Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883) was a German composer.
His composition "Ride of the Valkyries" is featured in both live adaptations of Watchmen, the film and the limited series episode "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship".
Song
Watchmen(OST 2009) - Ride of The Valkyries
Trivia
- In the first issue of Watchmen, "Ride of the Valkyries" is mentioned in the first chapter of Under the Hood. In that passage, Hollis Mason states that "no one else on Earth has to brush away a tear" when they hear that music.
- "Ride of the Valkyries" has been used to symbolize war and destruction as depicted in the film's Vietnam War flashback. During World War II, "Ride of the Valkyries" was used to accompany several editions of Die Deutsche Wochenschau, the German WWII newsreel, featuring sequences of Luftwaffe bombings.
- The use of "Ride of the Valkyries" in the film serves as a shorthand reference to Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, which plays during the iconic scene where the American helicopters bombard a Vietnamese village. Despite the film's anti-war stance and negative portrayal of this act, "Ride of the Valkyries" has come to be commonly associated with one-sided and triumphant battle scenes.
- "Ride of the Valkyries" was also featured in the Sony Pictures Entertainment production Ghost Rider.
- Richard Wagner's composition "Bridal Chorus" was featured in the Sony Pictures Entertainment production Spider-Man 2 and 20th Century Fox production Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
- Richard Wagner's compositions "Bridal Chorus", "Overture: The Flying Dutchman", "Tannhäuser Overture" and "Siegfried's Funeral March" were featured in the DC Entertainment production Smallville. "Bridal Chorus" was also featured in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Gotham.
