They were trying to make a serious movie, correct? Then they failed, so 0 stars. However, if they were trying to sneak a comedy into the theatres, then I will warily offer up 2 stars. I mean, that daft king, the Parmistan half-wits and the Crazies Race. Comedy, right? Anyway, this might be a fun trip down memory lane for people who caught it on late-night cable in the 80s or 90s but if you value your time this is an unmitigated pile of Parmistani cheese. Were U.S. medal winners in an Olympic games that didn't even include half or more of the world's best athletes so popular that Hollywood was willing to throw money at skinny, mullet-wearing midgets in lead roles? And a personal nitpick: martial arts are about as pointless and useless as 13-century atonal chants. I mean, other than as a demonstration of Ye Olden Days. Because if you're trying to kill a guy in the 20th century, you don't send 10 guys in black dresses and diapers on their heads. You have a guy shoot the intended victim. It's called a gun. And it's pretty effective. You martial arts losers need to restrict yourselves to teaching kids self-esteem at the local strip mall. Otherwise your skills have zero practical application in the real world. Yak-Mala !!

One of the greatest 'bad' movies of all time. A ridiculous but enjoyable comic book of a movie. It was done as a showcase for Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas. In this film, Thomas is recruited to go into the tiny country of Parmistan and win "The Game" in order for Parmistan to allow the United States to install a satellite monitoring station as part of the Star Wars program. This is already pretty stupid and I haven't even scratched the surface yet. "The Game" is Parmistan's tradition of making foreign warriors run a race along a set course, all the while being chased by soldiers. If they succeed, they get a wish granted. It all makes the kind of sense that doesn't.Mulleted Kurt Thomas is perhaps the most unlikely action star ever, with his all-American boyish looks and diminutive size. Whatever else there is to say about him, it's damn impressive watching him do all of his own stunts. Princess Rubali (Tetchie Agbayani) is his love interest. Filipino Agbayani is the highly unlikely daughter of the very white King of Parmistan, played by Buck Kartalian. Richard Norton plays the principal villain, the rat-tailed and dangly earring-wearing Zamir. One of my favorite roles in the movie, however, was that of Bob Schott as Thorg. The top-heavy Thorg wears a sweatshirt in all of his scenes, resembling Hans & Franz from the old Saturday Night Live sketches.It's a good movie to laugh at, for sure. But I want to be fair and say that there were some genuinely good points to it. As I mentioned, Thomas does all his stunts and they are impressive. Yes, they do silly things like place a pommel horse in the middle of a town just so he can jump on it and kick people. But it's part of the movie's nonsensical charm. I also enjoyed the location shooting. The film was shot in Yugoslavia and there's some great scenery and lovely old buildings. The "village of the crazies" part is actually pretty cool with some creepy atmosphere as Thomas is chased through the foggy streets by lunatics.The '80s was a wonderful decade for "fun" movies. Many of those are legitimate successes while some, like Gymkata, are misfires that succeed in spite of themselves. If you love '80s action movies or you love movies that you can have some fun with, you have to check this one out.

Did you know you can combine gymnastics with karate? Yeah you can totally do this, you would be surprised what stuff you can combine, like you can combine ammonia and chlorine then breathe deep! This movie is about biological organisms on an alien world who must find a cure for something, or this movie is about an Olympic gymnast who must learn karate to compete in a martial arts fun-run so as to win that fun-run thus assuring the United States of America lucrative real estate for the building of future I.C.B.M. launch silos, y'know cause that sounds patriotic and normal. There is a bad-guy in this movie he wears a vest and no shirt, yeah, on purpose, and it looks cold at the location where this movie was filmed. A Slavic country I suspect.

I remember watching this on a rainy night back when I was a little boy in Guadalajara, Mexico. I started watching it a few minutes after it started, I was channel surfing while making me a cold glass of chocolate-milk and getting ready to have me some strawberry glassed cookies.I was about ten or eleven years old, before I knew it my mouth was wide open and I was submerged into the movie. The fights seemed so violent, I felt supportive of the tiny American competitor and it was turning into one of those magical and rainy movie nights.I am one of those "dudes" that rent this movie often, although it is not a gem of cinematography I still enjoy the violence and craziness of the movie. My favorite part has to be "the village of the damn", if you have seen the movie you know what I am talking about. I remember having nightmares about that place, I wouldn't mind having to go thru it as long as I have a AK-47. If you have not seen it I recommend it, just don't expect a blockbuster.