Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

For the discussion of any Gamera related movies, comics, video games, etc.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by three »

i'll have to wait until friday. i was debating a purchase on those as i don't ever (like ever) buy the movies or dvds but i think there's no better way to do this.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by Kaiser »

Looking forward to rewatching this now that I have the triple feature blu-ray.

In my opinion, this is the best film of the Kaneko Gamera trilogy. The characters were more engaging, the acting was better, the best special effects of any Japanese kaiju film, my favorite opponent for Gamera, some truly epic (in every meaning of the word) action set-pieces, the snowy, winter cinematography and the best Gamera design in his history. I love Guardian of the Universe too, but this film hammers out some of the weaknesses and bolsters its strengths making it my 3rd favorite kaiju film of all-time.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by JAGzilla »

Kaiser wrote: the snowy, winter cinematography
Forgot to mention that. I can't immediately recall any other kaiju films set in the winter, so that was something that stood out about this movie.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by Omegazilla »

Awesome movie. Just plain fantastic. I'd explain right now why I love it, but I am short on time, but in short it is my favorite Gamera film.

Edit: First off Legion and all of it's incarnations are wickedly cool. The sheer power the species can possess to destroy entire planets is impressive, not to mention the queen Legion's standalone power. The SFX are top notch for the period as well as the plot. It was cool to actually see Gamera fight an opponent he wasn't built to fight and still triumph, which leads to the Mana Beam, which is a fantastic and welcome addition to Gamera's arsenal that can rival Godzilla's spiral ray. While the plot itself is nothing overly special, it gets the job done and suits the movie with minimal filler. The pacing is almost perfect and doesn't drag on or cut corners often like the prequel. The fair amount of monster action is fantastic and memorable, especially the final fight with Legion. It is for those reasons why I love this movie and believe it kicks all kinds of ass.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Put together all of this movie with the effects work of G3 (including the G3 Gamera suit) and you have the ultimate Gamera movie. This is such a well balanced kaiju movie. Comparing it to other 90s alien kaiju movies like SG and Orga, this one is by far the best.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by Kaiser »

Living Corpse wrote:There's only two G films that give us that with snow but it might not even be winter. The final fight of Son of Godzilla and GFW.

Now GTTHM I know is supposed to be colder months but they even say in the film it's been unusually warm for the time of year.
Mothra vs. Godzilla also takes place during the colder months. Next time you watch, note the heavy winter jackets the characters are wearing. The ironic thing about GTTHM is that while the film is supposed to take place during winter, given the December release date, they likely filmed it in the late Summer.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Finally got the opportunity to watch the only Heisei Gamera film I hadn't seen. As far as special effects are concerned, this was a significant improvement over Guardian of the Universe. Gamera is better than ever before and the sets are some of the best ever presented in a kaiju film. Legion, similar in concept to Destoroyah, was handled incredibly well. Both the miniature versions and the main creature. The weakest area for special effects was the CGI, however, it looks better than some of the green screen work from the previous film. The alien invasion idea was original, at least for kaiju flicks, and executed fairly well. The weakest department was the human characters, especially the female leads. Neither offered much, which was a wasted chance to expand upon Gamera's relationship with Akagi, and the new addition is probably the most underwhelming character in the entire franchise. Thankfully, the supporting cast is interesting enough to slightly compensate for this.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Legion's ability to make smaller monsters can easily make her fit into an RTS game.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

My favorite of the whole franchise by a considerable margin. A near perfect kaiju film. I really liked the characters too. The atmosphere is great with a nice sense of mystery and impending doom in the early going. It really got across the sense urgency and suspense of the situation and you really felt like they were in a race against time. The mood of the film is just perfect, with some nice moments of subtle character humor to lighten the mood without being silly or forced. The action setpieces may not stand up to the awesomeness of the Shibuya battle in Gamera 3, but are still some of the best in any kaiju film. I especially love the airport battle. Every came together almost perfectly.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by EmperorGhidorah »

Legion is just such a great design. She's menacing and and her roar is actually chilling at times. It also gave her a degree of character. I love the metallic theme as well. She contrasted so well against gamera.

You look at Toho's Heisei monsters and you ask your self "Why are they so fat". Monsters like mechagodzilla and Destroyah were ridiculously fat in the legs. Legion was very large yet they managed to make her look sleek.

The power in which she displayed was quite impressive. I loved the fact that each of her abilities were different from the others. Her beam caused wide spread damage and is a weapon best used in ranged combat. Her energy whips utilize cutting/penetrating power as well as heat as a means of injuring opponents in close-quarters combat. Her legs operate in a similar fashion. Her swarm could be used at a distance or up close and punish their opponents via smothering, biting, and slashing. She also had a cool defense mechanism as well. All of her abilities were unique and just added more to her overall awesomeness. Legion, one of the best and strongest kaiju ever and will always be one of my favorite kaijus of all time.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by Shannon Squid »

I love this Gamera trilogy but I also blame it for "ruining" a number of Godzilla movies for me. This one in particular I find to be one I rewatch the most.


I agree that the female lead was a weak link in the film. She and that...guy who ever he was could have been merged into the same character and it wouldn't have made much difference. Though it would rob us of that small but amusing scene of her parents seeing all these men go up into her room. Either way from the rather chilly tone of the film and it's apocalyptic feel- probably more so than Iris imo, it's still may favorite. Maybe I should give it a rewatch before too long.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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It's an excellent Gamera film, though not as good as GOtU. Some of the characters need to be better developed, but that's my only real complaint. Legion is quite the monster, and the battles were handled well.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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Honestly my favorite thing is seeing the military and Gamera team up. Legion and her army are too tough for either side to beat on their own. Yeah yeah the Mana Beam is powerful but it takes time, time Gamera would not have if the Solider Legion weren't distracted by the military interfering, not to mention if they hadn't blown off her shield legs she might have survived the Mana Beam with injuries had she still be able to use her shield. Those little legs and wings were frail but the rest of her body was pretty solid, taking tank round and jet bombs and missiles with no problem.

Also Gamera monsters including Gamera himself have been known to have weird blood, usually an odd color that is anything but red, so it was interesting to get a creature whose blood is gas.

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

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The gas blood aspect of legion is pretty cool. Easily one of the most creative parts of her
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by seamus »

I find the plot parallels with this film and Goji 1995 to be… interesting, to say the least. It's my least favorite of the trilogy, but considering how fantastic they all are, that's not really saying much. It's a bit long, but the effects and characters are great. ...and when the Legion eyes turn red towards the end and those laser whips (for lack of a better term?) are brought out; easily the best moment in the film.

The behind-the-scenes for this entry was especially cool to watch, as well.
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by PopInPicsPresents »

The SFX and OST were a step up from the last one but the exposition is just so blatant that it's annoying. It also suffers from the same in your face save the planet crap from the last one. The characters aren't as well done as in the previous film and some felt like they could have been left out completely. 7/10
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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by TheKaijuologist »

Hey I was looking for folks discussing this film. Just watched it a few nights ago and reviewed it on my channel. Check it out if you're so inclined. I freaking love this film, it's an excellent piece of Kaiju Cinema!

My Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6lnwZ_jILs

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Re: Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

Post by daveblackeye15 »

At first I thought it was the weakest but even back then it was still 'the fun one' with lots of military action and fighting. The special effects are better but the story is less polished. I don't know if this is my favorite Heisei Gamera design or 3's but this has a great blending of modern bad ass while looking not too scary.

3 even fixes the sudden chest beam by showing there are consequences in using it.

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