darkshine Report post Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) Ok, thought someone might have posted about this already, and nobody has so far.... Anybody actually watch it? What did you think? Edited July 28, 2012 by darkshine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A-S warrior Report post Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) sorry, i was to busy polishing my coat hangers. it was a long job and i couldnt just leave it. Edited July 28, 2012 by A-S warrior Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted July 28, 2012 I got bored after the bit with David Bowie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lynden Report post Posted July 28, 2012 I wasn't sure initially but I actually thought it was pretty cool in the end. I got bored during the procession though! I love the fact that the Queen actually did her stint with James Bond Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LancsLad Report post Posted July 28, 2012 I thought it was absoloutly brilliant, always trusted Danny Boyle to deliver the goods, good honest Northern lad after all. I have read a few newspaper reports from around the globe and it was well recieved internationally. I think people can argued a lot about how much money should be spent on the opening ceremony, and if the governement offered you a bit more cash you are going to spend it. Personally I felt it offered the tax payer good value. 26 million watched it for a lot less than going to the pictures and seeing some average film. It was directed at a British audience and I believe that was the right approach to take. If the rest of the world struggled to follow some bits so what. The highlight for me is we didn't have one famous athelete selected to light the final 'Olympic flame' the choice of up and coming individuals was a great choice. I thought the concept of one bowl for each nation to be inspired, if I have a slight critisism from a designers perspective the arrangement look fantastic opened up on the floor, but with the stems raise it is not the most attractive of structures. The one weakness in the show, closing it with Paul McCartney. The jubilee concert highlighted his voice was gone, they were out of sync at the start and was a bit embarasing if I am honest. personal thoughts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indiscreet Report post Posted July 28, 2012 No, Darkshine, I didn't watch it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mandapanda Report post Posted July 28, 2012 I agree with LancsLad! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted July 28, 2012 It was annoyingly late, which meant getting up for a reenactment day this morning was a chore. There was some incredible vision involved, though, and a sense of community and cooperation, because I think a lot of it was achieved on the back of volunteer service. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted July 28, 2012 And I will Kiss was my favourite bit until Bowie - very moving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lyndalou Report post Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) I thought it was a bit disjointed at first when the children were singing although I understood that it was meant to show the different countries within Great Britain, then when the countryside was taken over by the Industrial Revolution I felt a bit confused about what was going on. However, I thought it was visually pretty stunning especially when the cameras panned in from above. I also wasn't completely sure about celebrating only the public health sector in the section about children's literature although again visually it was brilliant. The drums kept the pulse of the show going - I dread to think how those people's wrists feel - Evelyn Glennie (fellow Scot) great as always! Emilie Sandie from my neck of the woods too!! We hung on until the end, watching the procession and it was lovely to see so many happy and excited people together. I thought the concept of all the little kettles representing each country coming together to create the flame was inspired!! Macca should retire...he cannot sing any longer and I don't think he should be trundled out on every special occasion. Edited July 29, 2012 by Lyndalou Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike_GX101 Report post Posted July 29, 2012 sorry, i was to busy polishing my coat hangers. it was a long job and i couldnt just leave it. You were polishing your coat hangers?!? Are you kidding me?!? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted July 29, 2012 I started off with a very critical mood (yeah cuz I'm sooooo open minded) I was fighting to keep an open mind - honest - I agree with the points made by Lynden, Mannify, Lynda & LancsLad - so won't go on about those points too much I kinda wished that they'd whipped through another stage after the industrial revolution to be honest - as soon as they started changing the scenery I knew where they were going with it, and that change was pretty clever (even if I'm a smart ar5e and knew where it was going). But I sort of think that they could have advanced that through to today - like 2012 (although I appreciate that they did this in the following sections to a degree) and it did amuse me with the minimal war references too (not a surprise they left that out is it! How to offend the world in one easy step... discuss WW1 or WW2 ) The James Bond thing made me laugh, as did the start of the Mr Bean section (I hate Mr Bean - but it was funny in parts... went on too long though). The torch looked good from a distance I thought - close up it was better laid out before it raised up... As for Paul McCartney - as soon as he came on I started moaning at the TV much to my housemate's amusement and this is such as annoyance it is deserving of bullet points First, he looked like the skeleton from A Nightmare Before Christmas with a brown wig on. Second, why was he there?!?!?!? (ignoring The Beatles connection). Third, his singing was ######, sorry abysmal. Fourth, why choose Hey Jude? What the hell has that got to do with anything at all? How is it relevant? Of all songs in the world he decided to get up and sing Hey Jude? My housemates say it was so we could all sing the "na na na nanana" bit - but seriously? Is that a good enough reason to subject us to it? By the time he got to the way too long extended end of the song I was swearing that I was gonna get a train down to London, travel out to the stadium, break through security and knock him off the stage cuz he was pissing me off that much - over rated little git!!!!! Don't mind him so much when he was younger but I really find him annoying - I would have found him less annoying if he had the balls to sing one of his own songs... Moving on..... I also liked the choice of not using famous athletes to light the torch - the passing of the flame was a nice symbolism I thought and part of what the 2012 Olympics is trying to achieve - the message is positive and I think Great Britain needs some of that. I watched all the countries come out - god that took forever - but it was interesting cuz I forget so many of them even exist and was playing a game with my housemate trying to guess who would come out for the next letter of the alphabet.... I had a theory that all the countries using democratic or people's republic were countries with dictators cuz otherwise why would you make a point of saying the country is democratic or for the people - can anyone prove or disprove this? I am interested but haven't got to the stage of searching through the whole list yet... I did think parts were disjointed, but then it was a long segment of time to fill, and I think that if you look at it as a whole, they did manage to represent a fair amount of what it means to be British and stuff we've done and they got in quite a lot of things that are important There were parts I didn't like - but then I was always gonna struggle at sitting watching something for about 4 hours so that is to be expected... and I did make a few sarcastic comments about parts of it - my housemates were laughing when I did cuz I said what they were thinking... And I thought the Queen looked grumpily tired of it all very quickly I was impressed that the French guy at the end (whose name has slipped my mind) actually spoke in English - yeah, that's the kind of thing I think about..... On the whole, I have to admit that they did a good job, yes there's parts I didn't like and thought weren't great, but the bits that were great really worked and pulled it all together, like the burning rings joining over the stadium for example, I think overall they did a good job - and a much better one that what I expected too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A-S warrior Report post Posted July 29, 2012 You were polishing your coat hangers?!? Are you kidding me?!? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted August 13, 2012 So are all your coathangers looking good now AS Warrior? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted August 15, 2012 My husband is in the process of downloading Caliban's Dream, the music to which the Olympic flame was lit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted August 15, 2012 Like the BBC Olympic music by Elbow, too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) It's called First Steps, apparently, but we can't find it for download on iTunes. One for the list, though, I reckon . Oh, we've found it for £1.49 on Amazon. Sorry, y'all don't need a blow-by-blow account of our downloading habits, . Edited August 15, 2012 by Mannify Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted August 15, 2012 PS - thanks for the title of the song they lit the flame to - it was on my list of things to look up Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
