Gamera 2: Advent of Legion Talkback

[king_ghidorah]

The Basics:

A metor strikes Japan, unleashing an army of insect like kaiju that only the combined forces of the JSDF and Gamera can defeat.

The Plot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamera_2:_Attack_of_Legion


The Kaiju:

Gamera:
Looking slightly different from his 95 appearance here. He now has permenant spikes on his elbows and his face has thinned out a lot. This is a fan favorite Gamera suit.

Legion Soldiers:
Pretty cool. A step up from the tiny Destroyer soldiers. Very alien like in appearance.

Legion Flower:
Pulled right out of Ultra Q, which is fine by me because I love Ultra Q!!

Legion Mother:
Really awesome kaiju pulled off in the conventional man (men) in suit method! It almost seems impossible to believe that men can fit inside that suit but they do making for one of the most incredible kaiju design ever put on the big screen.

The Acting:
Great all around, with the standouts being members of the JSDF.

The SPFX:
While Gamera: GOTU had some pretty good effects, G2 knocks it out of the park. The best kaiju effects put on film up to that point. There's some wonky CGI with the legion soldiers swarming over Gamera, but it's still better than the practical effects used in Godzilla vs. Destroyer for essentially the same shot. The suits used in this film are among the very best ever for a kaiju film.

The Other Stuff:

-The Legion seems like something pulled right out of Ultra Q, which combined with the very Honda esque film, really makes this feel like a fan boy dream cross over of Gamera/Ultra Q.

-Gamera gets some Showa era battle damage in this film, nice to see him rise up and score a win after being wounded so badly

-Not a huge fan of the way Kaneko sometimes pulls monkeys out of kaiju's butts for "SUPAAA!!!, Epic!!, Finishing MOVES!!!!!"

-This is probably my personal fave of the Gamera trilogy, though G3 has my favorite scene in it

-The science used in this film is incredible, it seems like Kaneko did some research for this film, and Legion's life cycle, and it shows

-The English dub for this film is about as cheesy as they come

[The Real McCoy]

[kiryugoji04]

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

[heroforhirerob]

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Dagarah72]

I've always found this film to be badass! It was definitely a big improvement over Gamera Guardian of the Universe. The legion soldiers and queen designs were incredible, and the fights were spectacular. I've always loved the Gamera trilogy, so much so that I really hated Gamera The Brave. Gamera 2 is by far one of the best kaiju films ever put to celluloid.


Ricky

[jellydonut25]

I like Gamera the Brave...


That said, this is one of my top five favorite kaiju films ever.

[TripMasterMunky]

[Dr Kain]

[MekaGojira3k]

Jesus. Watching this movie, and it astounds me just HOW good it is. The effects (minus some low budget CGI that is thankfully used SPARINGLY), the super well done story, the music....just everything. It's my favorite Gamera film and may be my 2nd favorite japanese giant monster movie next to the original Gojira.

[king_ghidorah]

It's a darned good film. The only thing that prevents me from liking it more are the human characters which just aren't as strong as GOTU or Gamera 3.

[MekaGojira3k]

I think they're at least on par with G3's characters, but GOTU does have it beat...but then again I think G2 beats those two films in every other way so it doesn't really hold it back that much in my eyes.

[king_ghidorah]

Yeah GOTU has the best cast. G2 the best narrative and G3 has the best effects.

I think I probably watch GOTU and G3 more but I think G2 is probably the best of the bunch in most ways. It's deff the fan favorite.

[MekaGojira3k]

I agree with those, but I always got the sense that G3 was the fan favorite.

[king_ghidorah]

[king_ghidorah]

Ok, I've suddenly switched back. The G2 suit is once again my favorite suit. It's odd...but like the Hesei Godzilla...when I close my eyes the G2 Gamera is the Gamera I see in my mind's eye. Gotta agree with Kyle here...the G2 suit is near perfect. A great balance of the dark and light aspects of the character.

[MouthForWar]