Uncover the Surprising Secrets Behind ‘Gymkata’ That Even Die-Hard Fans Missed
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Any hopes that Gymkata would kickstart a money-spinning franchise instantly came crashing down when the opening box office weekend’s takings were revealed. The martial arts crossover grossed under $1.3 million to place just inside America’s Top 10, well below other new entries like Code of Silence and Gotcha! as well as Beverly Hills Cop, which was in its 22nd consecutive week on the list.
The critical maulings didn’t help either. The Miami Herald, for example, argued that it would be “better to spend your $4.50 renting a tape of Thomas scoring a perfect ‘10’ at the American Cup,” while TV Guide remarked, “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.”
It failed to launch a new craze.
Whether it was Flashdance inventing the collarless off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, Top Gun doubling up as a recruitment ad for the U.S. Navy, or Risky Business ultimately saving the Ray-Ban Wayfarer from extinction, the 1980s saw a whole host of real-world crazes that derived from Hollywood films. Unfortunately, the producers of Gymkata failed to convince the moviegoing public that they’d pioneered a hot new sport.
“When gymnastics and karate are fused, the combustion becomes an explosion, and a new kind of martial arts superhero is born,” boomed the trailer for the infamous flop. Its tagline was just as boastful (“A new kind of martial-arts combat! The skill of gymnastics … the kill of karate”). It soon became clear why the two physical pursuits had previously been—and ultimately stayed—mutually exclusive.
Gymkata has become a cult classic.
Like The Room, Troll 2, and several other best-worst movies, Gymkata has been adopted as an unintentionally hilarious classic in the years since its release. It’s something Roger Ebert foreshadowed in his review: “This is one of the most ridiculous movies I’ve seen in a while, but make of this what you will: I heard more genuine laughter during the screening than at three or four so-called comedies I’ve seen lately. I was even toying with praising the movie as a comedy, but I’m not sure the filmmakers would take that as a compliment.”
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