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The Buddy Holly Story

1978 · directed by Steve Rash · 114 min
22,793 feet · Prominence
1,354th of 15,261 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw52

$14m worldwide in 1978 — $73m in today's money.

As released$14mIn 2026 money$73mRank3,176 of 8,589In 197837 of 59

How Draw works

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

Praise91

Critics 89, awards 33. Half each, so Praise lands at 91.

Critics89 → 45Awards33 → 16

Oscars1 won Original Song Score2 nominated Actor, Sound
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since. This film is near critically unanimous and barely registers on awards, so the awards half halves it — which penalises it for the Academy's rules rather than its quality.

Legacy28

Judged directly: Busey performance, film faded.

Verdict28 of 100IMDb7.2 from 11kWikipedia9k views a monthAge48 years

Scored beside it · 2,015 of 3,430 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 52 praise 91 legacy 28averages 57, which places it at22,793 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.

In these careers — elevation for this film

No scored career runs through this film yet. The people-side engine currently covers 108careers, and this film’s cast sits outside them. Top billing: Gary Busey, Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Conrad Janis.