Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 25, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Gamera: The Complete Collection.

There’s a venerable old maxim that states “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for gander”, and in that regard, this deluxe Arrow release may be thought of as being at least kinda sorta the same “sauce” for an iconic kaiju that Criterion’s Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 was for what is arguably the most iconic kaiju in the annals of Japanese cinema. The Criterion release aggregated fifteen Godzilla films ranging from the monster’s 1954 debut to Terror of Mechagodzilla from 1975, while this collection covers the Gamera films from the 1965 debut of the creature through 2006's Gamera the Brave. The comparison between the two franchises is perhaps particularly apt in that, as August Ragone gets into in some of the bounteous supplemental features included on this release, Gamera was Daiei’s attempt to duplicate the success that Toho had had with the Godzilla films. As such, there’s an undeniably derivative aspect to quite a few (maybe all) of the Gamera films, plus there is a perhaps equally undeniable comedic element in that Gamera is in essence a giant, marauding turtle, as opposed to the arguably more threatening dinosaur-like ambience of Godzilla. Aside from the inclusion of retooled American versions of some of the films that this Arrow set offers as ostensible supplements, all of the original versions of the twelve "Japanese" films in this set save one were included in Gamera HD Bundle Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment several years ago, albeit with pretty shoddy technical merits according to my colleague Martin Liebman's reviews (the parent entry for the collection does not have a separate review, but if you go to the product Overview tab, Marty has reviewed all but one of the films in the set linked to in the parent review). Mill Creek also released Gamera Trilogy, which Marty reviewed separately, and which includes his only review of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. I'll refer to Marty's reviews in my reviews of the shared films in this set for those who want plot recaps, leaving the bulk of my reviews to both technical assessments and detailing of the supplementary material. The one outlier that wasn't released by Mill Creek, the aformentioned Gamera the Brave, was released by Tokyo Shock a few years ago and was reviewed at that time by Brian Orndorf, so in my review of that particular film I'll be referring to Brian's review for plot information. As always it can also be instructive to look at the various reviews in order to compare screenshots. I will say that I evidently have more of a soft spot for some of these films than my colleagues, and my scores for the films reflect that opinion. Arrow, long the champion of cult items, has outdone itself with this release, offering all of the Gamera films in a really handsomely appointed package that includes a glut of both on disc bonus features as well as accompanying non-disc swag (the disc related supplements are detailed in the individual reviews of each film, while the non-disc supplements are listed in the Gamera: The Complete Collection Blu-ray review).

As with many of the films in this set, this film was part of the Mill Creek Entertainment release from several years ago. For those interested in a plot recap, I refer you to Martin Liebman's Gamera: Guardian of the Universe / Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray review of that version.

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's oversized booklet containing information on the films lumps the entire series together in its descriptions of the transfers:

The masters for all twelve original Japanese films were prepared and supplied to Arrow Films by the Kadokawa Corporation. Gamera the Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris were restored in 4K by Kadokawa and approved by director Shusuke Kaneko in 2015.

Original 16mm and 35mm materials relating to the English language versions originally distributed in the United States by American International and Filmways were accessed through the kind courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, in association with the Kadokawa Corporation. The English dubbed audio was restored from the original magnetic and optical tracks by Deluxe, who also conformed it to the Japanese masters. Some additional 16mm materials were sourced from UCLA Film Archive. The film elements, which include English language credit sequences, insert shots and trailers, were scanned at EFilm and restored at R3Store Studios. Additional English language materials for the series were kindly supplied by Shout! Factory, ADV Films and Media Blasters, with additional thanks to Paulie Senkawsky and Will Offutt.

For Gammera the Invincible, the American theatrical version of Gamera, the Giant Monster, attempts were made to access the original negative held at UCLA Film Archive, but this is no longer legally accessible. A 35mm exhibition print was scanned in high definition by Legend Films, who provided this HD master to Arrow. This print was missing some shots of a jet pilot at the start of the film, and another film source for these shots could not be found. To insure an uncut presentation, these missing shots were reintegrated into the master using the HD master for Gamera, the Giant Monster for the video and an analog tape master for the dubbed English audio. As a result, some of these shots have burnt in Japanese subtitles that did not feature on the original American theatrical release and could not be removed here; we hope these do not affect your enjoyment of the film. Additional restoration took place at R3Store Studios.

This presentation is very much in line with that of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, though I have to say to my eyes grain resolves more naturally and more consistently in this presentation than in the previous film. Blues predominate throughout here in both lighting and grading, and while that can tend to accentuate grain and perhaps arguably deflate fine detail levels at times, on the whole things look very organic and detail levels are generally winning throughout. There is, as with the previous film, a kind of orange/yellow tinting to many of the interior scenes which can tend to make things like flesh tones look a bit unnatural, but detail levels are rarely if ever affected. Once again, the tendency to show the monsters in darkness or obscured by various objects seems to be an intentional gambit to keep prying eyes from seeing too much, and as such, detail on Gamera and his enemies can tend to be fleeting.

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are offered in both Japanese and English, and as with the previous film, the surround track is rather nicely detailed. A glut of flying objects, including everything from helicopters to Gemara himself (itself?) offer great panning effects, and as with the previous film, there's some nice, rumbly low end courtesy of both LFE and some of the scoring choices. Dialogue, effects and score are all presented without any issues and with excellent fidelity. Optional English subtitles are available.

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Kyle Yount


• "Lake Texarkana" Comedy Dub (1080p; 1:39:42) is a comedic "hillbilly" redub of the film done by ADV Films for a 2003 DVD release. This features Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.


• Introduction by August Ragone (1080p; 4:21)


• A Testimony of 15 Years: Part 2 (720p; 2:01:45) continues the exhaustive multi-hour documentary begun as a supplement on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. This comes with a spoiler warning. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Behind the Scenes: Production Footage (720p; 59:54)


• Production Announcement (720p; 6:34) features the official Daiei Studios announcement of the film in 1995. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Backstage Clip: Sky (720p; 3:11) is an assortment of scenes set to music.


• Promotional Events (720p; 5:16)


• Hibiya Theater Opening Day (720p; 3:58) documents the film's Tokyo premiere.


• Additional English Credits (720p; 1:21)


• Comedy Dub Outtakes (1080p; 3:56)


• Trailers and TV Spots

  Behind the Scenes Trailer (1080p; 3:37)

  
  

  Special Trailer 1 (1080p; 00:33)

  
  

  Special Trailer 2 (1080p; 3:41)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 1 (1080p; 2:21)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 2 (1080p; 1:03)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 3 (1080p; 00:35)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 4 (1080p; 00:39)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 5 (1080p; 00:35)

  
  

  TV Spots (1080i; 2:12)

  ,br>

  US Video Trailer (1080p; 1:32)

• Image Gallery (1080p)

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion is a worthy followup to its megasuccessful progenitor, and Arrow has provided a release with solid technical merits and outstanding supplements. Recommended.