The Last Airbender (soundtrack)

The Last Airbender
Film score by James Newton Howard
Released	June 29, 2010
Recorded	2009–2010
Genre	Film score
Length	66:46
Label	Lakeshore Records
Producer	James Newton Howard M. Night Shyamalan
James Newton Howard chronology
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010) The Last Airbender (2010) Salt (2010)
Avatar series chronology
The Last Airbender (2011) The Legend of Korra: Original Music from Book One (2013)

The Last Airbender is the soundtrack album of the fantasy adventure film The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The score was composed by James Newton Howard. It was released on June 29, 2010 by Lakeshore Records.^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Airbender Suite"	James Newton Howard	11:16
2.	"Earthbenders"	James Newton Howard	5:53
3.	"The Avatar Has Returned"	James Newton Howard	4:42
4.	"The Four Elements Test"	James Newton Howard	5:30
5.	"Journey to the Northern Water Tribe"	James Newton Howard	4:01
6.	"Hall of Avatars"	James Newton Howard	3:40
7.	"Prologue"	James Newton Howard	2:43
8.	"The Blue Spirit"	James Newton Howard	7:17
9.	"The Spirit World"	James Newton Howard	5:18
10.	"We Could Be Friends"	James Newton Howard	4:08
11.	"We Are Now the Gods"	James Newton Howard	5:46
12.	"Flow Like Water"	James Newton Howard	6:32

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Filmtracks	[3]
If	(A)[4]

In contrast to the universally negative reviews of the film, the soundtrack has received near universal critical acclaim. Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com gave it a full 5-star rating.^[5] Jonathan Broxton of MovieMusicUK also gave it five stars, stating that "It’s constantly pleasing harmonics, interesting orchestrations, and powerful and heroic themes are thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, making it one of the most satisfying musical experiences from 2010’s summer season."^[6] James Southall of Movie-Wave gave it 4 stars.^[7] Tom Hoover of ScoreNotes gave the score a rating of 9.5/10, stating that "As far as collaborations go -- this one is the best of the lot between James and M. Night Shyamalan."^[8]

Two criticisms have been leveled at the commercial pressing of the album: the fact that the album presentation is lacking "narrative flow", which is "an aspect shattered by a non-chronological presentation of tracks on the commercial album for The Last Airbender",^[5] and that of the choir having been reportedly edited out of the release of the album due to re-use fees. Jon Broxton, though, says this: "There has been quite a bit of criticism aimed at Lakeshore Records for apparently not licensing the full choral elements heard in the film for release on CD; having seen the film, I can honestly say that whatever choral elements exist in the film are not especially missed on the CD release, and the final cue – “Flow Like Water” – sounds exactly the same here as it does in the theater."^[6]

Accolades

The soundtrack was nominated for two International Film Music Critics Association awards in 2010 for Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film and Film Music Composition of the Year for "Flow Like Water".

References

1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1818607
2. "The Last Airbender". Allmusic. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
3. Filmtracks review
4. Schweiger, Daniel (July 2, 2010). "CD Review: 'The Last Airbender' - Original Soundtrack". If Magazine. Archived from the original on September 16, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
5. Christian Clemmensen, Filmtracks Modern Soundtrack Reviews, 2010, http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/last_airbender.html.
6. Jonathan Broxton, MovieMusicUK, 2010, http://moviemusicuk.us/2010/10/13/the-last-airbender-james-newton-howard/
7. James Southall, Movie-Wave, 2010, http://www.movie-wave.net/?p=563
8. Tom Hoover, ScoreNotes, 2010, http://scorenotes.com/soundtracks/airbender.html