User reviews

The second part of the Gamera trilogy is a very enjoyable movie! On one hand, it successfully imports the trademarks of the 70s (focussing more on the monster battle than on the human characters), but stylistically it is up-to-date for the 90s with its fast editing, cutting to photos and different locations all the time - that provides the bizarre action (come on, a turtle with jet engines?) with a realistic CNN report look. The 100 speedy minutes feel like 80. Gamera battles a giant crab (similar to actual giant crabs of the Pacific Ocean) and a swarm of smaller monsters here which may break out of the ground any moment - pretty effective compared to the monsters of old days who used to walk across the country so you could see them coming from miles away. When Gamera is covered by thousand of small creatures, the agony is almost tangible. Also, this time we have not much treachery, wickedness, ignorance or controversy among the humans - they all agree Gamera is the one who deserves support and it's a well organized co-operation this time.

Following the success of the surprisingly spectacular "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe", director Shusuke Kaneko received a go-ahead to make two more Gamera movies and thus create his own trilogy. But this trilogy was destined to be something much more than just three more entries in the seemingly endless cycle of Japanese monster movies. This was where Gamera, the flying fire-breathing turtle created by Daiei Studios, became characterized and progressed enough to be considered his own character and not just another figure living in the shadow of Godzilla. Kaneko had a limited budget for his first film. For the first sequel, "Gamera: Attack of Legion" the budget would be increased. Now this is my least favorite of the three films, but that is not a denunciation. Not even close.

A year after Gamera's battle with the Gyaos, a mysterious cluster of meteorites crash-lands in Japan. Following this unexplained phenomenon comes a series of incidents and disasters and before long it becomes clear that the planet has been invaded by a colony of creatures from another world. The creatures, known as the Legion, begin to savage the countryside and before long, it's going to be you-know-who to the rescue.

Although I do enjoy the other two films in the trilogy a little more, "Gamera: Attack of Legion" is still a marvelous and artistic motion picture. It's still a lot more impressive than the average monster movie, Japanese or otherwise.

A notable thing about the Gamera trilogy is the gradual change of tone between the movies. The first film was a lighthearted entry made with respect to the older monster movies, but with an updated style. "Gamera: Attack of Legion" is where the series became a little darker, a little more cynical, making its way toward the utterly dark and mysterious "Gamera: Revenge of Iris." The second film lies a little bit between the two movies. For the most part, the approach on the monsters is serious, although there are some deliberately comical moments that keep the movie from becoming too moody.

Kaneko had a bigger budget, so he could create even more elaborate effects for this film. By ILM standards, no, the effects are not up to date. But with a limited budget, they are more than impressive. There were a few CGI shots that I didn't drop my jaw at, but for the most part, the effects were terrific. Sometimes Gamera and Legion looked so convincing they looked like they were beyond just men in rubber suits. The special effects work and of course the cinematographer are due enormous credit for this feat.

What about the human cast? Uncommon for a monster movie, they are actually, for the most part, quite interesting. Unfortunately, the leading character played by Toshiyuki Nagashima doesn't have a tremendous amount of personality depth, but then again, how many of us go to a monster movie looking for great character study? But aside from him, we do have some strongly-written humans and some strong performances. One thing I admire a lot about Kaneko's style is that he breaks conventions even in the casting, where he gives the strongest parts in female roles. The leading female part is played wonderfully by the attractive and talented actress Miki Mizuno and I can't leave out Ayako Fujitani as the girl who communicates with Gamera psychically, although I do wish she had just a little more screen time in the film. It is really refreshing to see women, who are usually reduced to just screaming in monster movies, to be stealing the screen not with beauty but with personality and performance. Yukijiro Hotaru, whom you may remember as the comical bumbling Inspector Osako in the first movie, also makes an appearance here as well.

The movie, like many, is not without its faults, but they are hardly enough to detract any entertainment value from the overall result. Featuring strong performances especially by Miki Mizuno and Ayako Fujitani, great special effects, a spectacular musical score by Ko Otani, and action scenes packed with imagination, "Gamera: Attack of Legion" is yet another success story for director Kaneko and his crew and one the most impressive science-fiction films this monster movie fan has ever seen.

...at least IMNSHO. It was high time someone thought up an insect kaiju that could be tough,scary,and interesting(Kumonga,Mothra and Kamacuras? Give me a break.Only Megaguirus came close to being interesting.) There was so much to like about this movie-intelligent dialog(even after the dubbing),great fight scenes,and the fact that the emphasis was placed on the monsters,and not the actors. No silly new "ultimate monster fighting weapon that gets trashed in 30 seconds"-just get those idiots from the JSDF out of the way,and let Gamera take care of business.But the big G had his hands full here-the Legion swarm were bad enough,but the mother creature was awesome,and didn't roll over when she got hurt. The mandible blasts were great,but those red "whip" beams that went right thru Gamera were awesome. I even liked the Legion's voice-it sounded like a rusty gate opening! Gamera was incredible,and that fireball slide trick he did was the bomb. With a new Gamera movie coming out next year,and Toho making it plain from the ending of Godzilla:Final Wars that they have no intention of waiting 5-10 years for a new Godzilla movie,I,along with many other kaiju fans,demand that Toho and Deiei quit fooling around,and make the deal-Godzilla vs.Gamera.What else is left?

This movie rocks! Gamera gets a serious facelift for this feature, with a sleek new look and a bad attitude. No longer is he a hero just for the kiddies, but a serious threat to anything that gets in his way. The film looks great, has high production values, state of the art special effects, a killer music score, a tough no-nonsense attitude, and massive large scale destruction. Monster movie fans are sure to be thrilled. Even without the benefit of subtitles I found the film to be riveting from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Out of the '90s Gamera Trilogy, this is my least favorite. I think the mistake was relegating Asagi Kusanagi to a minor role and bringing Miki Mizuno's character to fill in as a main character. Mizuno's acting ability just wasn't up to the task, and failed to have a single focal point in the movie.

But asides from that, this movie is an epic in a class with movies such as "Troy" in the scale the story was told. The key to this was the absolutely believable landscape they've created in miniature for the movie, and great camera angles special effects director Shinji Higuchi always seem to capture.

I wished integration of plot between Gamera and rest of the world was as tight as the first '90s Gamera (Gamera Guardian of the Universe) movie. The scenes with humans in this movie became just a filler due to poor integration in plot line. Still this is easily one of the top five kaijyu movie ever made and is worth seeing.

Now this is what I call an excellent giant monster film. There's a plot: which concerns an invasion by alien insects who wish to turn Japan into a nest so they can spread their colonies all over. There are characters that are well-defined and interesting. There is suspense. There are realistic special FX, cool-looking monsters, and brutal kaiju battles. This film expertly shows Japan in panic and the effects of a kaiju on the country. It's also good to show how the military handles the situation. This film far surpasses the first movie in the series. Legion was a far more formidable villain than Gyaos. There are many classic scenes, including Legion's demise, Gamera getting covered with insects, and the destruction of Sendai. This can be either a great introduction to the genre or one of the quintessential giant monster films. Great fun throughout.

I had a little bit of reluctance of sitting down to watch "Gamera 2: Region shurai" (aka "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion") because the first "Gamera" movie wasn't really all that impressive.

But continuing on in my recent kaiju marathon, I eventually ended up with "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion", so I did sit down and watch it.

Good thing that I did, because "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion" turned out to be quite more interesting and entertaining that the predecessor movie was. So I was actually genuinely entertained with what I saw in "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion".

There is an abundance of destruction throughout the course of this 1996 movie, which more than definitely pleased me. I watch these movies for the kaijus and the mayhem they happen to bring with them in their wake. And "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion" definitely delivered on that account.

The kaiju designs in the movie were good, as were the special effects in general. I liked how Gamera looked in the movie, and also the appearance of his enemy - Legion? - because there was a lot of nice details and just a general interesting appearance to them both.

Like all kaiju movies, the kaiju action is "spruced" up with some human drama. To me, the human drama aspects of these movies always sort of take a background position, because it is never as interesting as the wanton destruction of the kaijus and the massive fights between them.

All in all, "Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion" is definitely worth taking the time to sit down and watch. And my rating is a strong six out of ten stars.

For years now, all I've had was the original Japanese language version, without subtitles, thinking this is the best giant monster film to ever come along. Now, after seeing it subtitled, I believe it's easily the best of the 3 new Gamera films. The situations involving people, are well integrated with the story, and kept in proximity to the action. Legion, the giant insect-like crustacean, is the best monster ever to come out of Japan. It's also one of the most articulated creatures ever designed. The icing on the eiga, is the great CGI effects, like the animated lasers Legion emits, and Gamera's fire-balls. Suspension of disbelief is not a problem. The most amazing thing is, that they were able to take what was ludicrous camp in the extreme, and succeeded in making it respectable art. You'll believe a giant prehistoric saber-toothed fire-breathing turtle, CAN fly !

While the films quality and beautiful shots are awesome, this film offers nothing special in terms of narrative. Gamera is really cool and the scenes with him are well spread out. However, this film is just recycled material and the story is just okay. It doesn't take the franchise any further than the last one except the monster is slightly better. This isn't as good as the previous film. The acting, writing, plot and themes aren't as good as the previous film. The direction is still pretty good as it has good human intervention however, this film lacks the substance of some Kaiju films. I like the director but this is not his best film.

Just bought the movie at Amazon.com and found I am divided. Somehow it could have been an interesting movie but somehow it isn't. The female actresses are nearly totally 'emotionless' in their acting, some scenes are funny, like the generals - administrating the attack on the legion - sitting there like samurai on the floor, name signs at their side, first, second and third commander in rank - my Japanese wife was grinning when she saw it ;-). However, the whole movie is really slow paced and gets only fast and furious in SOME fighting scenes. The basic plot of the movie is that an obvious meteorite - which is in fact the legion - lands on earth but the meteorite leaves no trace and is gone. Alien legion builds in subway habitat and giant 'flower' grows through and of top of high rise building. The intention is too shot spores into space. OK, some soldiers die, Gamera comes and destroys center of Sapporo city and the same happens again in Sendai city where the whole city is destroyed in a nuclear like explosion. Gamera attacks a big legion monster - there is a big one and a 'swarm' of smaller legion monsters and is somehow beaten and somehow dead - as usual. Then final show down near Tokyo, the humans invent a signal to attract the swarm - the only fresh idea in the movie - and kill the smaller swarm monsters by tank breaking helicopters - very inventive. There are no super weapons, only tanks, fighter planes and usual military equipment. Gamera gets at the end super charged by some worldwide imaginary force and can kill the big legion monster. The CG is remarkable at some times - remember the film was made in 1996. IMHO Does not beat Godzilla movies but worth to watch it.

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Upon watching Gamera 2 I've come to the conclusion that this is the best kaiju movie ever.#1 Gamera faced an impossible enemy who not only had thousands of deadly offspring,but was over twice his size with awesome fire power.#2 There was also a daytime battle in which you got to get a better look at both monsters.#3 Need I say more on how cool Gamera looked when he inhaled oxygen from the Legion pod before he blew it to pieces.#4 The destructive blast to the city of Sentai that took Gamera out as well was second to none.#5 Who can forget about how before the last battle Gamera flew into a side slide landing as well as blasting Legion with Plasma Fireballs.#6 Need I say more about the Plasma blast Gamera fired from his chest that took out Legion once and for all.I think this movie was better that any Gojira movie ever made.

This has absolutely awesome kaiju, it reminded me of Destoroyah. It's not quite as good as the previous film but still a really good Gamera and kaiju film. There are lots of explosions and plenty of city smashing. This probably has the best explosions of any kaiju film ever. The story follows on from the previous film so it's nice that they are linked and not standalone. The human story fills the time between kaiju action. Very much worth watching, especially for kaiju fans. So I have not yet reached 600 characters but I've said everything I want about this film, watch it instead of reading this.

This actually quite a bit better than the 1995 Gamera. The effects are top-notch and the story is decent. Not bad. This is coming from someone that is Godzilla fan first and foremost when it comes to kaiju films.

This film is great, especially is you're a giant monster lover. There doesn't seem to be as much monster action in this than in guardian of the universe, but when the monsters fight it's really cool, especially the last battle, even if it takes a while to get there. This film has a few semi horror scenes that I wasn't expecting, and it's great, the villain in this, Legion, is really cool and there are a lot of tiny Legion for the humans to deal with while Gamera takes care of the big one. The human characters in this aren't the best but they aren't bad or anything. The suitmation and effects are top tier and rival the best godzilla movies.

Overall I would recommend this to giant monster movie lovers only, especially if you've seen guardian of the universe already.

The second part of the new gamera-series offers the same advantages of the first movie only with improved quality. The design of legion is well done offering a mean, foreign but interesting looking villain that threatens earth (especially Japanese cities :) The story is convincing, revealing the nature of legion step by step (meaning the film is very interesting even if there are humans instead of monsters on screen, which is, in my opinion is very important to a film based on special effects).

An amazingly well done film you'll surely want to watch more than only one time.

This is an amazing film. Much different than those cheap Gamera films from the 1960s (although they were great also), the Hollywood-style special effects are excellent. A mature storyline and tons of action make this a must for sci-fi and kaiju fans.

I've come to the conclusion that nothing can kill Gamera: in this film, he is attacked by numerous alien insects (the 'Legion' of the title), is pierced by a dozen or so 'energy tentacles' that shoot out of the main beastie (a much larger version of one of the nasty insect creatures), and survives the equivalent of a nuclear blast.

Gamera's invincibility can be attributed to the fact that he was deliberately engineered by a lost civilisation to protect the Earth from nasty monsters. The Legion come from outer space on a meteor, and try to take over the planet (I'm not exactly sure about the method by which they multiply - it's a bit confusing and involves giant seed pods), but Gamera comes to the rescue of the human race once again, the giant turtle revealing previously unseen powers in the process.

All of this could have been very entertaining - the chitinous aliens are some of the best monsters in the whole series and the explosive destruction is spectacular - but too much of the film is spent on dull chit-chat, while the monster vs. Monster action is interrupted time and time again by cutaways to soldiers determining their next useless plan of attack.

4/10. Would have benefitted from less talk, more action and by being less po-faced.

Gamera 2: Advent of Legion is really good. Not perfect, and not as good as Gamera 3, but still pretty good. The movie uses several innovative techniques new to the kaiju world. For example, the movie introduces the human-sized legions as a horror element. They attack (and actually kill, something rare in kaiju films), the people on a commuter train. And it has pretty good marionetes. The mother Legion itself looks pretty good and has remarkable mobility for a creature of its size. If you compare it to Destroyah...well, no contest. Gamera looks different too, and has a new mode of flight. His hands transform into flippers when he flies. This is a controversial change, to say the least, but I think it looks ok. Anyway, I think there is enough good stuff about this movie to purchase it. A step up from Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and a step up from the Godzilla series. Don't worry Godzilla fans, Godzilla can still make the best destruction films, but for an actually GOOD kaiju movie, check this one out. But if you want the best go for Gamera 3...

After the very good Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe, the same percentages (director - screenwriter) return for the sequel. The surprise is that the sequel is better than the original film in places, but at key points that makes the difference. Here, Gamera must prevent an alien invasion initially fighting with the flock human scale insects and in the process will naturally face the giant creature, which is something like a queen- mother of the flock. All this is within the context of thematic films kaiju. Where different then the sequel of Gamera? In the field of entertainment, the sequel of Gamera, is a cut above the film of 1995. Spectacular shots battles, better effects and slightly darker atmosphere, along with those mentioned above, make Gamera 2 in my eyes, best movie than its predecessor and better kaiju film, along with GMK.