Olympic Opening Ceremony

uannaka said:
My American friend's impression of the opening ceremony:
-The fireworks were not very special.
Click to expand...

I have heard this a few time, but I though they were perfect. Not too long and drawn out and the way they were fired into the centre of the stadium and the whole sky was filled with colour looked amazing on my HD TV and I'm sure it was 10x better to be there.

fire11s_2291213k.jpg


fire10S_2291182k.jpg


I honestly cant see how they could have improved them, bar turning it into a long drawn out bore fest that most firework displays tend to be.

I guess this would have been better:

http://www.********.com/view?i=bb3_1342047307 - *volume warning*
 
Mark A said:
I have heard this a few time, but I though they were perfect. Not too long and drawn out and the way they were fired into the centre of the stadium and the whole sky was filled with colour looked amazing on my HD TV and I'm sure it was 10x better to be there.

I honestly cant see how they could have improved them, bar turning it into a long drawn out bore fest that most firework displays tend to be.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1yLRK2M8YQ however, they wouldn't have matched the understated light hearted theme of the night.

I've watched the ceremony 3 times now my thoughts are:
The opening picturesque hillsides with Elgar playing turning into the industrial revolution and Evelyn Glennie playing the drums was very well executed and loved at how fast the landscape changed.
The forging of the rings and them being lifted into the centre of the stadium with the sparks falling was amazing.
Loved James Bond parachuting in with the Queen.
I didn't really get the NHS bit, but the kids were charming and loved how it transformed into the story time bit with the massive Voldemort and Mary Poppins etc.
Loved Mr Bean
I didn't particularly like the teenage partying bit but it did work in taking the world through our music scene?
Loved Beckham on the speed boat with his grin, Fireworks on London Bridge etc.
I'm didn't know the singer after but it was very artistic with the dancers
I loved the music to Team GB coming on, "We could be heroes just for one day"
It was disappointing to see the queen picking at her nails
I loved Steve Redgrave passing the flame onto the new generation to light the cauldron
I was amazed by the cauldron. Loved how every nation had a piece of it and loved how the flame went round in a spiral to the centre and it lifted up to make one cauldron.
 
I absolutely LOVED it.

It was not an abstract art fest with drawn out fireworks. There are so many positive adjectives that could be used to describe it.

I was expecting to be underwhelmed and bored with neutral dull symmetries but instead I got an interesting, complex and cohesive narrative.

Though this is arrogant and whimsical to say, I couldn't care less if the rest of the world liked it. If Britain enjoyed that, which I think we really did (in the main), who cares. It was a pride inspiring gift to the nation which was a fitting thanks for the money we have all paid towards the games.

That ceremony got the nation excited and engaged with the games. It is for us to reap the benefits of hosting the games and that ceremony catalysed the nation's emotions into gear for a fantastic month.
 
Trifid said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1yLRK2M8YQ however, they wouldn't have matched the understated light hearted theme of the night.
Click to expand...

Holy **** that was pretty epic, but would have been too drawn out for the ceremony. Something would have had to go to make room for all that.

Noticed this in the comments:
London has the best New Years fireworks show. I think Australia is 2nd...New York and San Francisco rank in the top 10 but they dont even come close to this!
Click to expand...

Is that true? I wouldn't be surprised as it was amazing.

Also I agree with all your thoughts on the ceremony, although I really enjoyed the NHS bit. It reminded me of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' live in concert where they had a giant blown up teacher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=892p9cO6ERk#t=213s

Ok, not quite the same as this bt I still thought it was cool :p
 
I wasnt even going to watch the ceremony, i just thought it was going to be an absolute cringe-fest.

Im pleasantly surprised to say that other than a couple of parts which really did turn my stomach (Mr Bean, James Bond, Paul McCartney) i enjoyed the whole thing, it seems that the things i didnt like are the things most people really loved.

The one thing that really annoyed me though was the 7 kids lighting the flame, i thought it was very weak and non-commital.

No one will remember 7 unknown kids in 4 or 8 years time, if steve redgrave or one of the many other sporting heroes this country has produced had lit the flame then yes it would have created a lasting impression.

The actual torch was astonishing though, a true thing of beauty and it looked incredible when fully up and running.

All in all i think that the opening ceremony was brilliant and very well executed, and is something that London, the organisers, and the people who took part can be immensely proud of. :cool:
 
I think zoofloot might have missed the tag line of this Olympics being 'Inspire a Generation'...

I loved the opening ceremony. Only thing I would change would have been dropping Trevor Nelson from the comentary team. He hardly spoke, and when he did it was a waffle.

Its a shame that people have set out from the begining to slate the Olympics at every possible moment. Its the biggest international event in the world, it is an honour that we are getting to host it and we should be proud as a nation that we are.
 
Thought it was utterly brilliant tbh. I had my doubts before it all but Danny.B put on a spectacular show.

* The forging of the rings was superb, especially with the musical build up to it.
* Loved Mr.Bean's appearance and was in stitches.
* The musical street party bit was superb and a nice trip down memory lane.
* James Bond and the Queen had me in tears of laughter.
* The industrial revolution scenes were spectacular.
* Sir Steve Redgrave passing on the touch was a cool touch.

The NHS bits had me somewhat puzzled though. My family and I loved it and later received calls from our family in the states all saying they were hugely impressed with it all.
 
Mark A said:
Noticed this in the comments:

Is that true? I wouldn't be surprised as it was amazing.
Click to expand...

This year I think we did and I expect we will put on a great show to mark the end of an amazing year this NYE. Sydney, UAE and Paris usually puts on an excellent show every year.

zootfloot said:
No one will remember 7 unknown kids in 4 or 8 years time, if steve redgrave or one of the many other sporting heroes this country has produced had lit the flame then yes it would have created a lasting impression.
Click to expand...

I believe they were hand picked as our young hopefuls by our current top athletes. It was a very nice touch even if they do miss out on medals.
 
Skeeter said:
I think zoofloot might have missed the tag line of this Olympics being 'Inspire a Generation'....
Click to expand...

Trifid said:
I believe they were hand picked as our young hopefuls by our current top athletes. It was a very nice touch even if they do miss out on medals.
Click to expand...

Nope, i fully understood the tag line, i also realised that they were hand picked by the athletes, but i still stand by my point that no one will remember it as being a particularly memorable thing to do.

But as i said, on the whole it was a very impressive occassion, one which i am glad i took the time to watch.

Yes there were things that i personally did not like, but i certainly wouldnt have expected to like everything about it anyways.
 
Kainz said:
* The forging of the rings was superb, especially with the musical build up to it.
* Loved Mr.Bean's appearance and was in stitches.
* The musical street party bit was superb and a nice trip down memory lane.
* James Bond and the Queen had me in tears of laughter.
* The industrial revolution scenes were spectacular.
* Sir Steve Redgrave passing on the touch was a cool touch.
.
Click to expand...

You must be easily amused, as the Rowan Atkinson part was cringe inducing at best.
James Bond and the Queen, what was there in that little bit of VT that was even slightly amusing?

The rest of it, up until the Olympic rings came together it was OK, after that it was pretty terrible.
 
atpbx said:
You must be easily amused, as the Rowan Atkinson part was cringe inducing at best.
James Bond and the Queen, what was there in that little bit of VT that was even slightly amusing?

The rest of it, up until the Olympic rings came together it was OK, after that it was pretty terrible.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be fantastic if everyone thought the same?:rolleyes:
 
atpbx said:
You must be easily amused, as the Rowan Atkinson part was cringe inducing at best.
James Bond and the Queen, what was there in that little bit of VT that was even slightly amusing?

The rest of it, up until the Olympic rings came together it was OK, after that it was pretty terrible.
Click to expand...
Hardly, I just thought it was rather well put together. Excuse me for not jumping on the "oh no its british, it must be cack" bandwagon.
 
Kainz said:
Hardly, I just thought it was rather well put together. Excuse me for not jumping on the "oh no its british, it must be cack" bandwagon.
Click to expand...

No no, Britain has produced some of the greatest artists, musicians, comedians, TV shows and films that the world has seen.

What we got on Friday, didnt really give us any of that.

Industrial revolution as a subject, and it leading into the forging of the rings, yes, good idea, and produced and performed just about as well as a performance based interpretation of the industrial revolution could be performed and about as entertaining as that subject could possibly be.

So yes it was OK.

Bond and the Queen, there just wasnt anything funny there, it was nice to see her Maj get involved as she never does, but there certainly wasnt anything amusing about it.
Rowan Atkinson just wasnt any good, he is a performer who has given us some of the greatest TV comedy performances of the past 30 years, a Comedian who can take the phrase "In a bag" and say it in a way that will make you wet yourself in hysterics.
Friday night we gave him a bit of gurning to do.

Well done, you've reduced Blackadder to a fart gag.
 
Last edited:
My biggest problem with the opening ceremony was the awful selection of music, especially during the wild dancing through the ages scene with the boy finding the girls mobile. The whole thing seemed too chaotic and organised and completely unappealing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom