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La Bamba
“Born into poverty. Destined for stardom. He lived the American dream.”
73%
Movie
1h 48m
AI Analysis
La Bamba (1987) — AI movie analysis
WatchMind AI generated this AI analysis of La Bamba (1987) — a movie tagged as Drama and Music with nostalgic moods and fast-paced pacing.
Story & themes: 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 h… Our models also surface themes such as friendship from synopsis and genre signals.
Watch context: Best suited for general audiences. Expect fast-paced storytelling (~108 min).
Community signal: TMDb members rate La Bamba 73% (782 votes) — solid community ratings for this movie.
AI verdict
La Bamba is a film worth prioritising when you want something with solid community ratings — our AI analysis flags it as a strong match for its genre and tone profile.
Algorithmic AI analysis from genres, synopsis, pacing heuristics, and TMDb community scores — not a generative chatbot. How WatchMind works.
Insights
Audience & engagement
How WatchMind visitors interact with this title — views, saves, sentiment, and taste match when you're signed in, or a device preview while browsing. Aggregates are anonymous; last 30 days.
Early data — charts fill in as more people explore this title.
TMDb audience score
73%
from 782 TMDb votes
Your taste match
Browse a few titles or complete the vibe check — we'll show your match % here.
- Your rating—
- Watch queueNot saved
WatchMind sentiment
No thumbs or dismissals yet. Rate this title to help others see likeness trends.
- Dismissals
- 0
Engagement breakdown
0 unique visitors · no audience notes yet
Views trend (14 days)
Daily title page views on WatchMind
Synopsis
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.
Quick facts
- Type
- Movie
- Status
- Released
- Release date
- 1987-07-24
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
- TMDB rating
- 7.3
- TMDB ID
- 16620
Watch & discovery tips
- Read TMDb member reviews in the reviews section, and audience tips from other WatchMind visitors in Audience notes.
- Use Rent, buy & download for official stores; offline viewing is usually inside their apps.
- Browse trending and top-rated movies from the main Movies page.
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I watch La Bamba (1987)?
La Bamba is available for discovery on WatchMind. You can find official links to rent, buy, or stream from licensed digital stores like Apple TV and Amazon in our "Where to Watch" section.
Is there an official trailer for La Bamba?
Yes, you can watch the official trailer for La Bamba directly on this page. We pull the latest video metadata from TMDb and play it via YouTube integration.
What is La Bamba about?
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 co... This is the official synopsis available via TMDb community metadata.
Is there an AI analysis for La Bamba?
Yes. WatchMind publishes an AI analysis on this page — tone, pacing, audience fit, and community scores from TMDb metadata and recommendation models (not a chatbot). Scroll to the AI Analysis section or read the meta description summary.
How long is the movie La Bamba?
The official runtime for La Bamba is approximately 108 minutes.
Cast & crew
Names and photos from The Movie Database (TMDb). Follow links on themoviedb.org for full filmographies.
Directors & writers
Cast
Lou Diamond Phillips
Ritchie Valens
Danielle von Zerneck
Donna Ludwig
Elizabeth Peña
Rosie Morales
Rosanna DeSoto
Connie Valenzuela
Esai Morales
Bob Morales
Joe Pantoliano
Bob Keane
- M
Marshall Crenshaw
Buddy Holly
Brian Setzer
Eddie Cochran
- D
Daniel Valdez
Lelo
- H
Howard Huntsberry
Jackie Wilson
- F
Felipe Cantu
Curandero
- E
Eddie Frias
Chino
Mike Moroff
Mexican Ed
- G
Geoffrey Rivas
Rudy
Sam Anderson
Mr. Ludwig
- M
Maggie Gwinn
Mrs. Ludwig
- J
Jeffrey Alan Chandler
Alan Freed
Stephen Lee
Big Bopper
Audience notes
Quick tips, watch-order ideas, and “worth it?” takes from other WatchMind visitors — not from TMDb. Reply to continue a thread, tap Helpful to surface useful notes, and keep things kind — no spoilers in the first line when you can help it.
Discussion0 notes
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Community reviews
Written by TMDb members — same catalogue as our movie & TV metadata. API terms
No written reviews are available for this title in TMDb yet. Check back later or open the title on themoviedb.org.
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