4. The Flight Of The Valkyries (Apocalypse Now)
United ArtistsIf the minimal amount of damage the Vietcong do against the American soldiers is enough to qualify this legendary movie massacre as a battle then it must surely be one of the most epic in cinema history. Arguably the most memorable scene in the classic 1979 movie, the vast squadron of helicopters which practically fill up the entire south-east Asian sky are mismatched with the villagers and their basic means of defense. As the aerial squadron swoops down on the small village, in typical Francis Ford Coppola fashion we are shown lingering shots of the American G.Is and the potent arsenal of weaponry which their airborne transport carries these shots are contrasted with the images of Vietnamese school girls and rice farmers desperately scrambling for safety as machine gun fire rains down from above. All of this unsettling action is orchestrated by the booming sounds of Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyrie"; its no coincidence that this famed composer is known to have been favoured by one Adolf Hitler. This is consistent with the whole films condemning presentation of the American involvement in Vietnam. The cacophony of destruction and classical music is brought to an abrupt halt when Col. Kilgore bombards the enemy with napalm to allow for Captain Williard and his brigade to safely make their way up the Nung River. The entire bloody spectacle perfectly establishes the tense, slightly surreal tone of the whole film.