Gymkata (1985): Weaponised Gymnastics and the Most Convenient Pommel Horse in Film History
By Johnny Rewind | Nostalgia Navigator
Gymkata is a 1985 film premised on a genuinely brilliant idea: what if a US gymnast was sent on a secret government mission to a deadly country, and the obstacles he faced happened to include things that were exactly like gymnastic apparatus? A pommel horse appears in the village square at the exact moment he needs one. Parallel bars are conveniently located. Director Robert Clouse, who made Enter the Dragon, directed this with complete sincerity. Kurt Thomas, 1979 World Gymnastics Champion, plays the lead. He cannot act. He can do gymnastics. The film plays to this.
The Pommel Horse Scene
Gymkata's hero is chased through a village by a mob of lunatics. He is cornered. There is, inexplicably, a stone pommel horse in the centre of the village square. He mounts it and performs a full gymnastics routine using it as a weapon platform, kicking attackers in every direction. This is the film's thesis statement. It commits completely to the idea that gymnastics is a viable martial art if the environment cooperates. The film does not acknowledge this as unusual.
Be kind. Rewind. Stick the landing.
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