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| X-Men: The Last Stand – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Film score by | ||||
| Released | May 23, 2006 (2006-05-23) | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 61:27 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande Fox Music | |||
| Producer | John Powell | |||
| John Powell chronology | ||||
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| X-Men soundtrack chronology | ||||
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X-Men: The Last Stand – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed byJohn Powell.[1] It was released on May 23, 2006 byVarèse Sarabande andFox Music.X-Men: The Last Stand was the third film inthe series, and Powell was the third composer used followingMichael Kamen andJohn Ottman.
X-Men: The Last Stand – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has received generally positive reviews from critics.
The film's directorBrett Ratner invitedJohn Powell to write the music for being a fan of Powell's work inThe Bourne Identity. Powell included references to the score from the previous two films - "it all had to be in the same family, and the same language" - and used lyrics fromBenjamin Britten'sRequiem Mass for the choir parts.[2]
Powell deviated from the first two in that he created less a set of individual cues and more of a cohesive sound throughout. Most of the 27 tracks are short, with the exception of a few extended battle sequence cues. The second track "Bathroom Titles" is an explosion of violent percussion in the form ofDanny Elfman'sPlanet of the Apes soundtrack. Actually, Powell's style is a noticeable mixture of Elfman andJohn Williams (especially theirSpider-Man andSuperman soundtracks, respectively).
Powell had a 141 musicians of theHollywood Studio Symphony at his disposal, and he did not waste them. Despite drawing similarities to other composers (likeDanny Elfman andJohn Williams), soundtrack reviewer and talk show host Clark Douglas stated that Powell diverted from "recent action scores which force the orchestra to play second string to the synthetic elements (such as Klaus Badelt's "Poseidon")... [and instead] fully utilizes the elements at his disposal." Douglas went on to say that the orchestra is best used during the "final third" of the score.
All music is composed byJohn Powell.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "20 Years Ago" | 1:10 |
| 2. | "Bathroom Titles" | 1:09 |
| 3. | "The Church of Magneto/Raven Is My Slave Name" | 2:40 |
| 4. | "Meet Leech, Then Off To the Lake" | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Whirlpool of Love" | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Examining Jean" | 1:12 |
| 7. | "Dark Phoenix" | 1:28 |
| 8. | "Angel's Cure" | 2:34 |
| 9. | "Jean and Logan" | 1:39 |
| 10. | "Dark Phoenix Awakes" | 1:45 |
| 11. | "Rejection Is Never Easy" | 1:09 |
| 12. | "Magneto Plots" | 2:05 |
| 13. | "Entering the House" | 1:18 |
| 14. | "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy" | 3:18 |
| 15. | "Farewell to X" | 0:30 |
| 16. | "The Funeral" | 2:52 |
| 17. | "Skating On the Pond" | 1:12 |
| 18. | "Cure Wars" | 2:57 |
| 19. | "Fight in the Woods" | 3:06 |
| 20. | "St Lupus Day" | 3:03 |
| 21. | "Building Bridges" | 1:16 |
| 22. | "Shock and No Oars" | 1:15 |
| 23. | "Attack on Alcatraz" | 4:36 |
| 24. | "Massacre" | 0:31 |
| 25. | "The Battle of the Cure" | 4:20 |
| 26. | "Phoenix Rises" | 4:21 |
| 27. | "The Last Stand" | 5:29 |
| Total length: | 61:27 | |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [3] |
| ScoreNotes | [4] |
| Tracksounds | [5] |
| Scorereviews.com | [6] |
| Filmtracks | [7] |
| Soundtrack.Net | [8] |
Sean Wilson ofDen of Geek said Powell's soundtrack is less thoughtful than Michael Kamen’sX-Men score but more memorable and richly realized than John Ottman’s. They found it a shame that Powell’s old-school score was used in one of the franchise’s weaker films, noting that it combines action and emotion with multiple themes. Wilson also noted that this soundtrack solidifies Powell as one of modern film's great score composers and wishes the more recentX-Men movies had his input.[9]
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[10] | 12 |
| USTop Soundtracks (Billboard)[11] | 14 |
