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Scratch

Play trailer Poster for Scratch R 2002 1h 30m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 47 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A feature length documentary film about the hip-hop DJ and today's "turntablist" movement. From the South Bronx in the `70s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, diggers, party-rockers and producers on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl.

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Scratch

Scratch

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Critics Consensus

Whether you know anything about turntablism or not, Scratch makes for fun and informative viewing.

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Critics Reviews

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Ray Conlogue Globe and Mail Engaging documentary. Rated: 3/4 Oct 11, 2002 Full Review Laura Bushell BBC.com Pray has really done his subject justice. Rated: 4/5 Sep 3, 2002 Full Review Robert K. Elder Chicago Tribune Pray's subjects can wander off into arcane Dennis Miller-esque rants, but he manages to hit the high points and most of the major personalities. Rated: 3/4 Jul 20, 2002 Full Review Mark Halverson Sacramento News & Review Rated: 4/5 Aug 7, 2008 Full Review Betsy Bozdech DVDJournal.com A film not unlike the music it celebrates: Vibrant, eclectic, loud, rhythmic, and powerful. Rated: 3/4 Nov 9, 2006 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Hermentotip I Must see for music lovers, specially hip hop heads. Not only about scratching, but also the evolution of the music and culture, breakbeats, sampling, and many other foundational elements of modern music. Pure gold Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/21/25 Full Review Audience Member This is a great documentary even if it doesn't really ask many questions of it's protagonists. Maybe that's because of the time it was made when Shadow seemed like the great new hope for Hip-Hop and the instrumental album was taking centre stage. The opening 45mins are the strongest looking at the history of scratching and the foundations of Hip-Hop. It loses it's way towards the end when endorsing scratch break records and DJ trickery rather than collaboration with the MC. Still well worth a view though. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Scratch is well made but unfortunately leaves no emotional impact on its viewers. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A passionate j-j-jour-j-j-jour-journey-j-j-j-journey through the wor-wiki-world of turntablism. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Look. Even if you just hate scratching, think that hip hop is just garbage, and believe that a turntable is not a musical instrument, this documentary is a must. It just does a great job in showing the luminaries of the genre. It celebrates/knows it's history (something Rock and Roll really doesn't in many ways). Nearly all DJ's agree on certain values, beliefs, etc, and they almost all agree that DJing as a music form hit the big time with Herbie Hancock's "Rock It" in 1983. It is fascinating and even if you don't agree, you have to respect the voodoo that is turntablism. Plus Mix Master Mike and QBert are god's amongst DJing men. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A must for any hip-hop fan & you'll need a notebook ;) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Scratch

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Cast & Crew

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Doug Pray

Director

Bonner Bellew

Director

Afrika Bambaataa

Self

Yoga Frog

Self

Mix Master Mike

Self

DJ Q-Bert

Self

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Scratch

Scratch (2001) Scratch (2001) Scratch (2001) Scratch (2001) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A feature length documentary film about the hip-hop DJ and today's "turntablist" movement. From the South Bronx in the `70s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, diggers, party-rockers and producers on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl.
Director
Doug Pray, Bonner Bellew
Producer
Brad Blondheim, Ernest Meza
Screenwriter
Bonner Bellew
Distributor
Palm Pictures
Production Co
Firewalks Film, Ridgeway Entertainment
Rating
R (Language)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 15, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$291.0K
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.66:1)
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