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I watched GYMKATA (1985) last night on TCM.  Where the hell else on TV would one get the "opportunity" to look at this sh!t???  :question:  
([url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Gymkataposter.jpg[/url])

There is no live sound in this film (I could detect); it's all dubbed.  I particularly enjoyed the crushing sound effects and that bad red sweater KURT THOMAS wore through much of the beginning.  The '80s sweater looks like a TARGET - why not?  In this muddled mess of a movie, dumb is the calling card.  Thankfully, KURT THOMAS has no acting ability which makes his participation almost forgiveable.  

Nearly ZERO production values, a dopey script, and that convenient pommel horse Andrew wrote about, I cannot recommend enough the incredible cheeziness of this craptastic messterpiece for BADMOVIE lovers.  GYMKATA is as good as BAD can get.  

One of my favs. It's entertaining the whole way through and Kurt 'the monkey boy' Thomas it's crowning jewel.
Has anyone ever noticed the guy who got run over by the horse at the beginning of the first race? Damn, that had to hurt! 

...
I will cheerfully admit (a) to liking this for its' very badness and (b) to owning it on DVD: Region 1, believe it or not.

I also saw this in a cinema in 1986 - full attendance. No place to swing an amoeba.  :wink:

This was another VHS-rental for my Dad and I.  Superbly bad.  Superbly.  It was a bit of a trip to see Tadashi Yamas**ta as the trainer, recognizing him from the pages of the martial arts magazines I was reading at the time.

In that process, though, I did see that you not ONLY own this epic garbage, but also had seen it NEW !!!  You were probably in the only theatre in the world that was crowded to see it.  It's truly rotten.  I applaud thee. 

Has to suck to be a lowly flag ninja...

([url]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w234/tcrine_photos/jim-ulness_zpsznzkz8td.jpg[/url])

GYMKATA is superbly bad.  Jaw droppingly superb. 

Can we all at least agree to what an awesome mullet Kurt is rockin'?

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The biggest WTF moment was a toss-up between the shambling hordes of East European village retards (which turned the movie from spy-action to 70's horror), or the pommel horse that was conveniently placed in the town square.

I recently purchased this, having never seen it before. My god, how could I have missed this.

Robert Clouse, who also did one of my favorite bad movies ever, China O'Brien!

And Richard Norton's here too! The only thing missing in this awesome film is Cynthia Rothrock!

Also, as we were watching it yesterday, I told my teenaged daughter I was buying her a red sweater just like the main characters, hahah! The look of death I received was priceless!

Q: So, how did you come to be cast in Gymkata? I know you were almost a dead-cert to go to the Moscow Olympics before the US boycotted it, so was starring in movies you seeking out an alternative or did Hollywood come to you?

A: I was actually contacted by the producer of Enter The Dragon, which, of course, starred Bruce Lee. He apparently saw me in a commercial and that’s how I ended up in the film business.

Q: So, did you have a background in martial arts at all?

A: Not at all!

Q: GYMKATA was directed by Robert Clouse, who directed Enter The Dragon, which is arguably one of the best martial arts films ever made. What was it like working with him during the shoot?

A: When we were filming, Robert Clouse, as a director, honestly seemed to be a bit past his prime [Editorial – Robert Clouse made China O’Brien five years later, so he still had some game!]. However, it was a low budget film, so as a result, there were very few retakes!

Q: As it was so low budget, was it also quite dangerous? It looks like they made you do all your own stunts…

A: I actually did every stunt, except for one – the tumble in the ally in Karabal. It’s because the surface was so wet, so a stuntman ended up doing it. I had a stuntman for the entire shoot, but we ended up only using him the one time.

Q: The fight scenes were naturally based around your impressive gymnastic abilities, but there are several scenes that appeared to be included just to underline that fact – for example, the ‘backflipping while talking to the Princess’ scene – how did those come about?

A: Yeah, from time to time, the producers would just ask me what I could do physically that would look good on film – and they simply ended up incorporating most of them into the movie.

Q: Your character John Cabot seems aware of ‘anti-American sentiment’ in Karabal, but insists on wearing red, white and blue – whose idea was this?

A: That was very random! That was a sweater that I had bought in Italy while I was there, and the producers simply said “just wear that.”

It wasn’t thought out at all!

Q: Please tell us what you remember about the infamous pommel horse scene

A: That actually took a long time to shoot. We tried doing it without pommels and it just killed my wrists! So, we then had to go get some actual pommels to get it done.

Also, the ‘town of crazies’ were actually crazy people from a local insane asylum in Yugoslavia.  We provided them with alcohol and a buffet for their time! Although the people I ended up kicking were definitely stuntmen!

Q: What are you up to these days and are you aware of Gymkata’s cult following?

A: I am very aware of the film’s cult following and love it! I now live in Dallas, where I own a gymnastics training center.

Q: When was the last time you watched Gymkata and are your pupils aware of your Hollywood past?

A: I watch it whenever it comes on at 3 or 4 in the morning, but I haven’t sat down and watched it properly for about 10 years.

Kurt Thomas, thank you very much!

I interviewed Richard Norton about Gymkata the other week. He was the fight choreographer as well as the villain and had a lot of respect for Kurt's gymnastic skills. Not so much the way he picked up the martial arts side of things.