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So "Ride of the Valkyries" is labeled " 'Apolalypse Now' music"?

It wasn't so long ago that it would have been tagged as "Nazi music." In fact, that was what was insinuated by using it in "Apocalypse Now" -- that the troops in Viet-Nam were no better than Nazis.

Hey, I think your observation is dead-on accurate, which makes the choice of music ironic.

I saw the movie when it first came out, 70mm Dolby screen, incredible sound. The scene is undeniably seductive, but I could not help take offense at it because I knew what the movie was insinuating--the leftist cliche that our soldiers were fascists, Nazis, baby killers, etc. I saw it again in a cinema class in college, a heavily leftist environment. Their reaction? "Fascists!" And they actually cheered when OUR soldiers were killed in the movie.

I honestly don't understand why some don't seem to comprehend that Coppola is taking the standard leftwing position when it comes to Vietnam. The scene's implication is, to me, disgustingly obvious. As for the rest of the movie, I thought it was pretentious, confused and full of 1970's hippie cliches about the war.

It wasn't so long ago that it would have been tagged as "Nazi music." In fact, that was what was insinuated by using it in "Apocalypse Now" -- that the troops in Viet-Nam were no better than Nazis.

It still is tagged that way by some. This is how the idiots over at DU view the same story: http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCForumID71/6540.html