I guess I always heard that the reason to re-torque bolts was that the gaskets crush down after some time and heat cycles. After that they pretty much stay put.
In the newer engines some manufacturers went to a smaller diameter bolt that you torque then give another 1/2 turn or so to yield the bolt. The purpose is to turn the bolt into a spring - so to speak. Use the bolt once and pitch it. In the modular ford they went to a metal gasket that does not crush much at all. This set-up seems to solve these problems. My 92 crown went 13 years and 155K miles without ever being touched and it never dripped one drop of
oil on my garage floor.