Chez Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 It would be interesting to know what those who didn't like it were expecting. These opening ceremonies are notoriously dull and invariably end up with dancers running around in costumes making shapes. What Boyle did was bold, different, clever, entertaining and spectacular. Personally I was hoping for lots of the first half (style, surprises and unauthodox imagery) and a lot less of the second half (predictable music and crap dancers/costumes). I think the whole thing was miles better than my worst thoughts, but not not as tight as Boyle's wonderful films like Sunshine. I expected something, whatever it was to be extremely polished. Boyle should have controlled the cameras as well as creation. The BBC did him no favours. In fact they ruined it in places. The Beijing opening ceremony was far more predictable, in content, but it was visually stunning and certainly not boring. Contrary to vftt point above, some of us didn't cream up over it simply because it had flaws, nothing to do with political stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 The opening ceremony is supposed to portray the culture etc of the city/nation hosting it Showcasing out amazing history, in invention, industrialism, music, literature, equality and health was brilliant It felt personal and something im sure everyone one of us could connected with at some point Better that (IMO) than 2000 robots performing a light show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 I found the opening ceremony utterly awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junction 9 Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 I absolutely loved it, watched till the very end. I'm sure the rest of the world did too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warsash saint Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Special mention to the music. Well done to the Underworld lads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slickmick Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Just watched it for a second time with the kids and it seemed even better than first time of watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Only managed to catch the last hour or so last night, just watched the first part now and I have to say that it was stunning. Very well done to everybody involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Ate we actually going to win a medal ffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge too far Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Ate we actually going to win a medal ffs Dire so far - I thought we were going to have 'home advantage' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warsash saint Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Empty seats galore:x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brussels Saint Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Such a grand production is always not going to be to everyones taste, but I along with the vast majority loved it. I watched it in a group with 2 Brits, a Pole, a Croat & a Swede and to a person they thought it was great. The non-Brits understood what was going on, so I think we probably underestimate the appeal to those overseas. It was cool and made me proud to be British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Pathetic response from your parents TBH. Mine loved it and I think it was absolutely fantastic. I'm sure his parents will be deeply hurt that you don't respect their opinion just because YOU and your PARENTS hold a different view..................who mentioned pathetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Most normal people can see that it's been a brilliant opening ceremony and a fantastic celebration of our history and culture. However early 1800 bits were laced with political correctness. Black Morris dancers for example. Has anyone ever seen this before? Black people at a 18th century cricket match. Many Black faces during the industrial revolution. It simply isn't an accurate representation of that period in our history. Sorry if you PC types don't like it but that is how it is. What you are saying is perfectly true but the display depended on having thousands of volunteers who were giving up to 150 hours of their own time. When you get someone willing to give that sort of time you are not going to stop to ask how appropriate their ethnicity is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 I thought it was amazing. Arctic Monkeys were outstanding. Danny Boyle is a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexstar Posted 28 July, 2012 Share Posted 28 July, 2012 Yes, he was obviously only waving. Yes, the Nazi salute was right-handed, but so f**king what ? That's sophistry, it looked like a repetitive Nazi salute, and in my predominantly Austrian household the first impression was "WTF???". All I did was comment on the initial reaction. Some of you are self-important pompous arses whose lives are given meaning by correcting the slightest ambiguities in others posts. And this is not directed just at you, I see a few others have also felt the need to state the bleedin' obvious as well. Maybe if it was the "bleeding obvious" you would wouldn't have been "stunned into silence". You sir, are embarrassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 I'm surprised so many people loved it so much. I know expectations were low, but for such a prestigious event I thought it looked cobbled together in places. The transitions between parts were clumsy at best, lots of long pauses and considering Boyle is a film director you'd think he would have worked closely with the BBC to get the right camera angles to show the best elements in the right way. Some shots chosen were terrible, revealing the absolute worst parts of the performance such as bored out of time dancers and uncomfortable shuffling to dismantle the early set. Why did the we need to see the flag carriers from above opening lids to slot flags in on the hill? Lots of small things like that just take a little of the shine off. The pauses probably inserted to provide overseas TV broadcasters the chance to show a couple of minutes of commercials without missing anything significant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 The sequence with Simon Rattle conducting the LSO and seguing into Rowan Atkinson and then the footage from Chariots of Fire was brilliant! And the Queen with Daniel Craig - who would have expected anything like that. Fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 Just watched parts of it again...so much better. the very start is excellent. the anthems of the UK was a great touch. Kenneth Brannagh as Brunel and the reading of shakespear was excellent such a great effort IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 Just watched parts of it again...so much better. the very start is excellent. the anthems of the UK was a great touch. Kenneth Brannagh as Brunel and the reading of shakespear was excellent such a great effort IMO It was stunning TBH. I don't think I have ever seen such an appropriate showcase of what Britain is to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 (edited) It was stunning TBH. I don't think I have ever seen such an appropriate showcase of what Britain is to me. just spoke to my mate who is working at the Olympics and who was there (and who has seen it on Iplayer too) and he said the TV does it no justice at all the sound was amazing and booming.. everyone was just going mental. also, in the stadium, everyone was singing along to Hey jude and it was just brilliant (so he said) Edited 29 July, 2012 by Thedelldays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 Someone asked their parents what they thought, mine are in their 70s and thought it was great, although my Mum didn't like all the bands but admitted that was probably a generational thing: but then my Dad was totally unimpressed by Macca. A friend who went just keeps saying awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 29 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 29 July, 2012 Just watched parts of it again...so much better. the very start is excellent. the anthems of the UK was a great touch. Kenneth Brannagh as Brunel and the reading of shakespear was excellent such a great effort IMO The anthems weren't bad, but not as good as this would have been, but of course this would have been totally unsuitable to the left wing slant of the whole occasion, hence why the BBC ditched it much to my dismay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 I mustard mit I wasn't planning on watching it, but the missus insisted. I'm bloody glad she made me watch it, it was brilliant, very entertaining, funny and inspirational all at once. Everything seemed to go to plan. Video interspersed with live stadium footage worked well too. Perhaps the best compliment is that the introduction of the teams aside, the 4 hours seemed to fly by. Liked it lots. I was impressed by the Olympic cauldron too (or whatever it's called.) Very impressive to have all the teams represented, then it lifted into one. My old critique is that some of the camera angles were a bit off, but that's really only to be expected with that many people and animals wandering around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 29 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 29 July, 2012 (edited) I would compare the ceremony with the film adaptation of C S Lewis's opium induced chronicles of the mythical land of Narnia. In the book the story was profound and true to the biblical and social parable of the world as it was then, but once the socialist and politically correct brigade of the 21st century got their grubby mitts on the story and changed it for film the whole story was lost and it was a diabolical insult to such a great work, and that ceremony was a diabolical insult to our nation. - the portrayal of victorian Britain - the cnd thing - shami chakribati carrying the flag Three aspects that were ridiculous and utterly cringeworthy. A lot of people appreciated the spectacle and rightly so, it was spectacular, but once you actually scratch beneath the visual display it was shoddy politically correct marxist propaganda. Aiden Burley got it spot on. And to think thedelldays is waxing lyrical about it given the cnd scene which clearly was a statement against his line of work and thus a swipe at the whole armed forces. You couldn't make it up. And people are calling for the director to be knighted ffs Edited 29 July, 2012 by dune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 You don't half talk some cobblers at times, Dune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 29 July, 2012 Share Posted 29 July, 2012 It was great. I loved it. Don't care about political correctness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 ... the cnd scene which clearly was a statement against his line of work and thus a swipe at the whole armed forces ... The CND is a "swipe against the whole armed forces"? How do you reckon that, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I would compare the ceremony with the film adaptation of C S Lewis's opium induced chronicles of the mythical land of Narnia. In the book the story was profound and true to the biblical and social parable of the world as it was then, but once the socialist and politically correct brigade of the 21st century got their grubby mitts on the story and changed it for film the whole story was lost and it was a diabolical insult to such a great work, and that ceremony was a diabolical insult to our nation. - the portrayal of victorian Britain - the cnd thing - shami chakribati carrying the flag Three aspects that were ridiculous and utterly cringeworthy. A lot of people appreciated the spectacle and rightly so, it was spectacular, but once you actually scratch beneath the visual display it was shoddy politically correct marxist propaganda. Aiden Burley got it spot on. And to think thedelldays is waxing lyrical about it given the cnd scene which clearly was a statement against his line of work and thus a swipe at the whole armed forces. You couldn't make it up. And people are calling for the director to be knighted ffs Daily Express reporting this morning that the opening ceremony: Has caused house prices to rocket Watching it twice is very likely to cause cancer And it was a disgraceful affront to the memory of Princess Diana and Madeline McCann. Join the Express campaign now to get national saint Nigel Farage to lead out the british contingent of indiginious whites at the closing ceremony whose theme should definitely be "how English pure white people sorted out them blacks through the ages". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Well, I haven't seen in it (still) But in the past couple of days I've met Kiwis, Thais, Yanks, Aussies, and some Germans while over in Bangkok, and not one of them could believe 1) I hadn't seen it and 2) that Brits managed to put something on like that. Each one of them said it was astonishing and had shocked them that "we could still create something like that" I have no idea how to watch it as our local Sat channel that FMDP recorded has some weird split screen thing with 3D going on. Anyone know a link to down-load from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Anyone know a link to down-load from? Are you signed up with thebox.bz torrent site? They have (3gb) regular and (10gb) HD versions of the BBC feed, which whilst not perfect, is much better than the horrible chopped up NBC version we got on Friday night. (You can probably get the BBC version at many other places though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I would compare the ceremony with the film adaptation of C S Lewis's opium induced chronicles of the mythical land of Narnia. In the book the story was profound and true to the biblical and social parable of the world as it was then, but once the socialist and politically correct brigade of the 21st century got their grubby mitts on the story and changed it for film the whole story was lost and it was a diabolical insult to such a great work, and that ceremony was a diabolical insult to our nation. - the portrayal of victorian Britain - the cnd thing - shami chakribati carrying the flag Three aspects that were ridiculous and utterly cringeworthy. A lot of people appreciated the spectacle and rightly so, it was spectacular, but once you actually scratch beneath the visual display it was shoddy politically correct marxist propaganda. Aiden Burley got it spot on. And to think thedelldays is waxing lyrical about it given the cnd scene which clearly was a statement against his line of work and thus a swipe at the whole armed forces. You couldn't make it up. And people are calling for the director to be knighted ffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 As I said, only those on the far right & far left are ranting. Everyone else enjoyed it. Consensus at work today was that it was brilliantly done & summed up our nation perfectly. Ever changing & quite nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 30 July, 2012 (edited) Daily Express reporting this morning that the opening ceremony: Has caused house prices to rocket Watching it twice is very likely to cause cancer And it was a disgraceful affront to the memory of Princess Diana and Madeline McCann. Join the Express campaign now to get national saint Nigel Farage to lead out the british contingent of indiginious whites at the closing ceremony whose theme should definitely be "how English pure white people sorted out them blacks through the ages". What are you rambling on about? Everything i've stated is factual to the event. I've already said that ceremony had spectacular sets, but anyone who thinks the content (and how the content was executed) was spectacular is clearly of an x factor/bgt intellectual ilk. The bulk of the event was left wing tree hugging propaganda. Instead of the CND thing (which so few people actually support) wouldn't it have been more appropriate to have paraded a nuclear missile on a mobile launcher alá North Korea? Britain is after all a nuclear power. That's the only reason we still sit at the top table of United Nations! Edited 30 July, 2012 by dune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junction 9 Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I thinks it's wonderful that the likes of Dune hated the ceremony. The fact that the rest of the world saw nothing that represents his view of how Britiain should be, is an invaluable piece of British PR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I thinks it's wonderful that the likes of Dune hated the ceremony. The fact that the rest of the world saw nothing that represents his view of how Britiain should be, is an invaluable piece of British PR. My view is not of how Britain should be, my view is of how Britain actually is and how Britain was. Are we or are we not a Nuclear power? Are we or are we not reliant on our Nuclear deterrent to be a permanent member of the security council? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Maybe if it was the "bleeding obvious" you would wouldn't have been "stunned into silence". You sir, are embarrassing. It was obvious because no-one in their right mind would pull off that salute in this day-and-age in such a public forum. But have you never heard of the saying "not believing your eyes" ? It took a couple of seconds for a couple of adults to say "it mus be a funny wave, he wouldnt do that", and the kids obviously needed telling that. I pity idiots like you who make stupid one-dimensional responses without thinking just so you can get a weak dig in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 No surprise the more extreme left & right didn't enjoy it, embraced as they are, in looking at every thing with suspicion & hate. Spot on. Britian seems to have more than its fair share of whingers, whack-jobs and attention-seekers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I would compare the ceremony with the film adaptation of C S Lewis's opium induced chronicles of the mythical land of Narnia. In the book the story was profound and true to the biblical and social parable of the world as it was then, but once the socialist and politically correct brigade of the 21st century got their grubby mitts on the story and changed it for film the whole story was lost and it was a diabolical insult to such a great work, and that ceremony was a diabolical insult to our nation. - the portrayal of victorian Britain - the cnd thing - shami chakribati carrying the flag Three aspects that were ridiculous and utterly cringeworthy. A lot of people appreciated the spectacle and rightly so, it was spectacular, but once you actually scratch beneath the visual display it was shoddy politically correct marxist propaganda. Aiden Burley got it spot on. And to think thedelldays is waxing lyrical about it given the cnd scene which clearly was a statement against his line of work and thus a swipe at the whole armed forces. You couldn't make it up. And people are calling for the director to be knighted ffs Dune has finally provided unequivocal evidence that he is f**king bonkers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junction 9 Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 My view is not of how Britain should be, my view is of how Britain actually is and how Britain was. Are we or are we not a Nuclear power? Are we or are we not reliant on our Nuclear deterrent to be a permanent member of the security council? The ceremony is supposed to be a celebration, something for people to enjoy. Do you think there should have been a section dedicated to slavery? Maybe a few thousand black men in manacles being forced onto a boat? You may well be proud that Britain has a nuclear force, I certainaly am not. I'm glad the CND got a mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintfully Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Spot on. Britian seems to have more than its fair share of whingers, whack-jobs and attention-seekers. This post is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Spot on. Britian seems to have more than its fair share of whingers, whack-jobs and attention-seekers. All of whom would not have had any cause to comment if the event had not been politicised. To portray Britain as being left wing was factually incorrect in both a current and historic context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I can't really see how celebrating nuclear weapons is such a great thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SB Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 What are you rambling on about? Everything i've stated is factual to the event. I've already said that ceremony had spectacular sets, but anyone who thinks the content (and how the content was executed) was spectacular is clearly of an x factor/bgt intellectual ilk. The bulk of the event was left wing tree hugging propaganda. Instead of the CND thing (which so few people actually support) wouldn't it have been more appropriate to have paraded a nuclear missile on a mobile launcher alá North Korea? Britain is after all a nuclear power. That's the only reason we still sit at the top table of United Nations! Respect your opinion, however in a nut shell how would you have changed the ceremony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 This post is amazing. Did you bother reading the post I quoted ? VFTT indicated some people view everything with suspicion and hate. Lets face it, you could ahve predicted those on the site that would not like the opening ceremony. Just because I get a bit carried away about Saints on match day does not make me a whinger - it just means I care deeply about something which I cannot influence, does not make me a whack-job (well, no more than the rest of you on here), and does not make me an attention-seeker - it just makes me the sites equivalent of a hockey Mom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 The CND was during a music piece of the 60s & represented flower power & hippies so what's the big deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Respect your opinion, however in a nut shell how would you have changed the ceremony? Lots of marching bands, rule Britannia played on a loop with a huge projection of the globe coloured in with the empire states as red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 All of whom would not have had any cause to comment if the event had not been politicised. To portray Britain as being left wing was factually incorrect in both a current and historic context. I consider myself to be conservative with a small "c" and center-Right largely, but do have a bit of a social conscience one one hand but a strong opinion about defence and law-and-order on the other side. And I perceived no left-wing bias whatsoever about the opening ceremony. I thought a couple of things were a bit cheesy (I cringed at the Bond clip and the waving Churchill statue), but overall I was left feeling proud at being British and reckon that if a group of Aliens are on their way to earth in their flying saucer, they would have got a fantastic overview of our great nation if they picked up that transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 30 July, 2012 The ceremony is supposed to be a celebration, something for people to enjoy. Do you think there should have been a section dedicated to slavery? Maybe a few thousand black men in manacles being forced onto a boat? You may well be proud that Britain has a nuclear force, I certainaly am not. I'm glad the CND got a mention. They could have had a scene like that, followed by a scene highlighting the abolitionist movement led by Wilberforce. In fact such a scene would have educated the world on our historical position in being at the fore front of abolishing slavery. That would have been better than dressing a black man in a top hat and portraying him as a victorian industrialist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 July, 2012 Author Share Posted 30 July, 2012 I consider myself to be conservative with a small "c" and center-Right largely, but do have a bit of a social conscience one one hand but a strong opinion about defence and law-and-order on the other side. And I perceived no left-wing bias whatsoever about the opening ceremony. I thought a couple of things were a bit cheesy (I cringed at the Bond clip and the waving Churchill statue), but overall I was left feeling proud at being British and reckon that if a group of Aliens are on their way to earth in their flying saucer, they would have got a fantastic overview of our great nation if they picked up that transmission. If you are being serious one can only assume you were p/ssed up or didn't watch the ceremony. Do you support CND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 30 July, 2012 Share Posted 30 July, 2012 Do you support CND? The CND was during a music piece of the 60s & represented flower power & hippies so what's the big deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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