Asia Mission
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Asia Mission |
| Original title | Gymkata |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1985 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Clouse |
| script | Charles Robert Carner |
| production | Rebecca Poole Fred Weintraub |
| music | Alfi Kabiljo |
| camera | Godfrey A. Godar |
| cut | Robert A. Ferretti |
| occupation | |
| |
Asia Mission (original Gymkata is) an American martial arts film from 1985 by Robert Clouse and with the then former gymnast Kurt Thomas in the lead role, which for a Golden Raspberry nomination.
title
The English title Gymkata is a made-up word as Portemanteau from the English gymnastics for apparatus gymnastics and the term Kata for forms of exercise in Japanese martial arts. It describes the fighting style developed by the main character from gymnastics and martial arts, without this being named in the film itself. The slogan "The Skill of Gymnastics, the Kill of Karate" alludes to the ingredients.
action
The fictional country of Parmistan in the Hindu Kush Mountains forces every outsider who enters it to take part in the game, a dangerous obstacle course through the country that no one has won for 900 years. A victor would be granted his life and a wish. During the Cold War , the American gymnast Jonathan Cabot, whose father lost the game and is considered dead, was hired by the Special Intelligence Agency to win the game so that the United States could install a Star Wars satellite station in Parmistan as an early warning system Nuclear attacks. Zamir, the general of the black masked warriors of Parmistan, plans to overthrow the Khan and sell the satellite station to the other side . Jonathan is trained by the Princess Rubali of Parmistan, with whom he begins a love affair, and two trainers in western and eastern martial arts, whereby he develops his own style as a combination of gymnastics and martial arts. On the way to Parmistan, Rubali is kidnapped in the city of Karabal by one of Zamir's henchmen and freed by Jonathan.
On the first day in Parmistan, the Khan explains the game's stations and rules to the players and, at a banquet for the day after the game, announces the traditional wedding between his daughter Rubali and his closest advisor Zamir, which Jonathan wants to prevent with his victory. When the game begins and the players have started running, Zamir arrests the Khan and the princess in their palace and rides with warriors after the players, who gradually kill them on the way. Masked warriors are scattered along the way, holding up flags to show the players the route. On a rock face, on which a rope has to be climbed, Zamir lights the rope under Jonathan and in a ravine, over which ropes are stretched, Zamir cuts the rope when Jonathan is hanging on it, but he can attach himself to the other both times Save the end. In the walled village of the damned, where the country's insane live, Jonathan is saved from them by a masked warrior who turns out to be his father. When his father is shot with arrows by Zamir, Jonathan grabs a horse, rides after him and kills him in battle. Meanwhile, Rubali is able to convince her father that Zamir did not act to protect him and defeat the guards. When the news that the winner arrives, Jonathan receives them.
A fade-in writes that the first Star Wars satellite station was installed in Parmistan in 1985.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Cabot | Kurt Thomas | Ekkehardt Belle |
| Rubali | Tetchie Agbayani | Inez Günther |
| khan | Buck Kartalian | Leo Bardischewski |
| Zamir | Richard Norton | Rudiger Bahr |
production
Asia Mission is based on the novel The Terrible Game by Dan Tyler Moore from 1957, which Charles Robert Carner adapted for the screenplay. The director took Robert Clouse , the 1973 martial arts film Enter the Dragon had turned. The producer of this film contacted the gymnast Kurt Thomas , who had withdrawn from the sport after the 1980 boycott of the Olympic Games by the United States , to star in Asia Mission . Asia Mission was filmed in what was then Yugoslavia and on the Adriatic Sea . Except for one, Thomas did all the stunts himself. According to Thomas, actual inmates of a Yugoslavian psychiatric hospital were used for the extras for the insane residents of the Village of the Damned . The character Jonathan Cabot remained Thomas' only leading role besides a few small guest appearances.
publication
The film was released as gymkata in American theaters on May 3, 1985 and grossed over $ 5 million. In 1986 it was released on video cassette in Germany with the title Asia Mission . In June 2006, the film was selected for DVD release in a poll by Warner Home Video and Amazon, which took place in January 2007.
reception
For the film, Thomas was nominated for a Golden Raspberry in the worst newcomer category in 1986.
Reviews
Asia Mission is considered one of the worst films due to the absurd premise and the setting, but also a cult film . Nick Schager from AV Club describes it as a "masterpiece of involuntary comedy". Jason Bailey of Flavorwire classifies it as a bad movie in the category "so bad it's good again". Erik Amaya from Comicon sums up that the film combines the madness of ninja films and the seriousness of gymnastics films and is a very special kind of martial arts film that can never be tried again by anyone.
In pop culture
In Mystery Science Theater 3000 was Gymkata often used as an exclamation. In the 2017 Lego Batman Movie , Robin (Dick Grayson) claims to master gymkata. The well-known scene in which Thomas' character encounters a pommel horse on the market square in the Village of the Damned and can use gymnastics movements to knock out his opponents was featured in Family Guy in the episode The Woof of Wall Street in 2018 by the character Stewie Griffin parodies. Will Arnett featured the 2020 film on the Quibi show Memory Hole as "Martial Arts Movie Nobody Asked For".
Web links
- Asia Mission in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Asia Mission. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing index , accessed on November 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Exclusive interview: Kurt Thomas (Star of Gymkata) . In: Bristol Bad Film Club . January 22, 2015. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo , accessed November 27, 2020
- ↑ Asia Mission . In: Action friends . May 6, 2016. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Dave Kehr: New DVDs: DVD Decision 2006 . In: New York Times . December 26, 2006. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Bill Gordon: Gymkata (1985) - Kurt Thomas, Tetchie Agbayani . In: Worst Movies Ever Made . February 16, 2014. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Nick Schager: Gymkata is a masterpiece of unintentional comedy . In: AV Club . November 18, 2013. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Jason Bailey: So Bad It's Good: The Unintentionally Hilarious' 80s Kung-Fu / Gymnastics Mashup 'Gymkata' . In: Flavorwire . May 8, 2015. Accessed November 27, 2020.
- ↑ Erik Amaya: Gymkata Is Your Weekend Cheesy Movie . In: Comicon . March 10, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2020.