''The Last Airbender'' is the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

of the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

''The Last Airbender'', directed by

M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...

. The score was composed by

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

. It was released on June 29, 2010, by

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...

Track listing

Reception

In contrast to the universally negative reviews of the film, the soundtrack has received critical acclaim. Christian Clemmensen of

Filmtracks.com Filmtracks.com is a modern film score review website created and maintained by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen. Since the launch of Filmtracks in 1996, the website has reviewed nearly two-thousand soundtracks dating as far back as 1954, t ...

gave it a full 5-star rating.Christian Clemmensen, Filmtracks Modern Soundtrack Reviews, 2010, http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/last_airbender.html. 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."Jonathan Broxton, MovieMusicUK, 2010, http://moviemusicuk.us/2010/10/13/the-last-airbender-james-newton-howard/ James Southall of Movie-Wave gave it 4 stars.James Southall, Movie-Wave, 2010, http://www.movie-wave.net/?p=563 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."Tom Hoover, ScoreNotes, 2010, http://scorenotes.com/soundtracks/airbender.html 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", 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."

Accolades

The soundtrack was nominated for two

International Film Music Critics Association The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is a professional association for online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music. History and purpose The IFMCA was founded in the ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Airbender (Soundtrack), The 2010 soundtrack albums Last Airbender Soundtrack, The Fantasy film soundtracks Adventure film soundtracks