I've now worked out why I hated CR & QOS. They were missing probably the most important aspect of any of the Bond films ................a sense of fun!
I hope Skyfall brings that back and if it doesn't then give Danny Boyle a go for Bond 24. I enjoyed the small insert more last night than ever I did CR or QOS.
It would be better if they include Thomas the Tank Engine in the opening ceremony. Many British, as well as Yanks and some internationals grew up watching that show.
Fair play to the Queen. Suspect Danny Boyle is about to get a Knighthood. And hopefully Eon Productions will be on the phone shortly as well.
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I really enjoyed this short film, followed by the parachute jump with the James Bond theme playing in the stadium. It got me really excited for the games.
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This was a jumble odds and ends box of Best of British, but in fairness you couldn't have too much of everything because it would have got a bit It's a Knockout (slightly notorious 1970s light entertainment show of working class, slightly vulgar ambience, disastrously adopted by Prince Edward as an ill-advised royal-celeb fundraiser in the 1980s).
I thought it was brilliant, a few choking moments for me but I may have been in a funny mood. The songs/hymns from around the UK set the tone, and the bit tracking the course of the Thames. Got to hand it to Rowan Atkinson for brilliant comic timing and performance in a one-off.
I found the Queen and Bond scene to be quite moving really, again I think I was in a funny mood, though tbh Craig aint a natural actor to my mind, he can't do normal stuff. Like when he looks down at Churchill, we should see him peer closer as if unable to believe what he's seeing. When he turns away, he looks in a strop.
They could have had him pass two old buffers sat having a drink in the palace, and we look closer and see it's Sir Sean and Sir Rog. But that's too overegg the pudding.
I saw it on the screen at the Hyde Park gig with Duran Duran, Stereophonics and Snow Patrol. They cut away after Abide with Me, so guess I missed a bit, they resumed it for torch lighting stuff at the end.
No idea how they managed to pull off a ceremony like that, I'd like to read up on it in detail. Great that the papers managed to keep most of it quiet despite a dress rehearsal on Wednesday.
Yeah, the Bond thing seemed an April Fool as it went out on the day, but there's been talk for weeks of Bond appearing for real. That said, papers full of 'details' about how Bond was to save the Olympics from something, and get knighted ie papers just make stuff up when they want. Glad to see it wasn't like that, tempting fate I'd have thought, plus he shouldn't get knighted.
Macca's voice a bit wobbly, that doesn't surprise me, his band have a tendency to give it large too. Oh, Trevor Nelson, ffs, awful commentary. Was he standing in for Lineker?
Overall, it fulfilled its brief of showing the UK as a multicultural society, which is what won it the bid over the French. It did have a slight political bent, banging on about the evils of industrialisation (but not slavery, right?), eulogising the NHS (Christ, you should have seen some of the nurses I've had to deal with regarding my parents, they're not all saints) and Doreen Lawrence - all very well, but she had to fight for justice against her murdered son because Britain has a racist element, not least the the Met in how they dealt with it, and in any case look how many blacks have died in police custody over the years. These are thoughts that occurred the day after mind, that it was a bit self-congratulatory.
Oh, I didn't get the wall of remembrance thing. Turns out it was people in the audience texting in photos of loved ones, but I thought it was to those who died in the 7/7 bombings the day after the bid was confirmed. I sort of thought, eh, why are we paying tribute to just anyone who couldn't be alive today to see this? That goes back a bit.
Seeing Ali sort of choked me a bit, as he has Parky's he probably looks more out of it than he really was... but his care assistant did have to talk to him all the time as if to reassure him.
I thought it was brilliant, a few choking moments for me but I may have been in a funny mood. The songs/hymns from around the UK set the tone, and the bit tracking the course of the Thames.
You're not alone, there were a few moments that choked me too. Emile Sande's Abide With Me almost had me leaving the room; it's an emotive hymn for me at the best of times.
It was chaotic, unpredictable, solemn, hysterical, heart-warming and sinister. I loved every minute of it.
Yeah, Abide With Me is a choker, a bit like as with the end of A Bridge Too Far.
BTW can't we move this thread to Off Topic Discussion, it's not about Skyfall or Bond any more, many who want to comment on the Olympics can't as they don't want to dip into the Skyfall forum, to avoid spoilers.
Wow. Just wow. Our 86 year old monarch has one helluva sense of humour. Proud to be British.
I found the video a bit embarrassing. I was surprised the Queen did it. I hope she isn’t going senile. Wasn’t Craig’s “Bond walk” way-out? I thought it a bit overdone. Connery had the best Bond walk in my view.
Nope. We're a land of a million different opinions and more, so what I find incredible you find embarrassing - that's freedom of thought at it's best :007)
The stunt doubles of James Bond and The Queen for the parachute into the Olympic stadium have been revealed. There is a touch of irony regarding the surname of The Queen's double, his name is Gary Connery. Bond's stunt double was Mark Sutton.
Wow. Just wow. Our 86 year old monarch has one helluva sense of humour. Proud to be British.
I found the video a bit embarrassing. I was surprised the Queen did it. I hope she isn’t going senile. Wasn’t Craig’s “Bond walk” way-out? I thought it a bit overdone. Connery had the best Bond walk in my view.
Ok you can all lay into me now.
Not at all, I thought it was a weird 'monkey strut' very overdone in my view, with his arms away from his sides like he was trying to look bigger. It's odd because I've not noticed him walking like that before. True he does tend to over do the bursting into every room but this Monkey thing was new.
Perhaps he was overwhelmed as he seemed more wooden than the Queen, he had very little to do yet looked and sounded awkward. I doubt if people will lay into you or me for that matter, the only thing to be aware of is that any criticism of DC can get you branded as a ' Craig Hater'
My favourite Bond by a country mile is Dalton, but there were some things that on occasion jarred for me even with him, same with Connery, superb, but not perfect.
Nope. We're a land of a million different opinions and more, so what I find incredible you find embarrassing - that's freedom of thought at it's best :007)
I am not certain if this will be available to people outside the UK. Here is the Olympic Opening Ceremony in full without commentary. I absolutely love the Industrial Revolution sequence. The people, the sound, the drums, the music, the lighting and visuals, stunning, brilliant!
Given the length of time since he was Bond, I's say
the crowd would shout "Who ?" :007)
I have to admit I found Craig's walk a little Odd too. osris
He had the walk just about right in CR.
Roger Moore's walk wasn't that good, as I recall. A bit too wooden. I thought Lazenby's walk almost as good as Connery's. It is a pity Lazenby wasn't given a chance to do more Bonds. I could see him growing into the role.
Wow. Just wow. Our 86 year old monarch has one helluva sense of humour. Proud to be British.
I found the video a bit embarrassing. I was surprised the Queen did it. I hope she isn’t going senile. Wasn’t Craig’s “Bond walk” way-out? I thought it a bit overdone. Connery had the best Bond walk in my view.
Ok you can all lay into me now.
Not at all, I thought it was a weird 'monkey strut' very overdone in my view, with his arms away from his sides like he was trying to look bigger. It's odd because I've not noticed him walking like that before. True he does tend to over do the bursting into every room but this Monkey thing was new.
Perhaps he was overwhelmed as he seemed more wooden than the Queen, he had very little to do yet looked and sounded awkward. I doubt if people will lay into you or me for that matter, the only thing to be aware of is that any criticism of DC can get you branded as a ' Craig Hater'
My favourite Bond by a country mile is Dalton, but there were some things that on occasion jarred for me even with him, same with Connery, superb, but not perfect.
He could have been nervous performing with the Queen, which might have affected his performance. He is the only actor in history who has performed with the Queen, which is quite a feat. Indeed, she has never “performed” in anything fictional. In this respect the video is historically important. Even though I think it slightly ruins the mystique that usually surrounds the Queen, it does show her in a more human light.
Looking back at Dalton’s Bond, I like it more than I did. Many people said, at the time, he lacked charisma, and I suppose he did to some extent, but so does the Bond in the novels, in my view, who seems quite stiff upper lip at times. I think that after a few more Bond films Dalton would have been the best Bond since Connery. Incidentally, Dalton looks like Hoagy Carmichael a bit, which is who Fleming based Bond’s facial features on, or so I heard.
I enjoyed it very much, but I think the stunt would have been better if they had reinacted the PTS from Moonraker. The Queen and Bond battling for one parachute would have been hilarious!
I really haven't been following the Olympics at all and was only peripherally aware that Bond would factor into the opening ceremonies in some way so I only saw the piece recently. Kudos to the Queen for having a great sense of humor and going along with such an outlandish presentation.
Daniel Craig on the other hand is, as usual, as stiff as a pressure treated two-by-four. For a piece that was supposed to convey a sense of fun and lightheartedness to open the ceremony, Craig's ridiculous monkey strut and his usual sullen expression were completely out of touch and out of sync with everything going on around him. He really needs to learn to emote a few more expressions than just "surly".
In fact, I'm really surprised that he was even involved given how "serious" the films have become recently. It might have been better to leave him out of it. Even at 85, I'm fairly sure Roger Moore would have done a better job.
Comments
I hadn't been reading up on this, so my surprise was complete.
Loved it!
http://youtu.be/xW5abat5NEU
I hope Skyfall brings that back and if it doesn't then give Danny Boyle a go for Bond 24. I enjoyed the small insert more last night than ever I did CR or QOS.
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I was there last night and it was the greatest show on earth! Fantastic stuff. -{
This was a jumble odds and ends box of Best of British, but in fairness you couldn't have too much of everything because it would have got a bit It's a Knockout (slightly notorious 1970s light entertainment show of working class, slightly vulgar ambience, disastrously adopted by Prince Edward as an ill-advised royal-celeb fundraiser in the 1980s).
I thought it was brilliant, a few choking moments for me but I may have been in a funny mood. The songs/hymns from around the UK set the tone, and the bit tracking the course of the Thames. Got to hand it to Rowan Atkinson for brilliant comic timing and performance in a one-off.
I found the Queen and Bond scene to be quite moving really, again I think I was in a funny mood, though tbh Craig aint a natural actor to my mind, he can't do normal stuff. Like when he looks down at Churchill, we should see him peer closer as if unable to believe what he's seeing. When he turns away, he looks in a strop.
They could have had him pass two old buffers sat having a drink in the palace, and we look closer and see it's Sir Sean and Sir Rog. But that's too overegg the pudding.
I saw it on the screen at the Hyde Park gig with Duran Duran, Stereophonics and Snow Patrol. They cut away after Abide with Me, so guess I missed a bit, they resumed it for torch lighting stuff at the end.
No idea how they managed to pull off a ceremony like that, I'd like to read up on it in detail. Great that the papers managed to keep most of it quiet despite a dress rehearsal on Wednesday.
Yeah, the Bond thing seemed an April Fool as it went out on the day, but there's been talk for weeks of Bond appearing for real. That said, papers full of 'details' about how Bond was to save the Olympics from something, and get knighted ie papers just make stuff up when they want. Glad to see it wasn't like that, tempting fate I'd have thought, plus he shouldn't get knighted.
Macca's voice a bit wobbly, that doesn't surprise me, his band have a tendency to give it large too. Oh, Trevor Nelson, ffs, awful commentary. Was he standing in for Lineker?
Overall, it fulfilled its brief of showing the UK as a multicultural society, which is what won it the bid over the French. It did have a slight political bent, banging on about the evils of industrialisation (but not slavery, right?), eulogising the NHS (Christ, you should have seen some of the nurses I've had to deal with regarding my parents, they're not all saints) and Doreen Lawrence - all very well, but she had to fight for justice against her murdered son because Britain has a racist element, not least the the Met in how they dealt with it, and in any case look how many blacks have died in police custody over the years. These are thoughts that occurred the day after mind, that it was a bit self-congratulatory.
Oh, I didn't get the wall of remembrance thing. Turns out it was people in the audience texting in photos of loved ones, but I thought it was to those who died in the 7/7 bombings the day after the bid was confirmed. I sort of thought, eh, why are we paying tribute to just anyone who couldn't be alive today to see this? That goes back a bit.
Seeing Ali sort of choked me a bit, as he has Parky's he probably looks more out of it than he really was... but his care assistant did have to talk to him all the time as if to reassure him.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It was chaotic, unpredictable, solemn, hysterical, heart-warming and sinister. I loved every minute of it.
BTW can't we move this thread to Off Topic Discussion, it's not about Skyfall or Bond any more, many who want to comment on the Olympics can't as they don't want to dip into the Skyfall forum, to avoid spoilers.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
In case you can't view it anywhere else
Absolutely brilliant!!!
I found the video a bit embarrassing. I was surprised the Queen did it. I hope she isn’t going senile. Wasn’t Craig’s “Bond walk” way-out? I thought it a bit overdone. Connery had the best Bond walk in my view.
Ok you can all lay into me now.
the crowd would shout "Who ?" :007)
I have to admit I found Craig's walk a little Odd too. osris
If it were George Lazenby....."This never happened to the other fellas
The Queen's stunt double revealed as wingsuit daredevil
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/olympics/4460237/London-2012-The-Queens-stunt-double-revealed-as-wingsuit-daredevil.html
Not at all, I thought it was a weird 'monkey strut' very overdone in my view, with his arms away from his sides like he was trying to look bigger. It's odd because I've not noticed him walking like that before. True he does tend to over do the bursting into every room but this Monkey thing was new.
Perhaps he was overwhelmed as he seemed more wooden than the Queen, he had very little to do yet looked and sounded awkward. I doubt if people will lay into you or me for that matter, the only thing to be aware of is that any criticism of DC can get you branded as a ' Craig Hater'
My favourite Bond by a country mile is Dalton, but there were some things that on occasion jarred for me even with him, same with Connery, superb, but not perfect.
Glad to hear it.
Olympics Opening Ceremony - No Commentary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00w2r5c/Olympic_Ceremonies_London_2012_Online_Opening_Ceremony_no_comm/
He had the walk just about right in CR.
Roger Moore's walk wasn't that good, as I recall. A bit too wooden. I thought Lazenby's walk almost as good as Connery's. It is a pity Lazenby wasn't given a chance to do more Bonds. I could see him growing into the role.
He could have been nervous performing with the Queen, which might have affected his performance. He is the only actor in history who has performed with the Queen, which is quite a feat. Indeed, she has never “performed” in anything fictional. In this respect the video is historically important. Even though I think it slightly ruins the mystique that usually surrounds the Queen, it does show her in a more human light.
Looking back at Dalton’s Bond, I like it more than I did. Many people said, at the time, he lacked charisma, and I suppose he did to some extent, but so does the Bond in the novels, in my view, who seems quite stiff upper lip at times. I think that after a few more Bond films Dalton would have been the best Bond since Connery. Incidentally, Dalton looks like Hoagy Carmichael a bit, which is who Fleming based Bond’s facial features on, or so I heard.
No. That's the cost of the ENTIRE Opening Ceremony!
Oh, I see.
Yup. I know Craig doesn't come cheap, and insists on gold-plated, diamond encrusted Tom Ford suits. And the Queen, well...
But even those two wouldn't use up £27,000,000!
Daniel Craig on the other hand is, as usual, as stiff as a pressure treated two-by-four. For a piece that was supposed to convey a sense of fun and lightheartedness to open the ceremony, Craig's ridiculous monkey strut and his usual sullen expression were completely out of touch and out of sync with everything going on around him. He really needs to learn to emote a few more expressions than just "surly".
In fact, I'm really surprised that he was even involved given how "serious" the films have become recently. It might have been better to leave him out of it. Even at 85, I'm fairly sure Roger Moore would have done a better job.