La Bamba Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

La Bamba Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 6, 2017

Luis Valdez's "La Bamba" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; two archival audio commentaries; featurette with clips from archival interviews; and two original music videos. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The brothers

The bulk of the events that are chronicled in La Bamba are real, but Hollywood’s desire to tell a perfect story with a proper dose of sugary melodrama is also on full display. The end result is a colorful but disappointingly overpolished film that is more about Lou Diamond Phillips’ looks than Ritchie Valens’ life and legacy.

The film opens up as Ritchie’s older brother, Bob (Esai Morales), arrives in a migrant camp somewhere in Northern California and vows to help the family escape the misery that it has been forced to endure. He has saved some money while selling drugs and he plans to make even more after he hooks up with some big local dealers. But this is exactly the type of ‘planning’ that his mother Connie (Rosanna DeSoto) does not want corrupting Ritchie’s mind, and when Bob offers her some cash she instantly makes it clear how she feels about his ‘earnings’. While hanging out with Bob, Ritchie also confesses that his only passion in life is music and that he is determined to work hard so that one day their mother will no longer have to work as a slave to put food on the table. Soon after, Ritchie joins a small local band and gets a chance to impress at a cheap bar – only to be told by the leader of the band that unless he learns to follow he can head right back to where he came from. Around the same time, however, a small record producer (Joe Pantoliano) decides to take a risk with Ritchie and invites him to his tiny studio. When the song the two record becomes a local hit, Ritchie’s life suddenly veers off in an entirely new direction. While working with the producer to get his new name established -- it is the producer that has the vision to change his real name, Ricardo Valenzuela, to the much more attractive and sellable Ritchie Valens -- Ritchie attempts to preserve his relationship with his high-school girlfriend Donna (Danielle von Zerneck), but her parents repeatedly reject him because he does not meet their lofty expectations. An impromptu trip to Tijuana then inspires Ritchie to record “La Bamba”, and soon after he is invited to perform at a big show on the East Coast. Soon after, Ritchie’s career takes off and he begins touring, but on a cold and windy night in Iowa, a horrible nightmare becomes reality.

Luis Valdez’s La Bamba is like a big chocolate cake that someone ordered for a special occasion that was created by a rookie chef who completely screwed up its ingredients. It looks decent, but by the time its final credits roll its artificial sweetness can make one feel seriously sick.

The Valens family and Valdez worked closely together to tell Ritchie’s true story, but aside from Los Lobos’ great recordings of his hits, the entire film functions like a modern variation of one of those pulpy comedies that Frankie Avalon routinely popped up in during the early ‘60s. Instead of a real person, Ritchie looks like an actor who knows exactly what to say and when to say it so that everything goes according to a script that was carefully scrutinized and then endorsed by some prominent producers with very deep pockets. (Only in this case it was undoubtedly the Valens family that had the final say on it). Frankly, the entire film is loaded up with so many clichés that it is absolutely impossible to take seriously.

The most disappointing material is with Morales, who sticks out like a sore thumb and has zero credibility as Ritchie’s hot-headed brother. There is one rather long sequence in particular where he is drunk and threatens to hurt his pregnant girlfriend (the late Elizabeth Pena) that has such amateurish outbursts that it is simply astonishing to see that it made it through the editing process.

La Bamba Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luis Valdez's La Bamba arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K remaster that was prepared by Sony Pictures in the United States and was initially used by Twilight Time for the local release of the film. The remaster is outstanding, boasting exceptional depth, clarity, and detail, and a hugely impressive color scheme with wonderfully saturated primaries and nicely balanced nuances. Density is also solid, giving the film the type of consistent and pleasing organic appearance that it deserves to have on Blu-ray (see screencapture #2). Unfortunately, a lot of the indoor/darker footage is plagued with some rather large macroblocking patches that can be quite distracting (see examples in screencaptures #7 and 12). During close-ups, in particular, these anomalies can become quite obvious. Image stability is excellent. There are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or other traditional age-related imperfections to report in our review. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

La Bamba Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the lossless Stereo track and have nothing but great things to say about it. Predictably, Ritchie Valens' music has a major role in the film and the lossless tracks allows it to shine in all the right places. Balance, in particular, is handled really well. There are segments where the crowd noise is effectively brought up a bit and then the music realigned with it to recreate a unique "live" vibe. Thew dialog is clean, stable, and always easy to follow.

La Bamba Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Two Audio Commentaries - the two audio commentaries that are listed below initially appeared on the R1 DVD release of La Bamba that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment produced in 1999. The bulk of the information pertains to the production history of the film and Ritchie Valens' tragically short life. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Audio commentary with Producers Taylor Hackford and Daniel Valdez.
  2. Audio commentary with Director, Producer and Cast members.

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for La Bamba. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• "La Bamba" - original music video with music performed by Los Lobos. (4 min).

• "Lonely Teardrops" - original music video with music performed by Howard Huntsberry. (4 min).

• Remembering Ritchie - this archival featurette focuses on the production history of La Bamba and Ritchie Valens' small but lasting legacy. Included in it are comments from director Luis Valdez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, producer Taylor Hackford, members of Los Lobos and Carlos Santana, amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

La Bamba Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've always found it very difficult to like La Bamba as the type of film it was meant to be. It is colorful and full of great music, but it does not work as an authentic film about Ritchie Valens' tragically short life. Frankly, it seems a lot more credible as a modern variation of one of those pulpy comedies Frankie Avalon routinely popped up in during the early 1960s. Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release is sourced from a very solid remaster that was created by Sony Pictures in the United States, but the technical presentation should have been better.