10 Iconic Classical Songs You Only Know Because Of The Movies

2. Ride Of The Valkyries From Apocalypse Now

This is a Romeo Foxtrot. Shall we dance? In a scene that has become an iconic one for the medium of film, American helicopters fly in to attack the Viet Cong to Wagner€™s Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre. It€™s tremendously powerful right off the bat, matching the editing beautifully as we cut between the mounted weapons before the individual soldiers. We then get a sudden cut to an initially peaceful group of Viet Cong women and children, who quickly begin to flee while the beating of helicopter blades and Wagner steadily rises to a crescendo of violence that will live forever in the history of film. A number of films borrow elements from this scene, whether it is Watchmen using the same song in Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian€™s desolation in Vietnam (this song must be banned over there) or Skyfall€™s big bad Silva playing Boom Boom when laying waste to Skyfall lodge. Nothing, however, can quite top Apocalypse Now, guaranteeing that we won€™t look a helicopter in mid-flight the same again.