I really wanted my initial expectations to be wrong about this show but it looks as shitty as I thought it would be.
It's Axe versus Game Over, in a battle that makes me think they plant tiny explosives inside these guys just to make it more interesting. A robot with an ax for a head seems very Power Rangers, doesn't it? Certainly makes more sense than having what looks like a giant Gameboy for a body.
Anyway, if you're curious about the show but don't want to commit to a full episode, check out a minute and a half of rock 'em, sock 'em after the jump.
Robot Combat League airs tonight at 10 p.m. on Syfy
Tags: Robot Combat League, SyFy
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21 comments
Oh look the actuator arm broke again... LULZ LULZ LULZ who can be the first to break the arm wins... The designer of these robots took an erector set and used glue.
I wanted to like this. I mean, I REALLY wanted to like this. In my head, this was "BattleBots 2.0," where Grant Imahara comes back to defend his title and his giant nut.
Instead, there's just a whole bunch of bullshit. The second the sparks flew, I was out. I called bullshit on it, then with the "hydraulic fluid" fountain gushing everywhere, and yet the left arm was still usable... Fuck a bunch of that, as a good friend of mine would say.
I want this to be BattleBots 2.0. I want to see the Honda ASIMO go up against the US Army's robot "pack mule." I want to see robots completely independent of power cables and... whatever the hell those bullshit rods were, beating the ever-loving shit out of each other.
So, yeah, pretty much "Real Steel," which is a criminally underrated movie. I get choked up every time I see it, too.
I watched the whole George Lucas visiting segment, and I gotta say I have a little more respect for the guy.......He pretty much acts like I would think a Dad of a MMA fighting woman would act.........telling her he's glad that she's not getting physically beaten and to give the other team hell...........Now I didn't watch any other part of this thing so I don't know if she won the fight................
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I'd be interested if they got rid of all the reality show elements. The cheeseball interviews, the crappy music, the personal stories... It's all worthless filler bullshit about which I don't give a damn.
And actually, the fights kind of suck, too.
If you want cool robot fighting, watch the movie "Real Steel" -- If they made a league like the ones in the movie, I'd be interested. This show is just a weak-sauce American Idol with Robots.
"if you're curious about the show but don't want to commit to a full episode"
Well, that pretty much describes me, and that clip satiated my desire to watch this show. So I appreciate it, now I don't need to worry about checking broadcast times or setting a DVR.
Thank goodness you added the all mighty Monarch to the list. He honestly is my favorite loser of a villian( well except for Dr. Mrs The Monarch.. who is hot voice or not.
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I'm glad I didn't waste my time on this crapfest. That is just horrible. Rock'em Sock'em Robots with some BS sparks and fake hydraulic leaks.
Now, maybe Jericho can lead off the show explaining just what the hell was with that godawful match against Miz yesterday. He came back for THIS?
I was disappointed by this series in the first four minutes of the first episode when they said 'here are your robots'; I was hoping for a show that was half about engineering and building the robots. Yes, I should have read the description.
"makes me think they plant tiny explosives inside these guys just to make it more interesting"
DUH. Worst part of the fights.
There is actually a fair amount of maneuver and timing behind landing solid hits - hits solid enough to eventually rip the other bot in half as seen in the second episode HOWEVER they blind you to the actual good stuff by taking weird long shots, obscure dramatic angles and lighting pyro off seemingly at random.
keep in mind that a lot of the flailing about is because these people have had very little time with their bots - the second rounds are much more impressive than the first.
@arivalscientist I heard SyFy has demographic problems. The businesses that want to advertise with them don't like the demographic skew of the programming while the business that like the demographic skew of the programming just don't want to advertise with them. So they keep changing stuff to try to make their potential advertisers happy.
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@Gallen_Dugall That seems to happen with many networks that chase a niche audience.
Cable used to be about finding your niche and surviving off of it. But the number of stations grew, and more viewers and money started heading cable's way, and suddenly your niche wasn't big enough.
Like the joke of "When MTV showed music videos"... The niche channels become brands separate from their original programming (like SyFy versus Sci-Fi). Their programming theme is stretched, abused, and abandoned when they decide other programming will be more profitable, whether it is cheaper or more popular or just happens to attract a different demographic. And it tends to be a downward spiral for anyone who actually liked the original incarnation.
@Gallen_Dugall @arivalscientist
The Science Channel is what the SyFyllis channel was...............
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@Gallen_Dugall @arivalscientist
Let us not forget how SciFi completely fucked up Sliders, turning a loved show into a pile of crap that didn't resemble the original in any way, shape, or form.
I would love to see Sliders restarted. They could begin on the Earth where the real Professor (well, Our Professor) was stranded-- He meets up with that world's Quinn, and they start anew.
@arivalscientist @Gallen_Dugall yeah sci fi brought back MST3K but then told them the puppet show needed an "arc" to it's story. SG1 had two great seasons from the showtime era and a much of meh. Heck Babylon 5 had two good seasons and a bunch of meh when it came back. Still not so bad as how Oprah's company bought up all those channels and through "message orientation" (aka neutering) screwed up two dozen of the best non-dramatic shows on cable.
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@Gallen_Dugall @arivalscientist
Sci Fi channel also picked up and continued MST3K, Stargate, etc.
Then NBC/Universal fucked it all up and turned it into the SyFyllis that it is now
The Science Channel also reruns Firefly.......... :-)
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@arivalscientist @Gallen_Dugall The Science Channel has Through The Wormhole hosted by Morgan Freeman
SyFY used to be nothing but reruns of old tv shows - mainly The Incredible Hulk which they apparently got dirt cheap.
