Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996)
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Gamera 2: Legion Invasion (1996)
Gamera: Attack of Legion (DVD 2003)“
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Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (ガメラ２ レギオン襲来 Gamera Tsū Region Shūrai, lit. Gamera 2: Legion Invasion) is a 1996 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company and the tenth entry in the Gamera series, as well as the second entry in Shusuke Kaneko's Heisei Gamera trilogy and the second Gamera film to be distributed by Toho.
Plot
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A year has passed since the battle between Gamera and the Gyaos, and Japan has struggled to rebuild its cities in the meantime. The JSDF has kept a cautious vigil on the nation's coast, but so far Gamera has yet to return. Suddenly, a series of bizarre incidents reveal a new threat to the land of the rising sun. On a moonlit stroll, science instructor Midori Honami watches as a huge meteor plunges into the mountain snow. The next night, two security guards are horrified as they see the shadows of man-sized, crab-like insects stealing glass bottles from a nearby warehouse. Soon after, the entire city of Sapporo is entangled in grass-like spikes and the link between these events soon becomes clear.
The meteor has carried with it a species of extraterrestrials. These aliens have set up a hive in the bowels of the city's subway tunnels, deliberately nurturing the plants that are covering the city. Soon a gigantic flower erupts from a building and Colonel Watarase of the Self-Defense Force realizes that it is dramatically raising the city's oxygen levels. Working together with the swift-minded Miss Honami, he realizes that the aliens are building a huge biological launchpad: the increased oxygen will aid the aliens in exploding the flower, catapulting its seed into space so that they can colonize yet another world. The military can only watch helplessly, as any attempt to destroy the flower would destroy all of Sapporo.
Just as all hope is lost, Gamera flies from the sea and heads toward the besieged city. He tears the flower out by its roots, but is ambushed by a swarm of the aliens. As Gamera thrashes to rid himself of the attacking aliens, a nearby soldier names them "Legion", after a passage from the Bible. Gamera is forced to retreat, just as the daikaiju-sized Mother Legion bursts out of the ground and flies off to start a second hive.
Again, a Legion flower blooms, this time in Sendai, and again Gamera attempts to stop its explosion. He is intercepted, however, by the Mother Legion. She makes short work of Gamera, impaling him with her sharp legs and blasting him with her horn beam. Left for dead, Gamera limps toward the flower, destroying it by knocking it down before it launches its seed into space. The flower explodes and completely annihilates Sendai; and seemingly killing Gamera. The failure of the first two flowers signaled desperation in the Mother Legion's mind. The first two flowers had been destroyed, but now Gamera was dead and all that remained was to eliminate the human resistance and then Tokyo would belong to the Legion.
Japan's self-defense forces and scientists race to find the Legion's weakness, but have so far found only one clue: the Soldier Legion are attracted to any electromagnetic source, such as a power line or a neon light. While this may enable the army to distract them, it has the unfortunate side-effect of drawing them to Tokyo: Japan's capital city, and the largest source of electromagnetism in the nation. The military knows it needs Gamera's help, and so Miss Honami brings in the one person who could possibly revive him: Asagi Kusanagi, the young girl who bonded with him during the Gyaos attack one year ago. Asagi visits the ruins of Sendai where Gamera lies comatose, and as she tries to reach out to him, the mystical jewel that enables their bond shatters. Gamera is awakened, but at the sacrifice of his human connection.
The Mother Legion marches on Tokyo, but Gamera heads her off in the outskirts. She spawns a swarm of Soldiers against him, but the military manages to draw them off with an electric distraction and kill them. Gamera and the Mother Legion fight throughout the suburbs, and the military lobs a few missiles at the Legion in aid. Finally, Gamera manages to tear off the Mother Legion's horn, and she momentarily collapses in defeat.
Suddenly, the Mother Legion rises up and fires laser whips into Gamera's flesh. Gamera then looks into the sky and roars, and light begins to shine down upon him. As the Legion closes in, Gamera chest opens up and reveals a plasma cannon. Gamera fires it at the Mother Legion, who is hit by the blast and lets out a final roar before being blown apart and killed.
Gamera glances toward the human onlookers, and then ascends into the morning sky. As they watch Gamera fly into the distance, mankind is unsettled by his power, and trembles lest he should ever view humanity as an enemy...
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Shusuke Kaneko
- Written by Kazunori Ito
- Produced by Miyuki Nanri, Naoki Sato, Tsutomu Tsuchikawa
- Music by Kow Otani
- Cinematography by Junichi Tozawa
- Edited by Shizuo Arakawa
- Production design by Hajime Oikawa
- Special effects by Shinji Higuchi, Makoto Kamiya
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Toshiyuki Nagashima as Colonel Watarase
- Miki Mizuno as Midori Honami
- Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Obitsu
- Ayako Fujitani as Asagi Kusanagi
- Tamotsu Ishibashi as Hanatani
- Hiroyuki Okita as Sasai
- Yukijiro Hotaru as Osako
- Yusuke Kawazu as Nojiri
- Hatsunori Hasegawa as Colonel Satake
- Tomorowo Taguchi as Subway Driver
- Ishi Rasale as NTT Worker
- Akira Ohashi as Gamera
- Mizuho Yoshida and Toshinori Sasaki as Mother Legion
- Tomohiko Akayama, Yuji Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Akihiro Nakata as Soldier Legion
English Dub
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Jay Hickman as Colonel Watarase
- Shelley Calene-Black as Midori Honami
- Chris Patton as Obitsu
- Illich Guardiola as Hanatani
- Luci Christian as Asagi Kusanagi
- Rob Mungle as Colonel Satake
Appearances
Monsters
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Weapons, Vehicles, and Races
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Gallery
- Main article: Gamera 2: Attack of Legion/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (Soundtrack).
Alternate Titles
- Gamera 2: Legion Invasion (Literal Japanese title)
- Gamera 2: The Real Guardian of the Universe (Early English title)
- G2: Gamera vs. Legion (Early English title)
- Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (Alternate English title)
- Gamera 2: Assault of the Legion (English Japanese title)
- Gamera: Attack of Legion (U.S. DVD Title)
- Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (U.S. Blu-ray Title)
Theatrical Releases
- Japan - July 13, 1996
Video Releases
ADV Films DVD (2003)
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (5.1 Surround), English (5.1 Surround)
- Special Features: Interview with Shinji Higuchi (32 minutes), two press conferences (7 minutes), six trailers, ten TV spots, behind the scenes footage (3 minutes), Yubari Fantasy Film Festival premiere (6 minutes), footage from the film's opening day in Japanese theaters (4 minutes), Gamera Promotional Events featurette (5 minutes), outtakes (4 minutes; dubbing gags rather than on-set mistakes), Lake Texarkana Gamera (13-minute gag dub of the film)
- Notes: A full-length version of the Lake Texarkana Gamera dub is available on a 2004 re-release packaged with Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris in the Gamera Complete DVD Collection. Out of print.
Mill Creek Blu-ray (2011)
- Region: N/A
- Discs: 2
- Audio: Japanese (DTS-HD HR 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1, ADV dub)
- Special Features: None
- Notes: Packaged with Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. The two films can also be found with Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris in the Gamera Trilogy set.
Mill Creek DVD (2014) [Gamera: Legacy Collection]
- Region: 1
- Discs: 4
- Audio: Japanese (Stereo)
- Special Features: None
- Notes: Packaged with Gamera, Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gamera vs. Viras, Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera vs. Zigra, Gamera: Super Monster, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.
Box Office
The film did fairly well, with a gross of $6,500,000.
Reception
Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is considered one of the best Gamera films, and is highly favored by fans. The film has an audience percentage of 84%, with an average rating of 3.8 out of 5, on the movie reviewing site Rotten Tomatoes.[2] It also has a score of 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb.[3]
Videos
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External Links
References
This is a list of references for Gamera 2: Attack of Legion. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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