← Apex Mountain

La Bamba

1987 · directed by Luis Valdez · 108 min
24,260 feet · Prominence
760th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw58

Lifetime worldwide gross $54m, re-releases included; about $157m in 2026 money.

Rank2,089 of 11,051In 198720 of 162

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise76

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics74 baseAwards12 signal → +2 lift

Golden Globes1 nominated Best Picture
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy58

Judged directly: Registry and Criterion, Valens biopic, hit soundtrack.

Verdict58 of 100IMDb7 from 38kWikipedia29k views a monthAge39 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryCriterion Collectionevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 680 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 58 praise 76 legacy 58averages 64, placing it at24,260 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Danielle von Zerneck

In these careers — elevation for this film

Lou Diamond Phillips19,749 ftRosanna DeSoto18,174 ftJoe Pantoliano18,156 ftElizabeth Peña18,117 ftDanielle von Zerneck17,973 ft