Knights of Cydonia (video)

Knights of Cydonia video

Muse video
Name	Knights of Cydonia
Album/single	Knights of Cydonia DVD (1), Knights of Cydonia promo VHS (1), Black Holes and Revelations Tour Edition bonus DVD (3),
Length	6:06
Initial air date	11th July 2006
Filming Location	Romania
Director	Joseph Kahn
Watch	YouTube

Video Nav
Supermassive Black Hole	<	Knights of Cydonia	>	Starlight

The video for Knights of Cydonia was made available for viewing by the public, initially with a country check on MySpace that made sure the IP of the user was in the USA, on July 11th 2006.

The video was filmed in Romania, directed by Joseph Kahn and features Russ Bain as the lead actor. Cassandra Bell played the girl with the gun, who participates having sex with Russ Bain. Richard Brake (Doom) played the Sheriff and Romanian producer Andre played the native Indian chief. The cinematography was Christopher Probst, the director of photography was Christopher Probst and the producer was Richard Weager.

The environment of the video is akin to that of the Wild West, although it features futuristic weapons such as electromagnetic weapons and 3D holographic projection.The title credits at the beginning of the video state in Roman numerals that the video was made in 1981, however at the end the credits state that the video was made in 2081.

A sex scene was edited out before being aired on television, and the directors cut version is available on Kahn's web site.

The characters are officially named "man with no name" (Russ Bain), Princess Shane Kuriyami, ninja, robot, Sherrif Baron Klaus Rottingham and Gustaf Von Musterhausen.

The same video is to be used with the UK release.

Promotional poster competition

The competition website

After winning

On the 16th September 2006, Muse updated their MySpace profile with a competition on the promotional web site. The aim of the competition was to spot 15 movie references in the video in order to win one of 1,000 Knights of Cydonia movie posters. Aside from the very few obvious ones, such as Star Wars (which is referenced by a robot in the movies' stiff gait and the holograms of Muse being projected everywhere) and Planet of the Apes (which is referenced by the Statue of Liberty petruding from the ground as the 'man with no name' rides past on his horse), most were very cryptic references that were practically impossible to guess. In addition to the competition, profiles were created for the characters who feature in the video as well as the video's fictional director, containing some clues to the answers.

Mysteriously, contest winners were never announced, and no confirmation emails were sent. The competition remains apparently open as off 2010.

Movie references

• Star Wars
• The Good the Bad The Ugly
• The Matrix
• Batman
• Planet of the Apes
• Mad Max
• Blade Runner
• Lone Ranger
• Maverick
• Once Upon a Time in China
• Battlestar Galactica
• Five Deadly Venoms
• Kung Fu
• The Searchers
• Westworld
• Heavy Metal

See also

• Promotional web site
• Joseph Kahn
• Man With No Name MySpace profile
• Princess Shane Kuriyami MySpace profile
• Gustaf Von Musterhausen MySpace profile
• Ninja MySpace profile
• Robot MySpace profile
• Sheriff Baron Klaus Rottingham Myspace profile

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