Transformers III, Now With Added Robotech – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 90

Well, I guess the Terror Twins and their controller/consultant/military advisor/life coach(giggle) Shinji were celebrating a bit too soon (and off-screen, anyway).

That wasn’t even 8-Megadork-8’s final form, this wondrous machine was capable of another, even more startling and amazing transformation!
Set into motion by yet another lever, and involving more elaborate and impressive, if ultimately just as random, mechanical goings-on than ever before.

Unfortunately for our friends, the result is still underwhelming, which is the result of a combination of factors, mostly: that Nolan couldn’t really raise the money to pay for the appropriate SFX…or perhaps could and did raise the money, but then spent it on something else, possibly hookers and blow. And the other factor is…and I’m kind of ashamed to admit it…that I was never really able to figure out what the actual purpose or advantage of Guardian mode in Macross/Robotech was supposed to be. Only the ability to use the robotic hands (or at least one of them) while flying? That doesn’t seem like something that would offer a tactical advantage in too many situations…and could be achieved much more simply.

But, no matter what advantage Guardian mode might have had in Macross/Robotech , it definitely seems to offer nothing but disadvantages here, due the cheapness and sloppiness of the execution of the concept…so the Twins and Shinji might have started to celebrate too early, but still don’t really have any compelling reason to stop right now. >_>

More on Thursday.

2 Replies to “Transformers III, Now With Added Robotech – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 90”

  1. In fairness, Macross/Robotech was a parody and deconstruction of space battleship and humongous mecha shows (just very early on they changed the focus to an actually serious plot). So the idea of having a mecha/plane/mechaplane was probably more of an artifact of mocking transforming robots than a seriously thought out practical decision.
    But then admittedly I BARELY remember the show so maybe I’m forgetting something important.

    1. Given how some of those shows got their inspiration, it’s also quite possible that the transformable toy already existed before the show, at least in prototype form – and the show had to work in the pre-existing features of the toy. And in the toy, the Guardian-Mode might actually have been an unintended mid-point result of the full transformation process. XD

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