Review of Gymkata (1985) by Ryan K — 29 Aug 2007

A close rival to 'Troll 2' as the best worst movie of all time (and thus rated accordingly above), Gymkata fuses Karate, gymnastics, Reagan's 'star wars' and a handful of ridiculous one liners making it something that has to be seen to be believed.

At every opportunity protagonist Jonathan Cabot is given the opportunity to wield his gymnast skills, even if it requires finding a pommel horse conveniently located in the middle of a (we are told) underdeveloped country which looks like it has survived unchanged from the medieval period.

There is a great deal of laughable globalitarian Americanism by way of certain notions such as 'spreading democracy', 'stabilizing the world', and 'free a nation from their unruly dictator' which turns it into comedic gold especially relevant today.

In fact, it seems more than coincidental that the lead actor Kurt Thomas was an Olympic gymnast hopeful that was stripped of his opportunity because of Carter's boycott of the olympics in 1980 and then turned around to act in a crazy action movie that depicted the spread of a global Star Wars program (Reagan's idea) as a way to save the world.

Kurt seemed to handle his spite against Carter in the most inventive of ways: playing HIMSELF as the lead in a pro-Reagan ninja film.