Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Iron Claw Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 23, 2024

The title of The Iron Claw might initially make it sound like it's the kind of "old school" martial arts film put out by the likes of the Shaw Brothers, and released on Blu-ray by the likes of Arrow, Radiance and/or 88 Films. And in a way, the kind of "flashy action" that has populated so many "historical" martial arts films is simply updated to 20th century wrestling for this appealing if kind of unavoidably downbeat feature focusing on the Von Erich family, who, for those unacquainted with this maybe slightly questionable "sport", helped to popularize wrestling, especially the televised variety, but who suffered a series of tragedies which stemmed at least in part from questionable parenting decisions on the part of paterfamilias Fritz (Holt McCallany). Relationships between fathers and sons are often fraught of course (and I say this as both a son and father to boys), but the relationships between Fritz and his five sons as depicted in this film will probably strike many as positively disastrous, and it may be salient to note that the main "making of" supplement on this disc overtly refers to "toxic masculinity", which Fritz seemed to have in spades and frankly also seems to wish to pass down to his offspring. That may tend to leave wife and mother Doris (Maura Tierney) out in the veritable cold, so to speak, but even she doesn't escape an intermittently withering eye from writer and director Sean Durkin, who might suggest that Doris was too passive when viewing Fritz's over the top martinet tactics with his sons, leading to lots of emotional turmoil in the kids.

There's probably a whole other movie that could be made about the actually almost operatic history of organized wrestling events in the United States from the post-World War II era in particular on, but for those who may think that the WWE is or at least was the only game in town, that's manifestly not the case, as in a way WWE's predecessor World Wide Wrestling Federation might be thought of as a regional competitor with the World Class Championship Wrestling, which starting in 1966 was run by Jack Adkisson, which not so coincidentally is the real name of Fritz Von Erich. There is in fact a legend that Adkisson's decision to "rebrand" his family with the Von Erich moniker ended up "cursing" everyone, and the sad trajectory of several Von Erichs might seem to support that seemingly outlandish thesis. Fritz is understandably introduced first in The Iron Claw, in a black and white flashback which provides a quick glimpse into Fritz's own wrestling career, where he was frequently the "villain" in matches, utilizing the titular technique to subdue his opponents. A passing vignette also introduces sons Kevin and David as children, as well as Doris, who, countering the real life Kevin Von Erich's assertion in the making of supplement that his real mother never showed the slightest signs of resentment, is portrayed here as not weathering the storms of being married to a professional wrestler particularly meekly.

The story then segues forward a decade or so to find Kevin (Zac Efron, unfortunately sporting a haircut that makes him seem like a brother to Jim Carrey's Dumb and Dumber character) and David (Harris Dickinson) already toiling away in their father's WCCW aggregation. Little brothers Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (Stanley Simons) are almost kind of afterthoughts at this stage, and in fact completely without irony or humor at breakfast one morning Fritz lists off the order of "favorites" of his children, leaving Kerry and Mike's "status" completely clear. That's just one early clue of how virtually ruthless Fritz is in getting his sons to fight for their pecking order in the family, though that said, there is an undeniable bond between the siblings, perhaps fostered (no parenting pun intended) by them needing to band together to withstand the force of Fritz's personality.

Suffice it to say that there are remarkably few happy endings in this tale, as the brothers repeatedly seek their father's approval, in some cases tamping down their own private ambitions in order to maintain the perceived "wrestling dynasty" that Fritz has founded. Those who know the real Von Erich story will be aware of the repeated horrors that ensue, tragedies that won't be overtly spoiled in this review other than to say there's a rather alarming body count in this tale that has nothing to do with skirmishes in the ring. Performances are involving and rather moving, at least with regard to the sons (and with Jeremy Allen White's doleful Kerry probably ultimately the saddest), and the film does a great job of recreating the wild and woolly ambience of Fritz's WCCW events. Writer and director Sean Durkin talks about how long he had admired the Von Erich family and their wrestling exploits, and how badly he wanted to dramatize their story, and you can feel Durkin's passion for the project throughout the film, even if predictably some "fictionalization" has entered the fray.

The Iron Claw Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Iron Claw is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 and Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The closing credits offer a "shot on Kodak film" logo, but as of the writing of this review, the IMDb doesn't list the resolution of the DI. One way or the other, this is a really gorgeous looking transfer that is incredibly appealing in terms of its organic qualities, general detail levels, and especially an incredibly robustly suffused palette. The story actually opens with a brief black and white vignette (see screenshots 18 and 19), which has solid contrast and good detail levels despite taking place in near darkness. Once the story segues to color, the palette virtually erupts at times, with a kind of buttery yellow ambience suffusing some of the (supposed) Texan outdoor scenes, and with a ton of interior sequences also offering some surprisingly vivid tones. Fine detail is typically excellent throughout, supported by Durkin's repeated use of extreme close-ups. Grain is really tightly resolved throughout the presentation. I noticed no compression issues, and in fact was kind of pleasantly surprised by the absence of banding in scenes like the opening black and white wrestling ring moments where a kind of "misty" look through backlighting could have created some issues with a less competent compressionist.

The Iron Claw Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the closing credits offer a Dolby Atmos logo, this disc offers a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which itself is nicely immersive, if perhaps lacking some of the (literal) over the top aspects an Atmos track might have provided. From the opening roars of the crowd watching Fritz pummel and opponent to many later sequences showing various wrestling matches, the side and rear channels are noticeably engaged in all of the big "action" scenes, but they're also active in ostensibly "quieter" moments, including a lot of the family scenes offering the Von Erich brothers in various pursuits. A glut of outdoor material also provides good opportunities for well placed ambient environmental sounds. A nicely rendered score by Richard Reed Parry also populates the surround channels invitingly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Iron Claw Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Brotherhood is Forever: Making The Iron Claw (HD; 29:24) is an interesting featurette with a number of good interviews with the principal cast and crew and Kevin Von Erich.


• Cast and Crew Q & A (HD; 20:57) stems from December 2023 and features Sean Durkin, Zac Efron, Maura Tierney, Jeremy Allen White, Stanley Simons, Holt McCallany, Kevin Von Erich and Sean Durkin.


• Trailer (HD; 2:23)

Additionally DVD and digital copies are included. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Iron Claw Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lot of the venerable martial arts outings from the likes of the Shaw Brothers memorably focused on "brotherhood", and that is certainly part and parcel of the Von Erich story. This is ultimately a rather sad tale, despite Durkin's attempts to provide a quasi-happy ending of sorts with some textual information as things come to a close, and so those coming to this film had best be prepared for something of a "downer". Performances are great (the actors portraying the Von Erichs evidently did their own wrestling), and technical merits are first rate. Recommended.