
genre (by, for instance, the likes of John Debney). You can't point to one
particular cue that is more outstanding than any other, but the consistently
exciting or beautiful tone of Jones' music for
Dinotopia makes it an easy
recommendation for his collectors. Unfortunately, the album is a difficult
situation. Like the television film
Cleopatra, the score was released by
"Contemporary Media Recordings" (reportedly Jones' own personal label) and was
never available in retail stores. While
Cleopatra was sold for a limited
time online,
Dinotopia never was, and the extent of its release was mostly
confined to non-chain stores in the Los Angeles area. Varèse Sarabande
originally announced that it would release the score in 2002, but the label
immediately retracted that statement. Thus, the CMR album serves mostly as a
promotional album for Jones, and should be considered a rare find when discovered.
While it may not contain anywhere near the entirety of the music that Jones wrote
for this series (at only an hour in running time), collectors of his solid
orchestral work will not be disappointed.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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