London 2012 Opening Ceremony

:lol: Yeah, this is from The Guardian

21:20 BST
The great emancipator?

Rumours currently abounding that several American commentators are assuming that Ken Branagh has come on as Abraham Lincoln.
 
Great Ceremony, Congrats.

If they insist on a Beatles' song , may be they should have ended with "all you/"we" need is love"

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy"

:)
 
Theon said:
Apparently some American commentators think that Isambard Brunel (guy with the cigar during the revolution bit) was supposed to be Abraham Lincoln.
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Doesn't surprise me. Are the Americans only just seeing the ceremony now? A quick search on twitter shows quite a lot of people making Lincoln comments in the last few seconds or so.
 
Overall it was very good. Thought the Queen jumping out the plane and the NHS part was quite poor, but apart from that it was impressive.
 
WR said:
Overall it was very good. Thought the Queen jumping out the plane and the NHS part was quite poor, but apart from that it was impressive.
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Nah, the NHS/children's literature bit was great in a "Wtf am I watching?" sort of way.
 
The nhs stuff made no sense.

Personally thought it was a bit crap. Some good moments with bean.
 
I liked that they involved the NHS, it is something to be proud of.
 
I thought it would be a disaster when we won the games.

But... Big up Danny Boyle. That's got to be one of the most memorable opening ceremonies of all time. I've said it before, but it had everything. It was a great experience watching on TV as it so clearly looked like in the stadium. It was British at it's core. Some true moments of genius out there topped off with the cauldron.
 
Impressive, funny and a bit daft - it couldn't have been more British.

I thought it was great, OK so there were places that dragged a bit, but there always are in these kind of events. The overall effect worked beautifully.
 
Attention seeking MP, he should get a life.

I actualy liked the NHS bit, as you have to remember that many of them were volunteers with little related experience. There were also some good messages in there.

And that percussionist being deaf, amazign talent.
 
I loved the start and the industrial revolution part. The transformation of the whole set was done really well and must have taken a shit load of planning.

The beginning of the NHS part was a bit naff, but the literature bit was so weird it was good. The house party/going out segment was great too.
 
From sickipedia

I cannot describe how disappointed I am that the Congo weren't in single file in the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
 
I really enjoyed that all, aside from the Athletes needing to hurry up.
 
After Beijing's 'show of might, power and whipping them into formation' - a refreshing change.

Apart from feeling like my drink had been spiked (so what) - very British and even some of the die hards up here liked it and mentioned the fact that Mr Salmond would have been cursing.

Pink Floyd for the fireworks at the end made my night.
 
The ceremony itself was fantastic, but there's a real problem with how long it takes the athletes to get round. I'd suggest doing it in clusters, not individually. 90 minutes on that is a disgrace.
 
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alastair said:
The ceremony itself was fantastic, but there's a real problem with how long it takes the athletes to get round. I'd suggest doing it in clusters, not individually. 90 minutes on that is a disgrace.
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Nah, they all deserve their moment of recognition.
 
WR said:
Nah, they all deserve their moment of recognition.
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See, I think that, to a point. But it's tedious and it makes people switch off. Half the crowd went out for a drink, and it's the cue for everyone at home to have a break. It might be a moment of recognition, but no-one's watching anyway.
 
alastair said:
The ceremony itself was fantastic, but there's a real problem with how long it takes the athletes to get round. I'd suggest doing it in clusters, not individually. 90 minutes on that is a disgrace.
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WR said:
Nah, they all deserve their moment of recognition.
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Aye, for some it's their moment in the sun. Something they have worked very hard for. It's also about highlight all the vast array of countries in the world and not just focusing on the same ones that make the World Cup every time. It may be quite long but it's a part of tradition and calling it a "disgrace" is a bit far and a bit ignorant really.
 
Thought that was absolutely brilliant. Very British, I don't know how other nations will have received it, but made me laugh and was really impressed with the creativity and originality of it.

Great start to the Games.
 
Agent Red said:
Thought that was absolutely brilliant. Very British, I don't know how other nations will have received it, but made me laugh and was really impressed with the creativity and originality of it.

Great start to the Games.
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Aesthetically and conceptually, it was terrible I thought. It was like a bunch of cnuts had sat in a room and thrown around ideas of what Britishness means to them and then tried to do all of them. It needed a proper theme.

And alright, you can't compete with China and have thousands upon thousands of choreographed extras, but there always seemed to be about 37 people doing stuff, with huge gaps between them.

And most of the references would have been lost on most of the people viewing. It was very parochial and insular. I mean, I'm English and half the time I had no idea what the feck was going on.
 
rcoobc said:
What was incoherent about it?
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No theme. All fragmented... bitty little scenes going on in isolation. Also very badly lit and filmed, no connection between the filming style and the content, no real thought behind how they were presenting it.

The forging of the rings bit in the Industrial Revolution was good, as was the end.
 
The whole nhs, bedtime and musical section was a mess. It was confusing., and irrelevant and badly choreographed.

Every one else in the world will be confused
 
Plechazunga said:
Aesthetically and conceptually, it was terrible I thought. It was like a bunch of cnuts had sat in a room and thrown around ideas of what Britishness means to them and then tried to do all of them. It needed a proper theme.

And alright, you can't compete with China and have thousands upon thousands of choreographed extras, but there always seemed to be about 37 people doing stuff, with huge gaps between them.

And most of the references would have been lost on most of the people viewing. It was very parochial and insular. I mean, I'm English and half the time I had no idea what the feck was going on.
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The madness of it was sort of what I loved. I do agree that some of the references were a bit esoteric for a world audience. But then as a Brit I thought it was pretty hilarious that they had the most bizarrely niche references included e.g. the Beth Jordache kiss from Brookside?!

I disagree with the aesthetics and concept being terrible. Although I don't agree, I can see why people would criticize some of the content. But the concept of the history being told and the aesthetics of it I thought were brilliant.

All subjective I suppose.
 
I really don't know what you mean about it being incoherent, maybe to the rest of the world. I didn't like the us of clips at the start but soon got used to it.

Rural Britain with its cows, sheep and cricket 10/10
Industrial Britain didn't break up rural destructively enough, it seemed a slow transition. I complained about the lack of fire, but that was obvious kept for the rings. 7/10
Modern London with its texts, clubbing and culture 10/10
Jerusalem for the 4 nations. 10/10
An advert for British music; didn't have every band or song I would have liked to see but its completely redefined opening ceremonies for me. Finally something that isn't interpretive dance [hat tip Mockney]. Boyle obviously looked at the great events over the past 50 years and decided they all included music. Live aid, etc. 15/10.
An advert for British storytelling. Shortish and sweet, 10/10
An advert for British film, didn't really get any of that and it was short. 2/10

Don't mess with our NHS. Fantastic. No number can be given.

Daniel Craig and the Queen. Needed to be night and Daniel Craig should have been there. Fantastic though. 7/10
Mr Bean. 8/10. Good for the kids.

I dont know what was incoherent at all.
 
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