La Bamba

Amazon.com

Lou Diamond Phillips leaves a haunting impression as the late 1950s pop idol Ritchie Valens, who made the Latino influence in rock & roll conspicuous through his hit songs. Filmmaker Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit) creates a nimble, exciting, and sympathetic portrait of the boy driven to rise above obstacles of race and family legacy, and Esai Morales is equally fine as Ritchie's envious, searching brother. Great support from Elizabeth Peña and Danielle von Zerneck as Valens's sister and mother, respectively, and Joe Pantoliano is solid as the singer's straight-talking manager. Valdez brightens up the third act with a rock & roll show featuring, among others, Brian Setzer as Eddie Cochrane. Marshall Crenshaw turns up as Buddy Holly getting on that plane with Valens, and Los Lobos (who actually performs Valens's music on the soundtrack) has a nifty cameo as a Tijuana band that gives Valens a piece of crucial inspiration. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!.......2007-08-25

"La Bamba" is a very good bio that has a lot of character development and by the time the doomed young Valens meets his fate,it hits home just how sad and tragic this infamous plane crash was! Introducing Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie, he takes the role seriously and plays the part well. Even though he does not do his own vocals, it is an excellent performance. The movie is a tale about two brothers as much as it is a story about the young rock star's quick climb to stardom and fall from the sky. Esai Morales plays Ritchie's half brother with gusto and it is this relationship that makes the film really shine. Ritchie's half brother is the opposite of the goodie two shoes Valens,but he is not really evil. It is a very interesting story. The DVD transfer is very good and the soundtrack is rocking!

And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story .......2006-04-03

First we had The Buddy Holly Story, and now we have La Bamba, that is Ritichie Valens' own life story, and in the Buddy Holly Story we had Gary Busey doing his own singing, in this movie, Lou Diamond Philips doesn't do his own singing, instead it is a band named Los Lobos. And plus we get some more out of this story then the buddy Holly Story, okay we know that Ritchie Valens was another one of the singers that lost his life in the plane crash on the morning of Febuary 3rd, but how much else do we know about him, since his carrier was only 8 months long? La Bamba opens with some boys playing basketball in a school yard, and in the sky are 2 plans, that crash, and guess where they fall. Yep, that is rgith to the schoolyard below, we later learn that one of Ritchie Valens' best friends was killed on this day, and that we are too believe that this is his memory. We also learn that he was not present that day, and he believes that if he was, he would have been killed by one of the falling planes. Hence, why he didn't like to fly. Ritchie Valens (Lou Diamond Phillips) grows as a poor boy out in the middle of Calfiorna, he lives with his Mom Connie Valenzuela (Rosana De Soto) , and one day when working out in the fields he sees his troubled half brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) coming out hsi motorcycle, and goes off a ride. And then find Connie, and they also introuce a freind of his mom name Rosie (Elizabeth Pena) to Bob. They movie out, and into a trailer, and 3 months later Connie leaves for her job as a waitress. And he heads off to school, where a new girl named Donna (Danielle von Zerneck) is new to town, and to the school, and is in one of his classes with Ritchie. The rest you should get of his beginning of his carrier, where he treys out for a garbage band, makes it, but at the first gig the lead singer (Geoffrey Rivas) doesn't even let him sing, which leads Ritchie to tour around town solo, and envtelally with the band minus the lead singer, when then he is spoted by the man that would be become his manger and his name is Bob Keene (Joe Pantoliano), which leads to his school days being over, and Ritchie still dating Donna, even if her parents, weel at least her father doesn't approve of Ritchie and the music that he plays.

I love this stuff!.......2006-02-27

I'm the father of a budding musician and I once played the small town American Legion hall, and high school hops, coming out of the garage. Valence's manager may dispute some of the details of this movie, but it's not History Channel, it's a movie, and I could relate to a lot of the details concerning early musicianship. It had a nice, REAL feel to it. Now I can better appreciate Los Lobos, too, who participated in musical aspects of the movie. I watch Valence's first encounter with "La Bamba" over and over again. The transformation of classical/folk guitar to electric fascinates me.

If you liked "Almost Famous" and "Crossroads" you might want to check this out.

La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios.......2006-01-01

For those Americans whose first exposure to Ritchie Valens was from LA BAMBA, they were treated to the very essence that made Valens the briefly shining star that he was. Director Luis Valdez correctly fused the major parts of Valens' life with some of the songs that rocketed Valens to the top. Lou Diamond Phillips has a breakway role as Ritchie Valens and plays him with just the right note of self-assured talent and the conviction that his talent will not be stopped by the racism that was then rampant in the music business. We see Ritchie Valenzuela trying to balance a musical career that will not tolerate Mexican-Americans with his equally strong grasp for the love of a blue-eyed blonde Donna, neither of which will be easy to achieve. Valenzuela learns painfully that no singer with a Latin name can hope to hit the top ten. He compromises by choosing an Anglofied version--Valens. But with Donna there can be no compromise. His breakout hit "Donna" is his clarion call that there are some principles that he refuses to give in on. Valens even learns to trust his instinct that tells him that a Spanish language song will be a bestseller. Hence, the "La Bamba" of the title, which is played by the real life Les Lobos during a footstomping jam session. Esai Morales as his weaker brother Bob pushes the film into soap opera territory, yet even here, Phillips as Valens keeps his feet and his voice solidly grounded in the basic business of the film. I had a bigger problem with the airplane crashing foreshadowing that intruded far too often. Valens' dreams of his own death in a plane crash gave the film an overheavy dose of inevitability. During the last night of his life, Valens shares center stage with the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly, both of whom add their own verbal luminescence to the singing light that was extinguished far too soon. LA BAMBA is a musical paen to those fortunate few who possess the ability to shake us out of our chairs and deposit us on dancing in the aisles. LA BAMBA is one such movie.

GOOD MOVIE BUT..........2005-12-31

This is an awesome movie. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of five is because I'd like to see it released has a Two Disc, Unrated, Special Edition Set!!!

Average customer rating:

Great duo
TWO GOOD MOVIE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
Rock n'Roll Movie Bio's
For anyone who cares...

The Buddy Holly Story/La Bamba
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips , Esai Morales , Rosanna DeSoto , Elizabeth Peña , and Danielle von Zerneck
Director: Luis Valdez , and Steve Rash
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000A50460
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Description

LA BAMBA: The life of rock & roll legend Richie Valens bursts across the screen in this celebrated, music-filled movie with star-making performances by Lou Diamond Phillips as Richie and Esai Morales as his half-brother, Bob. LA BAMBA depicts the 17-year-old Mexican-American's rocket rise to fame, from field laborer to rock star with a string of hit singles and a date with destiny. Fueled by Valens' hit songs performed by the Grammy®-winning Los Lobos as well as classic '50s tunes, LA BAMBA recreates the thrilling early days of rock and pays homage to the enduring legacy of a remarkable talent whose music crossed all borders. BUDDY HOLLY STORY: Gary Busey gives an electrifying, Oscar® nominated performance (Best Actor-1978) as Buddy Holly, the musical genius from Lubbock, Texas, who changed the tune of rock n' roll history. With a groundbreaking combination of country music and rhythm & blues, Buddy Holly and the Crickets (Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith) catapulted to national stardom in just three short years with such hits as "That'll Be the Day," "It's So Easy," and "Peggy Sue." By the age of 22, Holly had it all: chart-topping singles, a beautiful wife, and international acclaim until tragedy ended a brilliant career but not his music. In an Academy Award® - winning score adaptation, Busey sings Holly's greatest hits in this dynamic tribute to one of the most influential rock n' rollers of all time and the legacy he left behind.

Customer Reviews:

Great duo.......2007-09-09

Two great tributes for the price of one. Makes no sense to buy them separately, if you like one, you will enjoy both. Both movies are great tributes that do a good job of capturing the tragedy of losing these two stars, whose lights were extinguished too soon. Though both movies play Hollywood with the truth, you have to appreciate the work and talent that Gary Busey put into recreating Buddy's songs, while Lou Dimaond Phillips' acting and Los Lobos' music were a great combination for capturing the essence of Richie Valens' stage persona. Plus, the "La Bamba" DVD has some great interviews with Richie's family members, well worth watching, in the special features section. Wish the same were true for the Buddy Holly DVD, but you just have to buy the "Real Buddy Holly Story" to get that.

TWO GOOD MOVIE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!.......2007-08-25

I found this two disc edition with "The Buddy Holly Story" and "La Bamba" for $ 9.99. They are both good movies,but "La Bamba" is a much better movie than "The Buddy Holly Story". "La Bamba" has a lot more character development and by the time the doomed young Valens meets his fate,it hits home just how sad and tragic this infamous plane crash was! Introducing Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie, he takes the role seriously and plays the part well. It is a tale about two brothers as much as it is a story about the young rock star's quick climb to stardom and tragic fall from the sky. Esai Morales plays Ritchie's half brother with gusto and it is this relationship that makes the film really shine. Ritchie's half brother is the opposite of the goodie two shoes Valens,but he is not really evil. It is a very interesting and touching story. "The Buddy Holly Story" is good,but the story never really goes anywhere,but lead us to the inevitable end. Busey does get brownie points for doing his own singing. It's a good film,but watching it back to back with "La Bamba" it pales in comparison. The Two DVD's are presented in widescreen,but "Holly" movie had a "this has been formatted to fit you TV screen" warning before the movie?? The transfers look very good and the soundtrack was rocking!

Rock n'Roll Movie Bio's.......2007-03-09

This collection of 2 of the best movies ever made on rock n' roll, showcases the lives of 2 of the most memorable stars of the late 50's, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Gary Bussey was nominated for his role as Buddy Holly and Lou Diamond Phillips shines as Ritchie Valens. These are 2 very nostalgic movies that will move everyone.

For anyone who cares..........2006-08-16

I love La Bamba and the Buddy Holly Story is okay. This is a less expensive way to get them both. Both titles are listed as Widescreen on Amazon, as well as on the box and the slipcases for each DVD. The Buddy Holly Story, however, is a fullscreen DVD. La Bamba IS widescreen. I'm not sure if The Buddy Holly Story that is sold individually is labeled incorrectly or if it is just the one in this set.

Average customer rating:

Sangre Por Sangre

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Spanish Subtitles

ASIN: B000PIIKMM

Product Description

UNA FUERTE HISTORIA EPICA DEL DIRECTOR TAYLOR HACKFORD SOBRE TRES PRIMOS QUE CRECIERON COMO HERMANOS EN EL DURO Y VIOLENTO AMBIENTE DE LAS PANDILLAS DEL BARRIO DE EAST L.A. EL LAZO QUE LOS UNE SE ROMPE POR TRAGICAS CIRCUNSTANCIAS DE LA VIDA, LLEVANDOLOS POR DIFFERENTES CAMINOS: PACO, A LA MILICIA Y A LA DIVISION ANTIDROGAS; MILKO, A LAS BRUTALES PANDILLAS DE LA PRISION DE SAN QUINTIN, Y CRUZ, AL MUNDO DE LA DROGADICCION. SIN EMBARGO, SUS LAZOS DE SANGRE U HONOR MANTIENEN SUS VIDAS ENTRELAZADAS MIENTRAS LUCHAN, CADA QUIEN A SU MODO, POR GANAR PODER Y RESPETO.

Average customer rating:

TRINI LOPEZ AT HIS BEST.

La Bamba
Starring: Trini Lopez
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FCUT2W
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Customer Reviews:

TRINI LOPEZ AT HIS BEST........2007-03-11

What a great music and wonderful rhythm.
TRINI LOPEZ - an unforgetable musician.

Highly recommended!

Lou Diamond Phillips 3-Pack (La Bamba / Bats / The Big Hit)

Average customer rating:

Lou Diamond Phillips 3-Pack (La Bamba / Bats / The Big Hit)
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips , Esai Morales , Rosanna DeSoto , Elizabeth Peña , and Danielle von Zerneck
Director: Luis Valdez , Louis Morneau , and Kirk Wong
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008WJEX
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Amazon.com

La Bamba
Lou Diamond Phillips leaves a haunting impression as the late 1950s pop idol Ritchie Valens, who made the Latino influence in rock & roll conspicuous through his hit songs. Filmmaker Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit) creates a nimble, exciting, and sympathetic portrait of the boy driven to rise above obstacles of race and family legacy, and Esai Morales is equally fine as Ritchie's envious, searching brother. Great support from Elizabeth Peña and Danielle von Zerneck as Valens's sister and mother, respectively, and Joe Pantoliano is solid as the singer's straight-talking manager. Valdez brightens up the third act with a rock & roll show featuring, among others, Brian Setzer as Eddie Cochrane. Marshall Crenshaw turns up as Buddy Holly getting on that plane with Valens, and Los Lobos (who actually performs Valens's music on the soundtrack) has a nifty cameo as a Tijuana band that gives Valens a piece of crucial inspiration. --Tom Keogh

Bats
This movie is for everyone who misses the old Roger Corman monster movies, only it has animatronics and computer effects instead of papiermâché. The title of Bats pretty much sums up the plot: Crazed bats are running amok, disemboweling people and cattle. Only beautiful wildlife zoologist Dina Meyer (Johnny Mnemonic, Starship Troopers) and stalwart sheriff Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba, the Young Guns movies, Courage Under Fire) can save the day! Let's be frank: The scenario is ludicrous, the dialogue God-awful, the special effects unconvincing--try as they might, the bats just aren't that scary--but what does it matter? The movie rips along effectively. There's always a bat attack just around the corner and the director makes liberal use of all kinds of editing and camera effects, including a distorted bat-cam point of view that makes no sense at all but is pretty entertaining. Various scenes imitate Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, but lack even a hint of that movie's eerie precision. The actors play it straight without trying to be particularly serious. All in all, Bats knows what it is--trash-horror--and accomplishes its ends with good humor. Not quite up to the standard of Tremors (still the definitive trash-horror flick), but better than most recent efforts. --Bret Fetzer

Amazon.com

When Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens hopped a small plane after a Midwestern concert gig, early rock suffered one of its most striking tragedies. Holly's death in the plane's crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, was an obvious loss given the Texas rocker's international reputation. But Valens, a Pacoima, California, teenager, was much closer to the starting gate, his impact extending to just two national chart hits, the teen ballad "Donna" and his ebullient recasting of a Mexican wedding song, "La Bamba."

Director and playwright Luis Valdez, who had previously examined Southern California's Latino heritage through stage productions, brought a deep well of cultural identification and dramatic empathy to Valens's story. La Bamba thus probes Valens's underlying sense of cultural distance from the mainstream and acknowledges the inevitable racism of its setting, yet it's to everyone's credit that the movie avoids an excessive, revisionist emphasis; Valens's simple joy in music and the relative innocence of the era are felt, even though the script is careful not to sanitize earthier elements. Lou Diamond Phillips makes an impressive debut in the title role, matched by strong performances from Esai Morales and Elizabeth Peña, while the music gets kick started by the shrewd decision to draft Los Lobos to re-create Valens's music. Rock fans will also smile at savvy casting for Valens peers Eddie Cochran (Brian Setzer), Jackie Wilson (Howard Huntsberry), and Holly himself (Marshall Crenshaw). --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!.......2007-08-25

And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story .......2006-04-03

I love this stuff!.......2006-02-27

La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios.......2006-01-01

GOOD MOVIE BUT..........2005-12-31

This is an awesome movie. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of five is because I'd like to see it released has a Two Disc, Unrated, Special Edition Set!!!

Average customer rating:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!
And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story
I love this stuff!
La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios
GOOD MOVIE BUT...

La Bamba [Region 2]
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips , Esai Morales , Rosanna DeSoto , Elizabeth Peña , and Danielle von Zerneck
Director: Luis Valdez
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059X0O

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!.......2007-08-25

And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story .......2006-04-03

I love this stuff!.......2006-02-27

La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios.......2006-01-01

GOOD MOVIE BUT..........2005-12-31

This is an awesome movie. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of five is because I'd like to see it released has a Two Disc, Unrated, Special Edition Set!!!

Average customer rating:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!
And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story
I love this stuff!
La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios
GOOD MOVIE BUT...

La Bamba [Region 2]
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips , Esai Morales , Rosanna DeSoto , Elizabeth Peña , and Danielle von Zerneck
Director: Luis Valdez
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00005A993

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT BIO! RITCHIE VALENS!.......2007-08-25

And now Ritchie Vaelns' life story .......2006-04-03

I love this stuff!.......2006-02-27

La Bamba--Best of the Musical Bios.......2006-01-01

GOOD MOVIE BUT..........2005-12-31

This is an awesome movie. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of five is because I'd like to see it released has a Two Disc, Unrated, Special Edition Set!!!

DVD:

DVD

DVD