I have been a huge wrestling fan since 1989. The first big wrestler to enter the WWF when I was watching as a kid was The Texas Tornado, Kerry Von Erich. Since then, he has been one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. What I am trying to say is that I had a really big invested interest in this movie before going to see it, my wife on the other hand has a passive interest in wrestling at best.
How to Download The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw was released on December 22, 2023. You can expect to be able to download or stream the film from Apple TV about two months later. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. If you’re into wrestling films, check out also The Wrestler and Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon.
The Movie Review: A Tale of the Von Erich Wrestling Family
The story of the Von Erich wrestling family is one of the most interesting and tragic in all of wrestling. One of my favorite wrestling documentaries is called, Heroes of World Class and it talks about the family and the other performers of the Fritz Von Erich owned, World Class Championship Wrestling. Even the WWE did their own documentary about the Von Erichs and promotion called, The Triumph & Tragedy of WCCW which is also a good watch.
Both of those I highly recommend that you watch if you enjoy The Iron Claw. The Iron Claw is the story of the Von Erich wrestling family. The family is led by father Fitz Von Erich and the movie features his boys, Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike. There is actually another Von Erich brother, Chris who was omitted from the movie. That is not the only historical inaccuracy with this story, but to be honest, I managed to get past it.
At the end of the day, this is a movie, so some stuff has to be changed for the sake of the story, and to be fair, I think that they did a fantastic job of telling a story that was true for the most part about the Von Erichs. It was entertaining, it was pretty badass and it had a lot of heartbreak going on too.
Casting and Performances in The Iron Claw
We see much of the story through the eyes of Kevin Von Erich who is played by Zac Effron. I thought that Zac Effron did a fantastic job as Kevin Von Erich and he got into truly phenomenal shape for this role. I think that they cast pretty much 99 percent of The Iron Claw really well.
I have yet to speak to a wrestling fan or read a review online that has anything kind to say about the Ric Flair in this movie was not good and kind of took me out of the movie. To be fair to the actor, Ric Flair is Rick Flair if that makes sense. He is a larger-than-life character and while it is one thing to do an impression of him. To try and actually make you believe that someone else is Ric Flair is just really hard to do as he is so unique.
The Emotional Depth and Visuals of The Iron Claw
Some might say that The Iron Claw is a bit of a depressing movie and I can get that if you are not familiar with the story of the Von Erichs. However, I also think that there are some real highlights with the brothers and the way that they are with each other can be really heartwarming in some scenes.
Visually, I just love everything about this movie! They captured the look and feel of the rise of WCCW really well, the soundtrack is perfect for the movie and the actual wrestling is very well done. It is some of the best “wrestling” that I have seen in a movie or TV show and that is because Chavo Guerrero was responsible for it, he also got a part in the movie, Playing The Shiek which I thought was super cool.
The Emotional Depth and Visuals of The Iron Claw
My wife who was not super into going to see this said that she thought it was great and was interested to actually watch one of the documentaries. Granted, she ended up not being as into The Heroes of World Class as I would have liked, but hey, I was glad that she took a bit more interest in something I am a huge fan of.
As a huge wrestling fan in general and as a huge fan of Kerry Von Erich, I think that Sean Durkin did a good job bringing this tragic story to the big screen. It has a bit of everything and it really is one of the more brutal and heartbreaking stories from the world of professional wrestling. No matter your feelings on wrestling, this is a great story that can be enjoyed by anyone.
