Knights of Cydonia is the music video for the 2006 Muse song of the same name. Directed by Joseph Kahn, this 6-minute live-action short is a gloriously over-the-top mashup of spaghetti western, sci-fi, and kung fu.
A lone gunslinger rides into the dusty town of Cydonia to rescue his love interest from the tyrannical sheriff. After a humiliating showdown, he ventures into the desert for a spirit quest with a Valkyrie, a shaman, and a robot. He returns laser-armed and ready for epic revenge.
Packed with campy references – toppled Statue of Liberty, holographic band cameos, laser guns, martial arts, even a unicorn-riding woman – it’s pure pulp fun. Shot on leftover Cold Mountain sets in Romania, the visuals tell a complete story of defiance and redemption, with the band’s bombastic riffs driving the chaos.
Despite the action pastiche concept video, the lyrics describe a struggle against evil powers and like many of Muse’s other songs seem to have anti-globalist undertones, with recurring themes of resisting state overreach and fighting corruption, injustice and oppressive technocracy.
