Lou Diamond Phillips plays legendary 1950s rocker Ritchie Valens (born Ricardo Valenzuela), in this musical biography. Before scoring radio and concert success with hits like "La Bamba", "C'mon Let's Go", and "Donna", Valens was a 15-year-old migrant worker who worked with his mother Connie (Rosana De Soto). Valens' half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) is a vitriolic ex-con who roars into the migrant camp on his Harley after his release from jail. Valens' musical talents are encouraged by his family -- though later ...
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Lou Diamond Phillips plays legendary 1950s rocker Ritchie Valens (born Ricardo Valenzuela), in this musical biography. Before scoring radio and concert success with hits like "La Bamba", "C'mon Let's Go", and "Donna", Valens was a 15-year-old migrant worker who worked with his mother Connie (Rosana De Soto). Valens' half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) is a vitriolic ex-con who roars into the migrant camp on his Harley after his release from jail. Valens' musical talents are encouraged by his family -- though later various members of his family react to his fame with varying degrees of pride and envy -- and he soon earns an audition with legendary record producer and former Artie Shaw clarinet player Bob Keane (Joe Pantoliano). Valens soon appears in an Alan Freed rock n' roll teen exploitation film, lip-synching his blistering recorded version of "Ooh, My Head". When a romance with Donna Ludwig (Danielle von Zerneck) is forbidden by her conservative father, Valens pens the famous ballad that bears her name. Tours follow his chart success until the fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of Valens, The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson), and Buddy Holly on February 3rd, 1959. The supporting cast is excellent with power-pop icon Marshall Crenshaw playing Buddy Holly singing "Crying, Waiting, Hoping". Brian Setzer accurately portrays rocker Eddie Cochran, and Howard Hunstberry plays Jackie Wilson and sings "Lonely Teardrops". Additional music is provided by Los Lobos, a band who traces their musical roots directly to Valens and other Mexican influences. Also making cameo appearances are the real-life Mrs. Connie Valenzuela and Bob Morales. Although not 100% historically accurate, La Bamba is much more accurate than 1978s The Buddy Holly Story. The feature turned a new generation on to the influential Tex-Mex rock that was an inspiration to such later rockers as The Bobby Fuller Four as well as Los Lobos. Dan Pavlides, Rovi
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Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck. New. 1987 Run time: 108. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
"La Bamba", tells the story of Ritchie Valens, the gifted young singer who died, age 17, in a February 3, 1959 plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. I was young at the time but I knew Ritchie's' songs "Donna" and "La Bamba" and have remembered them since. I hadn't seen this 1987 film until now. I was moved to remember my youth, to think of Ritchie Valens again, and to hear his music.
Ritchie was born Richard Steven Valenzuela to Mexican immigrants who worked as farm laborers in southern California. The movie shows Ritchie's relationship to his mother and his sibling rivalry with his older brother. It shows his high school sweetheart Donna -- the girl that Ritchie immortalized in song. There is an outstanding soundtrack with the music of the day and excellent brief portrayals of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Eddie Cochran, Jackie Wilson, and Allan Freed. But the highlight of the film is Ritchie Valens and his music. Ritchie loved music and rock and roll. He says more than once in the film that music was what he was born to do -- a dedication as important to rock as to classical music or any other form of the art. The movie features "Donna" and "La Bamba", which I knew in 1959 as well as "We belong together" and "Come on Let's Go" which I didn't know until later.
The film is included in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress and deemed worthy of preservation for its cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance. It is, indeed, all three.
This is a sad film about the life of a young man of talent and about the love of music. After watching the film and hearing Ritchie's songs performed by Los Lobos, I listened again to Ritchie's own performances. I was glad to see this movie at last for itself and to remember old times and songs forever young. "La Bamba" is a fitting tribute to Ritchie Valens.
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