10 Iconic Classical Songs You Only Know Because Of The Movies

4. Ode To Joy From Die Hard

When thinking of classical music, the film Die Hard doesn€™t appear to be a likely pairing. But, that€™s exactly what we got as Hans Gruber and his pals get to rob Nakatomi Plaza in style when the FBI shut off the power and the emergency power unlocks the Nakatomi vault. It€™s the sheer amazement on the villains€™ faces when they realise their plan has actually worked and they stare wide eyed at their prize, Theo only managing a €œMerry Christmas€. It isn€™t a very long moment (and, of course, they won€™t be keeping their money for long with John McClain still hanging around) but seeing Gruber€™s team as giddy as schoolgirls flicking through the vault€™s contents is just a treat, punctuated by Ode to Joy from Beethoven€™s 9th Symphony. Like several of the others on the list, this song can be found in many other films, more notably being something of a plot device in the Steve Carrel lead Get Smart as the final note of Ode to Joy will trigger a bomb unless Maxwell Smart can stop it. It also happens to sneak into Immortal Beloved, the 1994 Gary Oldman film about the life of Beethoven.