#45 Gymkata

IMDB Link

Plot:

Johnathan Cabot is a champion gymnast. In the tiny, yet savage, country of Parmistan, there is a perfect spot for a "star wars" site. For the US to get this site, they must compete in the brutal "Game". The government calls on Cabot, the son of a former operative, to win the game. Cabot must combine his gymnastics skills of the west with fighting secrets of the east and form GYMKATA!

A User Review:

I met Kurt Thomas at a gymnastics even in 1992. First thing I said to him was "Gymkata?" It is probably not difficult to imagine the look that came over the poor man's face at that point.

But I love Gymkata. We used to watch it for its tremendous entertainment value as an all-time great "bad" movie. My own personal favorite parts are the pommel horse in the medieval lunatic asylum, the guy saying "there is some anti-American sentiment going around here" immediately before being shot with an arrow, and of course the "Yak-MALLA!" war cry of "Parmistan." Oh, yeah, the four or five repetitions of "Karabal, on the Caspian Sea" before the place is shown with just that as the caption on the screen.

Trivia:

The film's poster features ninjas on it along with Kurt Thomas. There are no ninjas featured or referenced in this film. The poster was possibly designed to attract the action/martial arts crowd as this was a very popular genre during this time period. Tadashi Yamashita who appears in this film as one of Kurt Thomas' instructors actually starred as The Black Star Ninja, the villain in American Ninja (1985), which was released after the release of this film in June 1985.

Poster:



Trailer: