Customer Reviews

X-Men: The Last Stand (Original Motion Picture)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Powell has crafted a masterful score for X-Men: The Last Stand. Whereas John Ottmans score for X2 was too orchestral and generic Powell's sounds like X-Men - the heroic theme appearing in "Bathroom Titles" but especially the Dark Phoenix theme making its first appearance in "Whirlpool of Love". The entire album flows through pounding all out action music complete with choir interspersed with tender quiet moments to a thrilling finale in "Pheonix Rises" then a reprise of the themes in "The Last Stand".
Surprisingly for Powell there are very few electronics in the score he has opted instead for a massive orchestra and choir.
Definietly recommended.

Powell enters the Comic book world and brings with him an epic score to an epic film. Michael Kamen's approach to X1 was a bit electronic and restrainted while John Ottman added a much needed orchestral oomph to the franchise in X2. John Powell mixes the two technics wonderfully focusing more on the orchestral sound.

Highlight tracks of the album include:

-Dark Phoenix's Tragedy
-Attack on Alcatraz
-St. Lupus Day
-Fight in the Woods
-Shock and No Oars
-Phoenix Rises
-The Last Stand

Much of the tracks are a mesh of orchestral strength with choral chants and "ahs" as the pictures on screen get chaotic.

This is definately worth purchasing. Its a vast improvement over Kamen's theme and Ottman's theme. Unless you find orchestral works annoying, avoid this. Otherwise buy it.

This is expectionally well done. I was surprised by the number of tracks on the CD. The choral and orchestra is well written.

Quick note on the CD package. Track 26, Phoenix Rises. the back of the CD case the time length says it is a 6 minute, 21 second piece. THAT IS A TYPO. The actually time length is 4 minutes and 21 seconds thought you should know.

The X-Men trilogy is interesting in that it utilized a different composer for each film. While Michael Kamen's score for the original film was sparse and mainly electronic, John Ottman's score for X2 was purely orchestral and choral. Even this score, however, seemed to lack the depth and thickness needed for X-Men.
John Powell's score for X-Men: The Last Stand is by far the finest of the three scores. While he doesn't utilize as many character themes as Ottman did, he still manages to create a breathtaking world of sweeping strings and piercing choir. The highlight track of this album, in my opinion, is "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy." This track includes not only the Dark Phoenix theme, but also some fabulous action cues. This type of music is found all throughout the soundtrack, which pulsates with driving rhythms and powerful themes.
The main theme stays true to ground work of the previous two composers. One can find hints of both main themes from X1 and X2 within Powell's newly-constructed X3 theme. The other dominant theme used is the Phoenix theme. This eclectic theme draws upon foreign influences to give it an exotic flavor, working well for the nature of this character. The Brotherhood also has a theme of their own, which is often quite menacing with low brass.
I recommend this sountrack for anyone who enjoys not only strong action music and epic score writing, but really for anyone who enjoys and can appreciate modern classical music. Congratulations John Powell on a job well done!

The score for X-Men: THE LAST STAND was composed b JOhn Powell, marking the third different composer for the x-men franchise. I thouhgt that if Powell's score was comparable to Kamen's rather lackluster X-Men score it would be decent. I didn't think that Powell would give Ottman's X2 score a run for it's money. He does. From a heroic main theme that ties back into Ottman's theme for X2, Powell does a fantastic job capturing all the action and emotion of this 3rd chapter of the X-Men. It has it's darker moments, but overall The Last Stand is an excellent score. It makes for a fine listening experience. Some scores go well with the film but make for poor listening when heard by themselves, Kamen's score for X-Men is a perfect example of that type of score. Some supersede themselves and are a little too over the top. At the end Ottman's X2 score suffers from that and some fit perfectly and Powell's The Last Stand fits perfectly. An earlier reviewer said that this score didn't hearken back to the previous entries in this series. He was wrong and the score is well done and enjoyable.

I thought that the scores to the two previous X-Men films were very generic, not having a soaring main theme or epic feel to them. That's not the case with John Powell's The Last Stand score.

The Dark Phoenix theme is probably one of the finest pieces of music ever written. Just listen to 'Dark Phoenix's Tragedy' and 'Phoenix Rises' for some pure audio bliss! The addition of the choir was also a nice touch that made the score seem bigger and more epic than anything for the other films.

I'm now a big fan of Powell's and I hope that if there's a fourth film that he's brought back to score it. I'd love to see what he'd do as a follow up.

I purchased this soundtrack immediately after seeing the movie. I absolutely love it.

There are three distinct themes that I traced - the first is the "X-Men" theme that appears prominently in "Bathroom Tiles" (the movie's opening) and "The Last Stand". In both, it attacks from a relative lull and excites with raw power.

The second is the "Angel" theme (it plays in other parts, but I associate it with Angel's first extended appearance. It's also in "The Last Stand". It is, I think necessarily, a sweeping and soaring melody that meshes perfectly with the idea of flying.

Finally is my personal favorite - the "Dark Phoenix" theme. This one is even more present than the X-Men theme, showing up early in "Meet Leech, Then Off to the Lake". It really is a treat and fits perfectly with the character - a theme of absolute power, but with something "else" - something exotic, foreign, and unique - with an element of seduction and beauty. It reminds of me something middle-eastern, and then almost something from the Gladiator soundtrack and comes together to absolutely widen your eyes.

The last theme is what truly drives the soundtrack - I can't remember how long I've listened to the soundtrack with various tracks including the theme on repeat (Whirlpool of Love, Dark Phoenix's Tragedy, Phoenix Rises, etc). In the movie, the theme marks such significant events that the power of the music only increases in the listener's memory.

I usually take a playlist of upbeat dance remixes when I go to the gym because it just helps you run on the treadmill, you know? Entertainingly enough, I took this soundtrack the last few times and the energy of the music at full volume just whips you into running five or ten minutes more. It's that powerful.

I have no significant complaints other than the short length of some of the tracks. Listening on an MP3 player, they don't flow seamlessly and so the transition can be jarring. This shouldn't happen on a CD player.

All I have to say was this soundtrack is absolutley amazing!! From the opening track "20 Years Ago," to the very last piece, "The Last Stand," it will leave you satisfied with every penny you spent on this. My personal favorite track on the soundtrack is track 16, "The Funeral." WOW, what a beautiful sad moving piece. I could listen to it forever. Anyways, buy this! You will not be disappointed. I was surprised to see John Powell scoring the third and final ( so they say) X-Men. For some reason, it just didn't fit to me for him to be scoring an X-Men film, but as we all can see, it worked out perfectly. In my opinion, this is hands down the best X-Men score out of all three. Defintley Recommended!!


Tracklisting:

1. 20 Years Ago 1:10
2. Bathroom Titles 1:08
3. The Church of Magneto, Raven Is My Slave Name 2:40
4. Meet Leech, Then Off To The Lake 2:38
5. Whirlpool of Love 2:02
6. Examining Jean 1:12
7. Dark Phoenix 1:28
8. Angel's Cure 2:32
9. Jean and Logan 1:39
10. Dark Phoenix Awakes 1:44
11. Rejection Is Never Easy 1:08
12. Magneto Plots 2:05
13. Entering The House 1:18
14. Dark Phoenix's Tragedy 3:13
15. Farewell To X 0:30
16. The Funeral 2:52
17. Skating On The Pond 1:12
18. Cure Wars 2:59
19. Fight In The Woods 3:04
20. St. Lupus Day 3:02
21. Building Bridges 1:16
22. Shock And No Oars 1:16
23. Attack On Alcatraz 4:37
24. Massacre 0:31
25. The Battle Of The Cure 4:21
26. Phoenix Rises 4:21
27. The Last Stand 5:29


Total Time: 61:27

From the three availble scores, the one from John Powell stands out as the best of the three. I do enjoy them all but Powell created amazing new main themes. The X-Men theme created by Powell has a lot in common with the one from John Ottman but it is his theme for the Phoenix that truly stands out. It makes its first spectacular appearance in "Whirlpool of Love." In "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy" the theme is presented with many percussions and the theme rising stoically above the action. It is my favourite cue from the whole album. "Phoenix Rises" , the penultimum track of the score, has the grandeur of the last Matrix soundtrack combined with the last installment of Lord of the Rings. The choir that constantly accompanies the Phoenix theme swells here to an apocalyptic majesty. The album also features many very good secondary themes from which "Meet Leech, Then Off To The Lake" stands out with its light percussions and the theme used in "Angels Cure" and "The Funeral" with its slow, beautiful theme. Percussions is something Powell does well in general and his use in this score is highly effective. "The Last Stand" features all themes again and ends with the Phoenix theme carried by sampled percussions and electronics. I can highly recommend this score as a seasoned soundtrack collector. You won't be dissapointed.

I am ecstatic about this score. Powell has done some good ones, but this is his forte, (no pun intended.) I listen to this while I'm working out, while I'm reading, while I'm playing video games, while I'm in the car... It truly is a masterpiece. I place this on the same level as the Elfman hero scores, and ABOVE Ottman's recent efforts, (Which were actually quite impressive as well.) I cannot really compare it to Batman Begins, as the genres are very different.

Buy this today! you will be amazed.