Monday, December 9, 2013

Battle Of The Planets: The Weapons

Every well-conceived character in Gatchaman (1972)/ Battle Of The Planets (1978) was also equipped with smashingly good weaponry along with those terrifically fitted uniforms.  Be sure to check out the original Gatchaman for a greater display of the graphic excitement by G-Force or in Gatchaman, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.







The Sonic Boomerang. Mark. Mark lived and died by The Sonic Boomerang.  Attached to his right side, the nifty gadget implements the use of sound waves to reach its targets.  The nose of the boomerang can also be unscrewed and filled with explosives or other small items.  The wings of zinging boomerang are extremely sharp and capable of cutting in flight. Mark also carries a small pouch of Astro Bombs on his left side.



The Multi-Purpose Gun/ Feathers Shuriken. Jason. Something of a weapon's expert and fanatic with an itchy trigger finger for The Phoenix bird missiles, Jason never leaves home without his Multi-Purpose Gun or a smattering of Feathers Shuriken.  His gun comes complete with cutting torch, drill and a firing cable mechanism.  His Feathers Shuriken can be deployed as throwing daggers or I believe explosives.



The Yo-Yo Bomb. Princess.  Both offensive weapon and programmable bomb, Princess is a true assassin with her expertise and use of The Yo-Yo Bomb.  It comes complete with metal string.  Other notable attachments include suction cups and spikes.  It's a nasty little gadget that would make 007 proud.



The Bolos. Keyop. Keyop can sometimes seem a little awkward or goofy, but he's truly skilled as a member of G-Force and his ability to handle The Bolos is proof of that.  The filthy little weapon is often thrown to strangle the enemy. They can also be fully loaded with explosives.



Our primer on Battle Of The Planets continues.  Unfortunately, I've been a little short-handed on images for Battle Of The Planets initially.  The good news is, beginning with the next post I'll be drawing exclusively from my own images.  The well was a little empty going into this and I was implementing a combination of web-extracted and camera-snapped images.  That all changes with the next post where I'll be utilizing my own shots.



It's tough to find clear, sharp shots on the net.  The colors are often saturated or flat.  We'll fix that going forward.  And for more exciting images of the G-Force team in action complete with weaponry stay tuned.

An image of the Yo Yo Bomb and Princess from the Imagi film that never happened.

6 comments:

Roman J. Martel said...

One of the things I vividly remembered from "Battle of the Planets" was the weapons. Even when I couldn't remember the name of the show, or the characters, or much beyond a dim dreamlike images and that theme song - the weapons stood out.

They were so darn creative and varied. I remember Princess' Yo-yo and the sonic boomerang most vividly. In fact, when playing "Legend of Zelda" for the first time (also way back) I would remember the Sonic Boomerang sound whenever I had Link throw his. So odd what sticks in your mind sometimes.

The Japanese have a thing for girls with killer yo yo's. There is a series of anime and live action movies called Sukeban Deka. And that girl has one hell of a yo yo too. One of the live action movies has her facing down a helicopter with it. Great stuff. :)

SFF said...

It is funny what we retain and don't retain. I started remembering The Little Rascals and suddenly the more I checked into it the more I was like - WOW!

Anyway, the Japanese know how to deliver the anime weapons.

Btw, love Kill Bill -great film my friend. That second part even includes animation from one of my fave animators over there in Japan.

All the best
sff

Unknown said...

Was this the cartoon where they put their ship into overdrive and it would turn into a flame n fly off at superspeed?

SFF said...

YOU GOT IT!

Vic said...

don't forget about 1-rover-1, the robotic canine companion to 7-Zark-7.
Also Susan, the robot from the planet Pluto who Zark has a major crush on.

Vic said...

Forgot to mention 1-Rover-1, Zark's robotic canine companion
and Susan or Suzie the female robot from the planet Pluto who Zark has a major
crush on