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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Fred F. Sears
USA 1957

 

Global chaos erupts when an enormous bird from outer space ventures to Earth and begins causing death scores of innocent bystanders in this awe-inspiring sci-fi thriller starring stunning Mara Corday and Jeff Morrow. Four times faster than sound, the bird is bigger than a battleship and surrounded by an invisible radar-resistant shield which repels existing destructive devices. It’s a race against time for scientists Mitch MacAfee and Sally Caldwell to devise a weapon against this abominable creature before it obliterates the World. Can they do it? IS there enough time? See for yourself in this terrifying adventure of man against monstrosity.

***

The Giant Claw was a 1950s monster movie. After the successes of the seminal atomic monster films The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Them! (1954), the floodgates were opened to a deluge of revived dinosaur and giant animals on the attack films. The Giant Claw was one of the few of these in which atomic radiation was not used as an explain-all raison d’etre.

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 1957

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

 

  

Only available from Arrow at present as part of their Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman which includes Creature with the Atom BrainThe WerewolfZombies of Mora Tau and The Giant Claw

Bonus Captures:

Distribution i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:14:32.041         1:14:10.571
Video

1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray
Disc Size: 23,691,582,865 bytes
Feature: 19,824,844,800 bytes
Video Bitrate: 29.80 Mbps
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

1.78:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 31,320,737,730 bytes

Feature: 22,370,667,264 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.81 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate German Blu-ray:

Bitrate Arrow Blu-ray:

Audio DTS-HD Master Audio English 1565 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1565 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DUB:
DTS-HD Master Audio German 1582 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1582 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentaries:
Dolby Digital Audio German 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio German 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1078 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1078 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit

Subtitles German, None English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Arrow

 

1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray
Disc Size: 23,691,582,865 bytes
Feature: 19,824,844,800 bytes
Video Bitrate: 29.80 Mbps
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• 2 German audio commentaries (Ingo Strecker and Thomas Kerpen - Dr. Rolf Giesen, Uwe Sommerlad and Ivo Scheloske)
• Introduction by Dr. Rolf Giesen (4:44 - English or German options)
• American Title Sequence (0:43)
• Spanish Title Sequence (0:55)
• American Trailer (2:01)
• Super 8 Version (8:30)
• Gallery (3:17)
DVD


Blu-ray Release Date:
April 13th, 2017
Standard Black
Blu-ray Case Chapters 13

Release Information:
Studio:
Arrow

 

1.78:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 31,320,737,730 bytes

Feature: 22,370,667,264 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.81 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

Brand-new introduction by critic Kim Newman (12:27)
Brand-new audio commentary by critics Emma Westwood and Cerise Howard
Family Endangered!, a brand-new visual essay examining the theme of Cold War paranoia in Sam Katzman monster movies, by critic Mike White (12:51)
Condensed Super 8mm version of The Giant Claw, produced for home cinema viewing (6:29)
Theatrical Trailer (2:03)
Image Gallery (23)

Fully illustrated 60-page collector’s book featuring extensive new writing by Laura Drazin Boyes, Neil Mitchell, Barry Forshaw, Jon Towlson and Jackson Cooper
80-page collector’s art book featuring reproduction stills and artwork from each film and new writing by historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette
2 double-sided posters featuring newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork for each film by Matt Griffin


Blu-ray Release Date:
September 13th, 2021
Transparent Blu-ray Case inside Custom Hard Case (see below)Chapters
13

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (August 2021): Arrow have also transferred Fred F. Sears' The Giant Claw to Blu-ray. It is part of their Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman which includes Creature with the Atom BrainThe WerewolfZombies of Mora Tau and The Giant Claw. All four films were on a 2007 DVD set from Sony (reviewed HERE.) They have a reputation for their meager quality... perhaps the primary reason, along with the genre itself, why I love them so much. The i-catcher Media (Sidonis) Blu-ray of The Giant Claw from 2017 is, predictably, a notch below. The German 1080P isn't bad but is single-layered showing a few compression artifacts while the Arrow has better grains support and a slightly tighter image. The Arrow is cleaner - they even removed marks from the stock footage - see below. 

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Giant Claw has some cheesy audio effects that come through authentically flat as does the dramatic score by Mischa Bakaleinikoff (The Crooked Web, Cell 2455 Death Row, Comanche Station, It Came from Beneath the Sea, New Orleans Uncensored, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The 27th Day, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Lady for a Day.) sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. The Region 'B' i-catcher Blu-ray has optional German subtitles and a German DUB - while Arrow offers optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The i-catcher offers two German commentaries (unfortunately neither English-friendly.) The Arrow Blu-ray offers a new commentary by critics Emma Westwood and Cerise Howard. Emma is the author of The Fly (Devils Advocates.)  They have a lot of fun with this title while also exporting some keen information about Katzman, the low budget and more. There is also a new 12-minute introduction by critic Kim Newman where he discusses Katzman's roots as a 13-year old prop boy and working with with Producer Charles H. Schneer and special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. I enjoyed the new 13-minute visual essay by critic Mike White, entitled "Family Endangered" examining the theme of Cold War paranoia in Sam Katzman monster movies. Like the i-catcher the Arrow includes a condensed Super 8mm version of The Giant Claw, produced for home cinema viewing and running 6.5-minutes. There is also a theatrical trailer and image gallery on the Arrow and it's 4 Blu-ray Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman package sports reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork for each film by Matt Griffin, a fully illustrated 60-page collector’s book featuring extensive new writing by Laura Drazin Boyes, Neil Mitchell, Barry Forshaw, Jon Towlson and Jackson Cooper, an 80-page collector’s art book featuring reproduction stills and artwork from each film and new writing by historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette and 2 double-sided posters featuring newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin.   

The Giant Claw is incorrectly identified as the 'worst' creature-feature - but instead, is simply the cheesiest. The liberal use of weak stock footage, minimal on-screen time of the creature plenty of shadows), visibility of wires and the awkward 'puppet' visuals - support this, low-budget, claim. It has the iconic Jeff Morrow ( a favorite - This Island Earth) and appealing Mara Corday (The Quiet Gun, Tarantula, Man Without a Star). The Blu-ray from Arrow has a commentary, intro by Kim Newman, visual essay and the package has booklets. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the film especially with its charismatic flaws. One of the great creature-feature throwaways of the era. No collection is complete without it on Blu-ray.

Gary Tooze

 

Package - Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 


Menus / Extras

 

i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Stock Footage

 

1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  TOP

2) Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

 

  

Only available from Arrow at present as part of their Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman which includes Creature with the Atom BrainThe WerewolfZombies of Mora Tau and The Giant Claw

Bonus Captures:

Distribution i-catcher Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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