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

[MissingInAction 25069]

On 3/11/2024 at 11:37 AM, 'stache said:

Watched last night. I grew up watching wrestling as a kid in the 90's, so this family was before my time, and I knew nothing about the story. I enjoyed the film, but echo some of the comments. Efron looks more like the Incredible Hulk and seeing pictures of Kevin in real life its just very different and his level of bulk for the film seems really unnecessary. I also never got from the film that they were truly national celebrities, because I only ever knew WWF/WWE and WCW, never saw or recall the Von Erich's during that era, and the film doesn't seem to convey that the circuit they ran was also big time, if sort of feels like a local circuit. Even when Ric Flair was part of the story I couldn't tell if it was big time Flair or as an up and comer on the smaller circuits. On that note, totally agree that the Flair actor was terrible. It's also bizarre to me that they never really dug into the story lines and how the family had to position itself to make it big and fight for the World Championship, or who was supposed to win or lose in those fights. It's like their toeing the line between they have to earn it like traditional sports and sort of dancing around the fact that it's all choreographed. Like when Kevin goes super claw on Flair, it comes off as genuine anger and nonscripted, but Flair comes in and implies that it was part of the script, which makes sense, because even in the 90s the contenders often would come close enough to winning and then lose by disqualification as part of the story. The line between characters, choreography, and competition is just really blurred and confusing in context. It seems that the dad would be negotiating story lines so one of the kids becomes champ but you only ever see him angry that they have to fight so hard to get there. A few scenes that I recall acknowledge it, like Fritz telling David that he's great at working the mic, but the true nature of the sport seems lost. The best performance in my opinion was the actor who played Fritz, I really wanted Kevin to finish that bastard off at the end. 

Lobo

[Buzzrock 14920]

Just watched this today on a flight from ATL to Seattle. Like posted above, the Tom Sawyer song brought back tons of memories of my youth watching the Von Erichs and also local wrestling from the Hirsch Colosseum in Shreveport on tv.
I enjoyed the movie for what it was able to deliver in the amount of time. Would like to see a mini-series too.

Caught it on a recent flight too. Didn’t know much about the story or the tragedy so didn’t expect it to be so sad but it was really well done. I thought Holt and Mara stole the show.

The tiny low res screen on the plane added to the feel.

[DaysOff 7948]

I enjoyed the film and only had a passing awareness of the family growing up in Houston. We were raised on wrestling promotion by Paul Boesch.

[Duane Moore 5237]

I heard a review that made a great point about the Ric Flair part.

Movies about real life subjects tend to make the movie version so much more glamorous and exciting than the real thing. Think Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in JFK, Burt and Dolly as the leads of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Liam Neeson as Oscar Schindler, Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, etc.

But even Hollywood just can’t improve upon the real Nature Boy. Flair is such a larger than life figure (especially in his heyday of the mid-late-80’s) that anyone they got to play him would be a pale imitation who looks small by comparison. 

[TrashMaster G 17554]

On 5/7/2024 at 11:01 AM, Mittens said:

Damn, I miss Pizza Inn.

[closetohumping 17441]

Wow that hit hard 

effron was surprisingly good

Height differential was very noticeable

 

this movie made me miss Texas    Loved the von Erich home

 

 

[closetohumping 17441]

Efron had that weird looking hgh face

[statsman 5463]

On 1/8/2024 at 7:28 AM, nolongerU2horn said:

The curse started when Jack Adkisson became Fritz and paraded around as a Nazi

Hey! My dad was army buddies with a Hawaiian guy named Charlie Kalani, who left the islands to play football in Utah in the early ‘50s. He wrestled as n evil Japanese, Professor Tanaka, and rounded out his career playing heavies in Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. 
 
(Dad said he was the greatest guy, but since they served together on the all-Army pistol team, and he was actually really good at martial arts, besides the rassling, I’m going to say he really was a badass.)

[Davis Lane 5584]

I had forgotten about Kerry's foot amputation.

I also remember when Michael debuted and I immediately thought there was something off about him.

So, I had a hard time connecting the Efron and White with their characters due to their lack of size.

But all in all I enjoyed it.

For me it was nostalgic and worth a watch if you're in my age range; old.

And I suppose the Iron Claw as Fritz all along.

The scene with momma von Erich painting again was telling.

[Jerry Callo 8701]

I enjoyed it.  I thought they did a reasonable job telling a multifaceted story in a movie.  A limited series would have done the story more justice, but this was fine.  Since the wrestling was secondary to the dysfunctional family story, it did bother me that the actors weren't the same sizes as the people they portrayed.   

[F250 28772]

On 5/25/2024 at 6:11 PM, statsman said:

Hey! My dad was army buddies with a Hawaiian guy named Charlie Kalani, who left the islands to play football in Utah in the early ‘50s. He wrestled as n evil Japanese, Professor Tanaka, and rounded out his career playing heavies in Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. 
 
(Dad said he was the greatest guy, but since they served together on the all-Army pistol team, and he was actually really good at martial arts, besides the rassling, I’m going to say he really was a badass.)

That guy was in a lot of movies in the 80s and 90s. He was the butler in Pee Wee's Big Adventure and the butler in Last Action Hero.

 

 

[utxmike05 1828]

On 5/14/2024 at 9:41 PM, closetohumping said:

Efron had that weird looking hgh face

My sister was just talking about that.  But he had reconstructive surgery from a broken jaw (not movie related).  It's been documented and in interviews.  He did a hell of a job in the film though, his best.

[MissingInAction 25069]

On 5/13/2024 at 4:30 PM, Duane Moore said:

I heard a review that made a great point about the Ric Flair part.

Movies about real life subjects tend to make the movie version so much more glamorous and exciting than the real thing. Think Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in JFK, Burt and Dolly as the leads of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Liam Neeson as Oscar Schindler, Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, etc.

But even Hollywood just can’t improve upon the real Nature Boy. Flair is such a larger than life figure (especially in his heyday of the mid-late-80’s) that anyone they got to play him would be a pale imitation who looks small by comparison. 

There's no up staging The Nature Boy.

[Knoxtnhorn 5975]

Quick question.  I have only the faintest memories of watching the Von Erichs as I was pretty young.  Wasn't there another wrestler that was allied with and fought with the family?  Short hair, possibly Britsih accent?   

[Beau Vine 54221]

44 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Quick question.  I have only the faintest memories of watching the Von Erichs as I was pretty young.  Wasn't there another wrestler that was allied with and fought with the family?  Short hair, possibly Britsih accent?   

Chris Adams?  Also dead.

Edited May 29 by Beau Vine

[baboso 6056]

48 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Chris Adams?  Also dead.

I remember when he turned heel when he and Gino Hernandez became a tag team.  Gino is also dead.  Gino ODed and Chris was shot to death in Waxahachie.

[F250 28772]

I was a fan of Chris Adams back in the day. I thought the British thing was cool and he was a Von Erich ally in the fight against those son of a bitch Free Birds.

When Adams turned Heel on the Von Erichs a young F250 lost his mind.

[Pato del Muerto 52494]

Turns out he wasn’t much of a gentleman after all

[safe sex 11723]

6 hours ago, F250 said:

I was a fan of Chris Adams back in the day. I thought the British thing was cool and he was a Von Erich ally in the fight against those son of a bitch Free Birds.

When Adams turned Heel on the Von Erichs a young F250 lost his mind.

HBK stole the superkick from him iirc

[F250 28772]

12 minutes ago, safe sex said:

HBK stole the superkick from him iirc

Absolutely. I don't think anyone was doing the superkick before Chris Adams. With that said, I used to like HBK when I was a teen. He was fun to watch and from San Antonio.

[RPM 26320]

19 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Quick question.  I have only the faintest memories of watching the Von Erichs as I was pretty young.  Wasn't there another wrestler that was allied with and fought with the family?  Short hair, possibly Britsih accent?   

Not Chris Adams, but I remember another Brit they tried to pawn off as a Euro cousin. He wasn't around long.

[Dennis Taylor 18819]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:49 PM, baboso said:

I remember when he turned heel when he and Gino Hernandez became a tag team.  Gino is also dead.  Gino ODed and Chris was shot to death in Waxahachie.

Check out the Dark Side of the Ring episodes on each of those guys

[Dennis Taylor 18819]

7 hours ago, RPM said:

Not Chris Adams, but I remember another Brit they tried to pawn off as a Euro cousin. He wasn't around long.

There was Lance Von Erich, but he wasn't billed as a Euro to my knowledge.  Calling him a Von Erich was Fritz's idea and pissed his sons off. When he jumped ship to another promotion, Fritz then acknowledged that angle was made up, putting the credibility of pro wrestling at risk 

Spoiler

😆 🤣 😂 

 

[RPM 26320]

3 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

There was Lance Von Erich, but he wasn't billed as a Euro to my knowledge.  Calling him a Von Erich was Fritz's idea and pissed his sons off. When he jumped ship to another promotion, Fritz then acknowledged that angle was made up, putting the credibility of pro wrestling at risk 

  Reveal hidden contents

😆 🤣 😂 

 

That's probably it. Been over 40 years since I watched WCCW.

[lateshow 1304]

12 hours ago, RPM said:

That's probably it. Been over 40 years since I watched WCCW.

Well, buddy, I've got some good news for you; You can watch it on Peacock any time you wish! 

[yoladu 4094]

20 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

There was Lance Von Erich, but he wasn't billed as a Euro to my knowledge.  Calling him a Von Erich was Fritz's idea and pissed his sons off. When he jumped ship to another promotion, Fritz then acknowledged that angle was made up, putting the credibility of pro wrestling at risk 

  Reveal hidden contents

😆 🤣 😂 

[F250 28772]

Free Birds vs Mike and Chris Von Erich. Kerry shows up to save the day.

 

[Sawbonz 27556]

On 5/29/2024 at 5:06 PM, F250 said:

I was a fan of Chris Adams back in the day. I thought the British thing was cool and he was a Von Erich ally in the fight against those son of a bitch Free Birds.

When Adams turned Heel on the Von Erichs a young F250 lost his mind.

I remember first getting cable and turning on TBS and they were showing wrestling and the crowd was cheering for the motherfucking Free Birds. At first I was shocked. Then I got the sneaking suspicion that maybe wrestling wasn’t completely on the up and up 

[F250 28772]

2 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

I remember first getting cable and turning on TBS and they were showing wrestling and the crowd was cheering for the motherfucking Free Birds. At first I was shocked. Then I got the sneaking suspicion that maybe wrestling wasn’t completely on the up and up 

I remember as a kid someone claiming wrestling was scripted and my reaction being "you're a god damn liar!"

At the time I also didn't understand that there were different regional locations. I assumed everything took place in Texas.

[Mittens 8272]

Finally got to watch this last night and as someone who LOVED watching them in grade school, the altered timelines really confused me.  Had to go google everything to make sure I wasn't the one getting it wrong.  Why Kevin was a monosyllabic moron was a bit confusing as well.