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Jimmy’s Notes on Episode 51: Dallas Mora vs. ‘Gamera 2: Attack of Legion’

Published November 13, 2021

Is it Saturday? Damn, what was in that beer I had last night at the Monster Island Tavern? That’s the last time I go drinking with Dr. Dourif. No wonder I didn’t finish my promised “Jimmy’s Notes” blog on episode 51 (Gamera 2: Attack of Legion). Nate isn’t the only one trying to get back on schedule. Thankfully, with this, I’ll be caught up after all of the Board’s shenanigans. Surprisingly, I didn’t take many notes during that broadcast. They were:

  • Yes, the beginning of this film was nostalgic for me. I miss NASA. I thought about getting a job there again during Nate’s time in orbit. I may still need to if business dries up for the Island. Good thing I still have connections there.
  • I did some digging, as Dallas requested, and I couldn’t find any staff members who worked on both Gamera 2 and Parasite Eve. However, the 1997 movie adaptation of the original Japanese novel was distributed by Kadokawa Shoten, which is owned by the same parent company that bought Daiei (and Gamera) in 2002.
  • It was a girl who was crying over Gamera, not a boy, Nate! Use the right pronoun!
  • The Maccabean Revolt was in the second century B.C. and was against the Seleucid Empire, which was Greek
  • Dallas is bothered by my tight T-shirts? It’s not my fault I need to change my wardrobe after hitting the Kaiju Gym as hard as I have. 😛

Now for the overabundance of leftover notes Marchand has on this movie. I don’t think I’m contractually obligated to share these anymore (it’s all in flux after recent events), but being that he’s my friend, here you go.

  • The detective is back! But now he’s a security beer warehouse. And he still can’t get away from kaiju! His interview by the cops on video made me think of The Terminator. I wonder if Kirin Beer sponsored the movie? (Maybe. I should have some Kirin beer delivered to the Island. So we can ask them to sponsor us, of course! -Jimmy)
  • This movie likes horizontal wipes. (Kinda like one of my favorite space movies…. –Jimmy)
  • Interesting that the evacuees run through a torii gate (see Daimajin episode of MIFV). It marked the entrance to a sacred place. Shelter?
  • I love the effects when Gamera inhales to shoot a plasma ball. You see gas go in his mouth and his throat light up.
  • Again, there are real consequences. Legion corpses on the beach after Gamera swims away.
  • Netscape and the old internet. Quaint.
  • Asagi shows up 40 or so minutes in.
  • A second flower as a set piece does seem a bit repetitive.
  • All those hats on that long rack!
  • Asagi’s hat says, “Invisible,” in English. It describes her because she goes unheeded by most people. (You freaking English major. 😛  –Jimmy)
  • Breaking Legion’s horn actually makes things worse. Pacing and escalation. Legion goes red-eyed and angry.
  • SHINKU…HADOKEN! This is crazy, anime-esque, and doesn’t get explained until the next film. Otherwise, it’s totally left field. “If his chest had been a cannon, he’d have shot his heart upon it.” (Again, FREAKING ENGLISH MAJOR! –Jimmy)

COMMENTARY BY KYLE YOUNT

  • Opened between Godzilla vs. Destoroyah and Rebirth of Mothra, so the kaiju scene was a bit stale.
  • First act is set in Hokkaido, which is a bit unique for a kaiju film. Northernmost island.
  • The scientists and military actually get along.
  • The crew had to pull the beer bottles by hand because their rig didn’t work. Had to paint their fingers black so they wouldn’t show up on camera.
  • The doctor who dissects the Legion soldier was an actual professor.

INTRO BY RAGONE (ARROW VIDEO)

  • Mahiro Miyeda, who helped design Legion, also did concepts for Mad Max: Fury Road.

A TESTIMONY OF 15 YEARS (DOCUMENTARY)

  • One of the producers on the trilogy, Morio Akawa, didn’t even like monster movies and preferred movies for older audiences as a kid. He credits the trilogy with stretching him.
  • (Ito wouldn’t show his face in his interview. Instead, we saw his dog. Why?) (Because you writers are weird? 😛 –Jimmy)
  • Ito calls the trilogy his “coming-of-age” as a screenwriter. He says there’s a clear difference between his writing before and after the trilogy. He used to be associated Mamori Oshii, and now he’s associated with this trilogy.
  • Otani says Masaru Sato saw the first film and said, “There’s no one in Japan who writes like this, at full throttle!” Otani says that’s how he works.

MACIAS (ARROW BOOKLET)

  • Guiron and Barugon were discussed to return, but the filmmakers decided to go with a new monster—Gamera’s first original foe since 1971—Legion. (I think Barugon wants to know…why was he replaced? –Jimmy)
  • Gamera was redesigned slightly by Tomo Haraguchi, an effects wizard and film director).
  • This time, the JSDF supports Gamera.

 “BRINGING UP GAMERA” BY ENGLAND (ARROW BOOKLET)

  • As a teen, he (Higuchi) got a part-time job with Toho and worked with Koichi Kawakita on Sayonara Jupiter (see MIFV episode 41) and Return of Godzilla.
  • He storyboarded for many productions, including anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anno named the series’ main character after him).
  • He wanted a project at the time that fit into what he envisioned—that is until screenwriter Ito got him the job on Guardian of the Universe. He’d never done it before, so Daiei was taking a risk.
  • He wasn’t able to redesign Gamera as much as he wanted, which brought him into conflict with the studio. He wished he could’ve gotten away with what the filmmakers did on Godzilla (1998). However, in Gamera 2, he got to do it by making Gamera more like a sea turtle with flippers.
  • With designing Legion, he said he wanted to make something memorable like old school kaiju, because he felt modern kaiju had “muddled characteristics.”  He started with an idea of having the skeleton on the outside, which led to having two men in the suit since human joints are fixed and he wanted to avoid the human shape.
  • The suit was heavy, and it took the actors ten minutes just to get in it, and they could only wear it for ten minutes at a time. The principle actor, Mizuho Yoshida, went on to play Godzilla in GMK (and previously played Zeiram in those films). He’s biased, but Higuchi thinks Legion is one of the five best kaiju designs ever.

FLOWER – ENGLISH LANGUAGE GAMERA

  • It was released on DVD by ADV in 2003 with a dub written and directed by Kyle Jones. The also produced the infamous “Lake Texarkana” dub where the actors read their lines as southern hillbillies.

LEMAY (BIG BOOK)

  • Also considered having Viras (Jimmy wanted to be in that one). (YES! And I’d still kick his @$$! –Jimmy)
  • Legion’s head was supposedly inspired by Guiron.
  • In an homage to the Showa series, Gamera bleeds more and is initially taken out by the Legion seed pod.
  • It grossed about the same amount of money as the first and won Best Special Effects from the Japanese Academy.
  • There’s a manga sequel that may or may not be canon, which is a Heisei retelling of Barugon.
  • There was a short-lived rumor that Disney might distribute the film.

TOKU TOPIC: THE EXORCISM OF THE GERASENE DEMONIAC

  • The demon’s name refers to a Roman legion, which could comprise up to over 5,000 soldiers. Some also connect it to Isaiah 65:4, which has God referring to obstinate Israel defying Him: “who sit in tombs, / and spend the night in secret places; / who eat pig’s flesh, / and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;”

And there you have it.

As of this writing, our next two episodes will feature my former nemesis Michael Hamilton as the guest for the next “Godzilla Redux” episode, which covers the first sequel to Godzilla (1954), Godzilla Raids Again. Then the “Year of Gamera” comes to an end with Gamera the Brave, which will have Bex from the Redeemed Otaku podcast as the co-host. I confess I might miss the big turtle.

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