Darude: Sandstorm

In this energetic and dynamic early 2000s music video for the iconic instrumental trance track Sandstorm by Finnish DJ Darude, a high-speed chase on foot begins at Helsinki Cathedral and races through the city. An armed man and a woman-possibly guards or agents-are in pursuit of another woman seen fleeing with a mysterious suitcase in hand. What's inside the suitcase and where she's coming from remain unknown.

However, the high-speed action, frequently slowing down to a halt in a way reminiscent of the ultra-slow-motion effects in The Matrix (1999), is beautifully synchronized with the pulsating dance music. The people and overall atmosphere in the video evoke the final days of the dot-com bubble-full of optimism and a retro-yuppie culture championed by youth idols just before the crash.

Along the chase route, Darude himself appears, observing the unfolding events. In the end, a shocking plot twist emerges out of nowhere. This song and its music video were worldwide dance hits in the early 2000s, and even today, Sandstorm still sounds just as powerful.