808

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808

Released Dec 9, 2016

1h 47m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The history of the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the birth of electronic music.

THR Staff

The Hollywood Reporter

Stylishly presented and dance-friendly...Aspiring beatmakers and music geeks will eat it up.

Jun 2, 2022

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Jack Hamilton

Slate

A fittingly quirky and lively documentary.

Jun 2, 2022

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Andrew Barker

Variety

A consistently entertaining, instructive look at the unlikely heartbeat behind so much of the past three decades’ standout pop music.

Jun 2, 2022

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Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

If you've been missing the Belcourt's Music City Mondays series, here's a music-related documentary that will put some pep in your step - and contains no rockist clichés whatsoever.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Benjamin H. Smith

Decider

808 is consistently interesting, informative and fun.

Apr 4, 2018

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Kahron Spearman

The Daily Dot

It's a valuable piece of work, laying out the ongoing influence and impact of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

Jan 17, 2017

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Audience Member

🤯 x 808. Playlist done!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Awesome if you like this sort of thing. I do.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

The movie didn't cover one west coast artist. Straight garbage!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My only complaint about this great documentary, is that there is no mention of The Egyptian Lover and Newcleus, who were pioneers of the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A series of interviews rather than a documentary that goes deep into the history of this amazing machine. And the worst thing is that the interviews keep going on about "wow this bass drum, wow this hi-hat sounds, ...oh! this cowbell''.. Eerrrr.. helloo!! we know this already! Tell us something that we dont know, like some elements behind the engineering, or the marketing, or the reason this happened at that time and how it relates to the music evolution that followed.. If you were to make a documentary about Hugo Boss for example would you only interview people who wear and admire his clothes?... Waste of my money this was. Plenty of free documentaries out there on electronic music. Sad to see that tomatometer critic reviewers give it 100% - I mean come on guys - there are other ways to market your documentary and monetise on music history.. Please..

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Def worth watching for music-history/technology nerds... wish it felt a little more "gen access" for the greater public. Thought some sections were too long-winded... but I REALLY loved interview with Japanese designer. Kinda my fave part, really. :) And yes... I used to have one. Fantastic(!) machine. :)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

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Alex Dunn

Director

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

Arthur Baker

Arthur Baker

Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa

Jellybean Benitez

Jellybean Benitez

Phil Collins

Phil Collins

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Synopsis

The history of the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the birth of electronic music.

Director: Alex Dunn
Producer: Alex Dunn, Matthew Jarman, Craig Kallman
Screenwriter: Luke Bainbridge, Alex Dunn
Distributor: Atlantic Film
Production Co: Atlantic Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 9, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Runtime: 1h 47m

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