Gymkata

A true masterpiece of unintentional comedy...fantastically surreal.

The end result here is comically entertaining, but entertaining nevertheless - although if you are conditioned to enjoy only those very complicated scenes from newer movies this might be laughable in a less enjoyable way.

No real film lover could help but muster some affection for this bedraggled action movie, shot in an extremely unpicturesque Yugoslavia on a budget that must number in the hundreds of dollars. The lead, Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas, is clearly a stranger to the thespian arts, but it's pointless to single him out in a cast that seems to have been assembled from all the expatriate American used-car salesmen living on the Adriatic coast.

Mediocre action pulp.

Some of the most preposterous fights ever captured on film ensue with a baby-faced hero who sports an aerodynamic mullet. Also, Thomas does flips as he takes on two roles in an imaginary conversation. [28 Jan 2007, p.K5]

An inane martial arts movie... Thomas is a glorious gymnast and may be a competent karate fighter, but this fight choreography does both disciplines an injustice. Better to spend your $4.50 renting a tape of Thomas scoring a perfect "10" at the American Cup. [10 May 1985, p.D3]

Judged against other martial arts pictures, GYMKATA is technically superior and more intelligently written and directed, but that still doesn't make it worthwhile viewing. The film has only a minimum of credibility or intelligence, but since these qualities have little or no place in the genre, that becomes irrelevant, leaving pure action--kicking, punching, and the snapping sounds of breaking bones--as the main draw.