Synopsis

Duran Duran cross an Australian desert in a stark, post-apocalyptic landscape, pursued by a strange half-human, half-serpent figure. The journey leads them into an underground chamber resembling a temple or cathedral, where snake-like dancers and other uncanny figures surround Simon Le Bon. Le Bon appears as a leather-clad wanderer or warrior, while the band performs amid theatrical lighting, ritualistic movement, elaborate costumes, and surreal imagery. The video turns the song's tense, mysterious atmosphere into a compact fantasy adventure.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed near Sydney, Australia, using 35mm film rather than videotape. Locations included sand dunes at Kurnell and the Great Hall of the University of Sydney, which was used for the underground temple scenes.

• Its imagery draws on post-apocalyptic adventure films, especially the look of *The Road Warrior*, with the Australian desert, leather costumes, and pursuit by a serpent-like creature.

• Capitol sent the video to MTV one week before the single was released to radio on October 17, 1983. Radio programmers protested, worried that music television was gaining an unfair promotional advantage.

• "Union of the Snake" became the lead single from *Seven and the Ragged Tiger* and reached No. 3 in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

• The elaborate sets, costumes, makeup, and fantasy atmosphere marked another step in Duran Duran's increasingly cinematic approach to music videos during the early 1980s.