Iron Claw - Von Erich movie -Jeremy Allan White, Zac Efron

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

Kerry's daughter Lacey

 

 

[zman13 185]

Still excited about the movie

[RPM 26628]

Premiered in Dallas last night.

[zman13 185]

22 days away

[Funk Doctor Spock 13287]

Man I can't wait to see this. Everything I've read has said it's going to be a contender for awards. I read that Kevin had to leave the theater because he couldn't stop bawling. He and Efron had some beers and just talked. He asked Kevin what he thought about the movie and he said he loved it. 

 

A24 is just a juggernaut when it comes to great filmmaking. I wish David Fincher would work with them. 

[zman13 185]

Opens in 9 days.

93% on RT:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iron_claw_2023

[A-Tex Devil 2500]

That Harris Dickinson dude has some range.  Triangle of Sadness to Murder at the end of the World to this?  It’s like 3 completely different people. 

[utxmike05 1833]

Caught an early screening and q&a at Alamo tonight. Great fukin film.
 

Born in the early 80s I didn't really follow wrestling until early 90s.  I knew their name, but not their story. Zac delivers as well as the rest of the cast. 
 

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by utxmike05

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

Hope to see it next week.  I've heard all the main characters are great but the guy playing Kerry isn't very big. The guy from Reacher would be more realistic but I'm guessing that show takes too much of his time 

[RPM 26628]

15 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Hope to see it next week.  I've heard all the main characters are great but the guy playing Kerry isn't very big. The guy from Reacher would be more realistic but I'm guessing that show takes too much of his time 

 

[Bodowned 891]

This movie was incredible; it certainly got dusty in the theater.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Bodowned

[utxmike05 1833]

1 hour ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Hope to see it next week.  I've heard all the main characters are great but the guy playing Kerry isn't very big. The guy from Reacher would be more realistic but I'm guessing that show takes too much of his time 

I was surprised how short the actor Jeremy Allen was...like shorter than Zac

[Scraps 13800]

Going to check this out this afternoon 

[Deej 77827]

So it's midget wrestling Von Erich cosplay?

[yoladu 4191]

57 minutes ago, utxmike05 said:

I was surprised how short the actor Jeremy Allen was...like shorter than Zac

i am guessing they just took a typical wrestling ring dimensions and reduced it by 50%, making the actors look huge.

movie magic.

[HornOnTheBayou 9062]

Saw it this afternoon. I'm not a wrestling fan at all and the only thing I knew about the story was that the family had some tragedies. I quickly realized that "had some tragedies" was a massive understatement.

Fantastic movie. Depressing, but Lily James made me feel better.

Edited December 22, 2023 by HornOnTheBayou

[The Ace of Aces 5377]

The time jumps are awkward and illogical and lack of Chris sucked some of the life out of it for me, but otherwise it is very good and a great watch. 

[Scraps 13800]

Damn i must be a rough critic. Thought it was meh.

Chris doesn't exist
Effron looks like he should be playing Incredible Hulk or a jacked member of Scooby Doo
Ric Flair guy was complete garbage

Don't even waste your time going to a theater for this just wait or bootleg it for free.

[Scraps 13800]

Soundtrack ruled i will give them that

[The Ace of Aces 5377]

3 hours ago, Scraps said:

Damn i must be a rough critic. Thought it was meh.

Chris doesn't exist
Effron looks like he should be playing Incredible Hulk or a jacked member of Scooby Doo
Ric Flair guy was complete garbage

Don't even waste your time going to a theater for this just wait or bootleg it for free.
 

Flair was awful. I in retrospect gave it better remarks. It’s fine. It’s not great. A solid B. 

[Duane Moore 5756]

Appreciate everyone’s memories on this thread from the start. I grew up in another territory and only read about the VE’s in the wrestling magazines at the time. 
 

Saw the movie and loved it. If you know all the details of the timeline and especially if you saw them all growing up, you’ll notice the discrepancies and omissions, but they didn't bother me and won’t for viewers who come in with no knowledge of the source material. It’s a lot to pack into 2:15 of run time and they needed to blend some events for narrative purposes if they want to broaden the appeal beyond smarks and GenX men who grew up in DFW.  If it was done over an 8 or 10 episode limited series I’d be less understanding.
 

My biggest quibble was probably JAW as Kerry, he’s a fine actor but physically and facially just didn’t look much like Kerry. I liked the Flair actor better than some here, it’s hard to be a one of a kind character like the Nature Boy but I thought his promo was pretty good. The writers perfectly captured him in the post-match scene in the dressing room where the VE’s are working through their emotional trauma and Flair just saunters in asking where the best place to start drinking is. The Harley Race and Fritz actors may have been the best true doppelgängers for their real-life counterparts. 
 

Overall it is on a very short list with The Wrestler as the best movie about pro wrestling ever made. It has a clear love for the subject material and never demonizes anyone for cheap heat. Even the Fritz character is nuanced when it would have been the easiest thing in the world to make him a caricature villain. I’d love to see what @michaelpshayes thought about the film. 

[Eskimohorn 5682]

Ric Flair actor was weak. That was a pivotal scene. Would have been epic if they could have got someone like Sebastian Stan to play him. Not unlike Gary Oldman killing it as Truman in Oppenheimer.

Unfamiliar with their story (or hazy on details), but that was a depressing movie. And fuck that dad.

[A-Tex Devil 2500]

I really enjoyed it but leaving Chris out was a weird choice.  Was it just too much?

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

1 hour ago, A-Tex Devil said:

I really enjoyed it but leaving Chris out was a weird choice.  Was it just too much?

No shit, people unfamiliar with the history wouldn't believe that much tragedy in a single family 

[shadow_operative2.0 16270]

Quote

The sixth Von Erich child, Chris, is not mentioned nor does he appear in the movie.

Chris Von Erich (1969-1991) wrestled professionally just like his brothers, until he committed suicide in 1991. He was 21 years old.

“Iron Claw” writer/director Sean Durkin told Entertainment Weekly that while Chris was included in the original draft of the script, the younger Von Erich was removed to consolidate the story.

Parts of Chris’ life were added into the character of Mike Von Erich, the fifth-born son played by Stanley Simons.

“That was one of the toughest decisions I had to make,” Durkin told EW. “You could make nine hours of ‘The Godfather’ on this family. I didn’t have that opportunity, so I had to make choices of what could fit in a movie.” 

Excerpt from a Startle-gram article. 

[TommyGufano 6023]

Don't know if it was victim to my expectations, but I didn't particularly care for it.

And I couldn't help but the the Kevin VE v Flair match looked about what a Keefe v Uncle Baby Billy match would look like

[Mac8111 2129]

My random thoughts :

There was a lot of story to try and fit in and character development was a little light in some areas.

Efron got jacked UP for the role.

Jeremy Allen White looked like a midget wrestler while in the ring.

Flair was bull shit.

I grew up in the pinnacle of World Class Wrestling and so the movie brought back a lot of memories.


Overall I give it a B+

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

2 hours ago, Mac8111 said:

My random thoughts :

There was a lot of story to try and fit in and character development was a little light in some areas.

Efron got jacked UP for the role.

Jeremy Allen White looked like a midget wrestler while in the ring.

Flair was bull shit.

I grew up in the pinnacle of World Class Wrestling and so the movie brought back a lot of memories.


Overall I give it a B+

In Kerry's first scene where hes throwing the discus, his coach and the guy measuring the throw towered over and dwarfed him. That was disappointing...actual Kerry was 6'2 easy. I don't know if it's camera angles, props or better casting but Tom Cruise is never dwarfed like that in scenes despite being a wee. Zac looked good but Kevin was definitely not a small dude himself. Efron was really low body fat obviously but stature wise Kevin in his prime was bigger than him. David was really tall and on the lean side, would have put on a lot of size had he lived longer. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Dennis Taylor

[Deej 77827]

The Von Erichs deserved better than this garbage. 

[austingirl 2194]

Spoiler

Did Kerry lose a foot in real life? 

 

[TommyGufano 6023]

31 minutes ago, austingirl said:

  Hide contents

Did Kerry lose a foot in real life? 

 

Spoiler

Yes. Though it was not the night he won the title as the film seemed to show

 

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

23 minutes ago, TommyGufano said:

  Hide contents

Yes. Though it was not the night he won the title as the film seemed to show

 

Spoiler

His ankle was originally fused after the motorcycle accident then he tried to come back too soon and fucked it up worse leading to the amputation 

 

[F250 29201]

Some of my favorite memories. I believe it was Kerry vs. Ric Flair in a cage match. Someone's head was slammed in the cage door.

One of the Von Erichs dressed like Santa Claus handing out presents to the Free Birds before kicking their ass.

There was some type of Battle Royale match and Kevin was the last Von Erich left and the Free Birds threw Kevin over the ropes but he flipped back inside the ring off the top rope for the win.

Young F250 in all those matches.

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by F250

[MrBig 5638]

On 12/28/2023 at 5:32 PM, Mac8111 said:

Efron got jacked UP for the role.

He got big, but his huge HGH gut was super distracting to see. 

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

8 hours ago, F250 said:

Some of my favorite memories. I believe it was Kerry vs. Ric Flair in a cage match. Someone's head was slammed in the cage door.

One of the Von Erichs dressed like Santa Claus handing out presents to the Free Birds before kicking their ass.

There was some type of Battle Royale match and Kevin was the last Von Erich left and the Free Birds threw Kevin over the ropes but he flipped back inside the ring off the top rope for the win.

Young F250 in all those matches.

 

That was the big Freebird heel turn that sparked one of best feuds ever 

[Pato del Muerto 53504]

I don’t remember the freebirds not being heels

[Dennis Taylor 19355]

10 hours ago, F250 said:

Some of my favorite memories. I believe it was Kerry vs. Ric Flair in a cage match. Someone's head was slammed in the cage door.

One of the Von Erichs dressed like Santa Claus handing out presents to the Free Birds before kicking their ass.

There was some type of Battle Royale match and Kevin was the last Von Erich left and the Free Birds threw Kevin over the ropes but he flipped back inside the ring off the top rope for the win.

Young F250 in all those matches.

 

 

2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I don’t remember the freebirds not being heels

Here is the cage match

 

 

 

[veritas aequitas 444]

On 12/22/2023 at 9:17 AM, Dennis Taylor said:

I've heard all the main characters are great but the guy playing Kerry isn't very big. The guy from Reacher would be more realistic but I'm guessing that show takes too much of his time 

Way too good looking, Case McCoy would have been the perfect choice.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18963]

Caught this last night and was rather underwhelmed.  Poor character and story development in general. Toward the end of the film the tragedies just seemed to start piling up as if they were just random events rather than examining what caused them. Also, Efron's hair bugged me. The Ric Flair guy was a disappointment but I thought they generally did a good job with the wrestling nostalgia.  I think that's where the film falls flat in trying to balance the cool old school wrestling shit with the Von Erich family tragedies.

But the worst thing in the entire movie...
 

Spoiler

by far was the Von Erich brother afterlife scene. That was just bizarre.

 

[nolongerU2horn 769]

On 12/29/2023 at 11:34 PM, F250 said:

One of the Von Erichs dressed like Santa Claus handing out presents to the Free Birds before kicking their ass.

It was Michael Hayes dressed as Santa and he put a beatdown on Mike

[F250 29201]

1 hour ago, nolongerU2horn said:

It was Michael Hayes dressed as Santa and he put a beatdown on Mike

I just looked up that video. I definitely reversed that scenario in my memory. I guess 8 year old F250 wanted to remember it with the good guys winning.

[Scraps 13800]

Lol at Mitchs Spioiler


Agreed

[GreenspointTexas 9969]

I thought this movie was very good. Really, it could have been a series, but they did an excellent job of packing everything into 2 hrs

[austingirl 2194]

6 hours ago, Scraps said:

Lol at Mitchs Spioiler


Agreed

 

8 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Caught this last night and was rather underwhelmed.  Poor character and story development in general. Toward the end of the film the tragedies just seemed to start piling up as if they were just random events rather than examining what caused them. Also, Efron's hair bugged me. The Ric Flair guy was a disappointment but I thought they generally did a good job with the wrestling nostalgia.  I think that's where the film falls flat in trying to balance the cool old school wrestling shit with the Von Erich family tragedies.

But the worst thing in the entire movie...
 

  Reveal hidden contents

by far was the Von Erich brother afterlife scene. That was just bizarre.

 

Spoiler

The first thing I thought when that scene was that it was like the universe flipping off poor Kevin. Bad enough that he's the last sibling standing, and they have to go a step further and show the rest of them happily reunited in the afterlife without him? 

 

[Eskimohorn 5682]

Caught this last night and was rather underwhelmed.  Poor character and story development in general. Toward the end of the film the tragedies just seemed to start piling up as if they were just random events rather than examining what caused them. Also, Efron's hair bugged me. The Ric Flair guy was a disappointment but I thought they generally did a good job with the wrestling nostalgia.  I think that's where the film falls flat in trying to balance the cool old school wrestling shit with the Von Erich family tragedies.
But the worst thing in the entire movie...
 
Spoiler

by far was the Von Erich brother afterlife scene. That was just bizarre.

 

The dad conditionally loving his kids based on their athletic acumen in a sport where you had to use drugs and sacrifice your body was pretty in your face why there was a “curse”.

[closetohumping 17817]

On 12/29/2023 at 7:40 PM, MrBig said:

He got big, but his huge HGH gut was super distracting to see. 

Physically looks more like Kerry than Kevin 

[SubliminalHorn 7009]

Efron isn’t as hot as he used to be with the steroids and work he’s had done to his face. That’s all I got 

[Pato del Muerto 53504]

When the gay mafia burns you, you’re burned for life. 

[Stringer 1487]

Got to the theater today to see this.  Other than the Von Erich name, I knew nothing about them before and have avoided reading anything once I saw that the movie was well received and I wanted to see it.  What a downer.  I thought it was a good movie, but just a tough story.  It seemed driven by the father's failures and it sucks that he took it out on his kids.  Fucking Uncle Rico over there.  Not something I'm going to fire up in the future, but glad I saw it.

Mitch's spoiler worked for me, but I can definitely see a counter argument.  I groaned when it started, but they made it work IMO.  

The cast was real good overall:

- Efron was real good.  Didn't know he had it in him.  Hope he keeps down this path in the future and now that he showed he can do it, I hope he can keep getting offers.

- I like Jeremy Allen White, but he seemed a bit miscast.  He didn't work for me.

- Harris Dickinson is really interesting.  I thought he was well cast and really great.  I bought him as a wrestler and as a promoter in that world, which is impressive as a Brit.  He was really good in See How They Run and Triangle of Sadness last year as well.  I saw that his next role is as co-lead with Saorsie Ronan in the next Steve McQueen movie.  He should be a star for a while.

- Really glad to see Holt HcCallany get a good role.  He's really good when given the chance and was a good mix of patriarch and asshole.  Really good job by him.

- The women were less drawn, but if you show me a man between 40 and 55 that doesn't love Maura Tierney, I'll show you a goddamn liar and I am 100% in the bag for Lily James.  Always love to see them working.

[Hermanator 7674]

30 minutes ago, Stringer said:

 if you show me a man between 40 and 55 that doesn't love Maura Tierney, I'll show you a goddamn liar 

11 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Efron isn’t as hot as he used to be with the steroids and work he’s had done to his face. That’s all I got