La Bamba
La Bamba
PG-13 | 24 July 1987 (USA)
La Bamba Trailers

Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his girlfriend. But as his star rises, Valens has conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob, and becomes haunted by a recurring nightmare of a plane crash just as he begins his first national tour alongside Buddy Holly.

Reviews
BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Tacticalin An absolute waste of money
Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Ersbel Oraph An elaborate, yet unmemorable piece of propaganda. The problem has its roots in trying to touch all interesting issue of that era. From the first half hour there is the dark skinned no good guy who moves drugs. There is a cute scene ready for the white fundamentalist in which two bad guys with dark skin are doing drugs. Actually hemp. In a small trailer. It suits them, after all they don't have a steady job, right? And in that small space the girlfriends (the bad guy doesn't obey the holy matrimony, right?) are not affected. To make things more obvious, one becomes angry and aggressive like in Reefer Madness. And his girlfriend gives him a nice discourse fit for a white middle class protestant girl. Cliché poverty, cliché romantic scene, and the children popping on and off to suit the artistic desires of the director and writer. And it keeps going like that for almost two hours.Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch
actionstudiosco Parts of this movie were done very well. They did a great job with the characters especially, and making them feel real and relatable. They built some real, solid, drama in this film, and some scenes were done terrifically. The main downfall is the script. The foreshadowing was handled horribly. It isn't subtle at all, it's just in-your-face, and doesn't really work to the effect it was hoping for...not to mention there's way too much. Another big problem with the movie is I feel like it was almost too focused on Ritchie's death. The very first scene opens with a plane exploding, if that tells you anything. It isn't very historically accurate, and certainly romanticizes the story a lot, too. At certain times the dialogue was really good and emotional, but at other times it was horribly cheesy. For what it is, the film put in a solid effort, and it is certainly an enjoyable film. 7/10
Andreapworth Never get tired of this movie. As the song says, the day the music died in lots of ways. Ritchie, Buddy and the Big Bopper. The first two? What might have been...As many other folks have said, I'm a true fan of Rock-n-Roll, and I simply don't get tired of watching this movie. LD Phillips is excellent, as are Esai Morales, PLUS Joe Pantoliona, who's just great! Brian Setzer was a perfect choice to play Eddie Cochran, as was Marshall Crenshaw for dear Buddy Holly. And of course we can't disregard the super soundtrack by Los Lobos.If you like this movie, you really need to get a hold of "The Real Buddy Holly Story", maybe from Netflix. Paul McCartney introduces sections, and it really takes you to the Lubbock area. As a native Texan, I cannot imagine a worse place to grow up! But it gave us Buddy, as well as Joe Ely. Plus my state have us Willy and Waylon. Whole different kind musicians, but really good. But I digress - back to La Bamba.This is simply a wonderful movie, capturing the early days of rock(minus Chuck Berry) and much more simple times. Was anybody worried about air pollution?? Watch the film and enjoy! I got sucked into it last night on AMC, could not stop watching it, even though I'd seen many times before, and stayed up much later than intended.So, come on, let's do it again and again and again.
sredsha Before I watched this movie I had no idea who Ritchie Valens was. I had heard the song La Bamba and had heard about The Day the Music Died but didn't know that he had anything to do with them. This movie is an excellent tribute to him, his music and his tragically short life.I only watched this movie in 2012. The movie was released two years before i was born. It was released in 1987. I thought that it would be dated but I was wrong. Apart from some of the cinematic techniques and cinematography this movie is still fresh and can appeal to today's audience just as much as it did 24 years ago.It is not overly sentimental but manages to strike the right balance in order to convey the correct emotions. There are no flashy sets or a convoluted story lines. no added frills. Just good honest, straight story telling that adds to the realness of the movie and the characters. Not a single moment is contrived or pretentious.The performances where great especially Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales.Music was brilliant. Los Labos performed each track to perfection.The ending is a real tear-jerker.One of the best movies ever made. I can watch it over and over again without tiring of it and still cry at the end each time.Kudos to Luis Valdez and his entire team for making such a great piece of cinema. You have truly inspired me and shown what great cinema is about. Showing the truth.