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The London 2012 Olympics - The Events
- Thread starter Squiggs
- Start date
Alexsutton
TS Member
Fantastic show so far, really spectacular. You could run some kind of 'elements copied from previous Danny Boyle films' bingo though.
Rose Of Dawn
TS Member
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Im loving the opening ceremony so far, I wasn't too sure at the start when it all had people in the field, but when I realised what was happening I started to enjoy it. No doubt there'll be loads of moaning about how "rubbish" it is, but personally I think it's excellent.
Oddly, I actually enjoy this bit where all the countries come out. It gives a real sen of global unity.
Also, I like how it's just started playing the Bee Gees when Fiji came out
Oddly, I actually enjoy this bit where all the countries come out. It gives a real sen of global unity.
Also, I like how it's just started playing the Bee Gees when Fiji came out
Stelios
TS Member
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That was actually much better than I expected. Cinematic and British humour made it truly spectacular. I am for once proud to be British.
About 4 countries that I'd never heard of, but the IOC nation is encouraging but Team GB's both outfits are dire! Stellar job Stella.
Muhammed Ali's cameo almost moved me to tears! C'mon Redgrave, still hoping for you to light it!
About 4 countries that I'd never heard of, but the IOC nation is encouraging but Team GB's both outfits are dire! Stellar job Stella.
Muhammed Ali's cameo almost moved me to tears! C'mon Redgrave, still hoping for you to light it!
Rowe
TS Member
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I've honestly enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, the theatricals and film-like aspects certainly did more for me than the Jubilee, it was incredibly British with Danny Boyle doing a fantastic job. It's very hard to be pessimistic or be venomous about this show since it's genuinely entertained me. Will certainly be watching again to admire the stage effects, projection mapping etc!
But although this event has been wonderful to watch, my Olympic interest still stands at nil. I'll catch some of it on the telly no doubt.
But although this event has been wonderful to watch, my Olympic interest still stands at nil. I'll catch some of it on the telly no doubt.
Sam
TS Member
Reposting what I said on Facebook:
That was the best Olympic opening ceremony I've ever seen. China was spectacular, but it was dumb spectacle. THAT was cerebral, intelligent, nuanced, subtle in places, artistic, creative, inclusive and most of all, thoughtful. We clearly didn't just think "Right, let's just try and have more fireworks than last time". We decided to use our proud cultural and creative heritage to make something smaller but better, and more thought-provoking.
Would any other country have segments that celebrated the women's suffragette movement, or the immigration wave of the 1960s, or a celebration of a national health service, or so much stuff involving people with disabilities?
What I mean is, to have stuff like a celebration of the National Health Service is just so interesting. They avoided doing the obvious (simply fulfilling bland cultural stereotypes) and actually talked about things that other countries wouldn't. Can you imagine Beijing having a bit celebrating the health service of China?
I'm just brimming with excitement about how amazing that was. As a country, we've artistically moved beyond what we could have done (i.e. let's get ten thousand people all at the same time to shoot arrows made of fire!) or whatever. They probably had ten trillion dollars on the budget. They could have done something like that, something even bigger than Beijing. It would have been the easy way out. Instead they decided "No, let's make people think and talk about stuff that British people are actually proud of - multiculturalism, women's rights, caring for people with disabilities, the bad-ass industrial revolution."
That was the best Olympic opening ceremony I've ever seen. China was spectacular, but it was dumb spectacle. THAT was cerebral, intelligent, nuanced, subtle in places, artistic, creative, inclusive and most of all, thoughtful. We clearly didn't just think "Right, let's just try and have more fireworks than last time". We decided to use our proud cultural and creative heritage to make something smaller but better, and more thought-provoking.
Would any other country have segments that celebrated the women's suffragette movement, or the immigration wave of the 1960s, or a celebration of a national health service, or so much stuff involving people with disabilities?
What I mean is, to have stuff like a celebration of the National Health Service is just so interesting. They avoided doing the obvious (simply fulfilling bland cultural stereotypes) and actually talked about things that other countries wouldn't. Can you imagine Beijing having a bit celebrating the health service of China?
I'm just brimming with excitement about how amazing that was. As a country, we've artistically moved beyond what we could have done (i.e. let's get ten thousand people all at the same time to shoot arrows made of fire!) or whatever. They probably had ten trillion dollars on the budget. They could have done something like that, something even bigger than Beijing. It would have been the easy way out. Instead they decided "No, let's make people think and talk about stuff that British people are actually proud of - multiculturalism, women's rights, caring for people with disabilities, the bad-ass industrial revolution."
pluk
TS Member
It was amazing. I was expecting to be embarrassed but the whole thing was slick, funny and meaningful. It also had the best soundtrack of any games ever, flag procession to Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Underworld, Pet Shop Boys? Wow.
Shame there wasn't more Boris, but his very quick appearance was a classic: his reaction to that German, erm, wave.
hahahaha. Boris.
Shame there wasn't more Boris, but his very quick appearance was a classic: his reaction to that German, erm, wave.
hahahaha. Boris.
Tim
TS Member
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- Air / Blue Fire
I was sold by the first half an hour. The deconstruction of the English Countryside in the formation of the Industrial Revolution said so much about our history and somewhat destructive rise to power. The forging of the rings just sealed it so perfectly. If that alone had been the whole event I would have switched off happy.
Some of my other personal favourite moments included the parachuting queen and an outstanding performance by Rowan Atkinson. I didn't expect to laugh so much at what's normally a very pompous ceremony (not that we were lacking patriotism).
As for the cauldron I just want it noted that in chat I managed to call the “bowls” design from the moment I saw the copper petals*. How do you hide a cauldron? Simple, you carry it in piece by piece and build it then and there. It was a very clever design and I loved the way it was lit by several people, making it a collective effort and completely negating the need for a single torch bearer.
I'm just a little disappointed there was no Boris on the bikes and the only reference to Doctor Who was the brief sound of the TARDIS hidden among the generation of music. I thought a few Dalek security guards would have perfected the event, especially after the security fiasco.
Overall a great spectacle, you can’t really compare it to anything before and that’s how it should be.
* = Although I predicted the cauldrons design I did think it would look slight different. I’m tempted to make my own version and make it available for RCT if there’s enough interest?
Some of my other personal favourite moments included the parachuting queen and an outstanding performance by Rowan Atkinson. I didn't expect to laugh so much at what's normally a very pompous ceremony (not that we were lacking patriotism).
As for the cauldron I just want it noted that in chat I managed to call the “bowls” design from the moment I saw the copper petals*. How do you hide a cauldron? Simple, you carry it in piece by piece and build it then and there. It was a very clever design and I loved the way it was lit by several people, making it a collective effort and completely negating the need for a single torch bearer.
I'm just a little disappointed there was no Boris on the bikes and the only reference to Doctor Who was the brief sound of the TARDIS hidden among the generation of music. I thought a few Dalek security guards would have perfected the event, especially after the security fiasco.
Overall a great spectacle, you can’t really compare it to anything before and that’s how it should be.
* = Although I predicted the cauldrons design I did think it would look slight different. I’m tempted to make my own version and make it available for RCT if there’s enough interest?
Alastair
TS Team
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It was certainly a brilliant ceremony - in particular the cameos of Rowan Atkinson which I thought was hilarious, and I thought Kenneth Branagh did a superb job of portraying Brunel through facial expression alone. Danny Boyle certainly did a great job in the end; I wasn't sure seeing the beginning but it all turned good towards the end
Tim
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SamJ said:
I did think Cumberbatch's introduction at the very start had a nice Sherlock feel to it but now you mention it I'm surprised there wasn't more classic British literature. They had Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang but not much else and 3 of those are more well known for their film adaptations then as books. Maybe that section could of done with being extended or just had these other characters appear in the background. Not that there absence actually made it any less enjoyable.
Sam said:Tim said:
It's a bit tenuous, but current doctor Matt Smith was part of the running short film with Rowan.
I'll have to watch it again, I missed that. But I was thinking more about a nod to the show and its part of British culture rather than the people who star in it.