246 replies to this topic

[pgram]

So, now officially the queen can be included in the Bond girls lists?

[Chief of SIS]

Watch out Judi.

[marktmurphy]

That was a great laugh. I love they put him in the dinner suit: James Bond and the (proper, actual) Queen! Sort of a spoof of what people in other countries think Britain is- excellent stuff. And the final gag of her jumping- terrific.

[Simon]

Bearing in mind it was actually said that Danny wanted the show to take place at night to allow the colours of the lighting to be shown at their best, I am surprised he didn't shoot the Bond segment with sufficient continuity to allow Bond and the Queen to jump at night. Or at least indicate the passage of time to show the falling of dusk for their arrival at the stadium if she had to be picked up in daylight.

Currently, it seems as if the parachute jump is the longest in history, jumping in daylight to landing at night time.

Bit strange.

Otherwise, celebratory enough.

As for the rest of the show, it was essentially superb. Although I wasn't sure about the Arctic Monkeys, Becks should have had a larger role in tonight rather than a not very well covered boat ride and then told to stay outside, and perhaps Tom Jones as opposed to Paul McCartney. And the Beeb should absolutely Not have edited sporting images over the bloody fireworks, ffs.

[Vauxhall]

Definitely some flaws in the Bond sequence but the coup of securing the Queen to portray herself in a fictional scenario truly is extraordinary.

As for the show as a whole - magnificent. I was skeptical beforehand but that was a top class celebration of the UK. Well done Danny Boyle.

[pgram]

Bearing in mind it was actually said that Danny wanted the show to take place at night to allow the colours of the lighting to be shown at their best, I am surprised he didn't shoot the Bond segment with sufficient continuity to allow Bond and the Queen to jump at night. Or at least indicate the passage of time to show the falling of dusk for their arrival at the stadium if she had to be picked up in daylight.

Currently, it seems as if the parachute jump is the longest in history, jumping in daylight to landing at night time.

Bit strange.

Otherwise, celebratory enough.

As for the rest of the show, it was essentially superb. Although I wasn't sure about the Arctic Monkeys, Becks should have had a larger role in tonight rather than a not very well covered boat ride and then told to stay outside, and perhaps Tom Jones as opposed to Paul McCartney. And the Beeb should absolutely Not have edited sporting images over the bloody fireworks, ffs.

Agreed, not very well made, but still fun. Who needs a trailer now, when more than half the planet saw this tonight?

[lazenbyland]

I thought it was great and the kids loved it and the Mr Bean section.

Truly "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"!!

There will be glitches along the way, there always are in Olympics, and rain at some point though good to see it held off tonight. But it rains at most Olympics too!.

A fabulous show and looking forward to the next 17 days!

[chrisno1]

Well, the Bond stuff was a hoot, but hardly anything to do with sport !!!
I have to say I was surprised to see the actual Queen in the 007 sequence - please tell me I wasn't imagining it - I had a few by then, it's my folks wedding anniversary today (yesterday)
Regards the ceremony overall: interesting take on British history / culture. I think if you were at the stadium you would have been very confused. There wasn't enough exposition to make it a truely universal spectacle - even the TV commentators had nothing to say about half of it. The athletes parade was cool, and some of the dancing was great, but I baulk at the constant use of 'pop' music (Artic Monkeys, a crappy singalong froom McCartney, etc - what happened to Vaughan Williams and Holst?) and Mr Bean messing with Chariots of Fire was like a slap in the face for both Abrahams & Liddell and the movie makers, Gary Linekar called in 'bonkers and British' - not far wrong.
PS the actual Olympic flame was brilliant - Ken Adam couldn't have imagined it better.

[marktmurphy]

The Queen said "Good evening Mr. Bond"! The Queen!! Not sure that'll ever get old.

[pgram]

I'm sure this clip will be included in many fan-made trailers from now on...

The crowd outside Buckingham Palace was probably from the Jubilee celebration.

[DamnCoffee]

[Napoleon Solo]

It would seem the concern whether Daniel Craig would injure himself making a parachute jump was misplaced. That's not a criticism of Craig. It was the smart thing to do all along.

[SomeBloke]

So, Daniel Craig "escorted" her Majesty to the Olympic Stadium in London.

Just before her arrival in the Royal box, the James Bond Theme (Original Dr No) is played throughout the stadium, and a video link of Bond and Her Majesty "parachuting" down in a humouress fashion is played.

I thought it was a fitting tribute to the British sense of humour, but also a very nice nod to the Bond series as being a very big part of the world image of Britain.

Whoever edited the Bond Theme needs to be shot though, as it seemed jerky in the sequencing.

[The Shark]

but I baulk at the constant use of 'pop' music (Artic Monkeys, a crappy singalong froom McCartney, etc - what happened to Vaughan Williams and Holst?)

Like it or not, but "Pop" is the most socially communicative music we have, through its accessibility and about power to bring so many over us together. As much I'd have liked the inclusion of Delius, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Britten, Walton, Birtwhistle or Maxwell Davies - none of their respective repertoires would've been appropriate for the finale. The most substantial tip of the hat to Britain's classical composers came through the moving performance Elgar's Enigma Variations at the beginning. The ending needed anthemic pop that could engage the crowd.

Sure Macca was struggling, but the Arctic Monkeys put on a bloody good show, as they always do. One of the best contemporary British bands out there.

Mr Bean messing with Chariots of Fire was like a slap in the face for both Abrahams & Liddell and the movie makers

Oh, grow a sense of humour will you? Two of the most distinctive English qualities are self-deprecation and a thick skin, and that was a perfect example of both, in the tradition of Morecambe and Wise's "Andrew Preview" sketch.

[DR76]

I . . . I couldn't watch the whole thing. I just couldn't. Watching a live action period drama unfold before my eyes was difficult enough. I'm sorry.

[Napoleon Solo]

http://www.thisislon...ny-7703711.html

Arise, Sir James: the Queen has ‘knighted’ 007 in film for Olympics opening ceremony

After more than 50 years on Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the MI6 agent with a licence to kill may finally get a knighthood.

Buckingham Palace sources have told the Londoner that James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, has secretly received the sword’s tap on his shoulder from the Queen.
The actor, who has been shooting new Bond movie Skyfall, was seen at the Palace with a film crew last month.
“Daniel Craig was here in black tie one morning in early April,” says a source. “Judi Dench [who plays M, the head of MI6] was also here, and the talk of the Palace was that Bond was going to be knighted that morning.”

Ah, just saw Vauxhall's post.

Bond wasn't "knighted." Fleming's notion (probably not by design) remains in tact -- Bond isn't knighthood material and would turn it down, if offered.

[The Shark]

I . . . I couldn't watch the whole thing. I just couldn't. Watching a live action period drama unfold before my eyes was difficult enough. I'm sorry.

It was pretty terrible. Craig looked like he was being escorted to death row while on DMT.

[tdalton]

I . . . I couldn't watch the whole thing. I just couldn't. Watching a live action period drama unfold before my eyes was difficult enough. I'm sorry.

I had a hard time watching the entire thing myself. The Bond short film was rather poor, as was the entire opening ceremony, or at least what I saw up to the part where they bring all of the athletes into the building. That was the point at which I apologized to those who I was watching it with and excused myself from sitting through any more of it.

[Napoleon Solo]

I'm still having a bit of trouble imagining how this is going to work; can't wait to see it, though.

Now we know. A stuntman made the jump and there wasn't any attempt to disguise it.

Not a criticism of Craig. Makes perfect sense.

[The Shark]

I had a hard time watching the entire thing myself. The Bond short film was rather poor, as was the entire opening ceremony, or at least what I saw up to the part where they bring all of the athletes into the building.

It got a lot better after that point. But since there's about 200 countries...

[tdalton]

I had a hard time watching the entire thing myself. The Bond short film was rather poor, as was the entire opening ceremony, or at least what I saw up to the part where they bring all of the athletes into the building.

It got a lot better after that point. But since there's about 200 countries...

I'm sure it did. Watching however many thousands of athletes they have in London walking around in a circle was bound to be more exciting than what preceeded it.

[Jim]

Hard to assess whether it was a proper opening ceremony or, with all the magnificent NHS and ban the bomb stuff and James Bond pushing the Queen out of a helicopter or whatever it was, a bit of a piss-take of one. Possibly a bit of both. Did think young Master Beckham was looking a little Bondy in some of those pictures of him on that speedboat but I may have had a few lime cordials by that point and was probably hallucinating. All very splendidly daft.

[Mrs Rabbithole]

Why did they have two dogs running around Bond in the beginning...?

Come on, every Bond flick has at least two bitches bwahahahahahaha

*needs to lay off the alcohol* hic

[Skudor]

Love the fact that Bond actually agreed to do this thing with the Queen; not very good for keeping low profile. ;-)

The old bad didn't do too badly either - clearly she has a sense of humour, which I found rather surprising. Not just doing a little skit, but also the whole notion of parachuting out of a helicopter.

Love the look on both their faces when they had their bit of dialogue - brilliant.

And I do wish someone would give Craig some walking lessons - the shoulder thing is starting to bother me.

Anyway, not sure what to think of the ceremony. It was certainly different - perhaps sometimes a bit too aimed at the home audience rather than the rest of the world. It had its flaws, but overall pretty good I suppose. And Beckham did look rather Brosnan-Bondish coming up the Thames in the speedboat (they even managed to make it look like he was driving it - for a while). I guess if the aim was to 'answer' the sort of 'marching in lockstep' concept of Beijing with the colour and chaos of a truly free and cosmopolitan city - then it worked.

[SecretAgentFan]

I must say: I enjoyed the Bond with Her Majesty-bit very much. The way Craig walked into Buckingham Palace, between the Corgis... very funny - and Bondian.

And that the Queen jumped first - wow. And the Union Jack-parachuting to the Bond theme... simply wonderful.

This made it very clear to the world how much Bond is essential to Great Britain. Still.

[chrisno1]

Oh, grow a sense of humour will you? Two of the most distinctive English qualities are self-deprecation and a thick skin, and that was a perfect example of both, in the tradition of Morecambe and Wise's "Andrew Preview" sketch.

I do have a sense of humour - this wasn't funny.
I'm rather fond of self depreciation, I'm quite partial to it, but IMO the opening ceremony to a world wide event like the Olympic Games isn't the time for self depreciation... it should be a celebration and in the main Danny Boyle got that about right, if a little tough to figure.
I do agree however that the Artic Monkeys were much better and more athletic looking than Macca. I'm afraid 'Hey Jude' IMO is as inappropriate to sport as Mr Bean.

[Revelator]

I do agree however that the Artic Monkeys were much better and more athletic looking than Macca.

Yes, please pick on a 70 year old man for not being as athletic as a band whose members are young enough to be his grandchildren. Macca held his end up quite well and was obviously moved to be playing to an Olympic crowd. And of course "Hey Jude" is appropriate--it's an inspirational, pick-your-self-up anthem that ends in a crowd-united singalong, perfect for a sporting event. It's no less appropriate than whatever a classic music snob would cough up.

As for the mini-Bond film, it could have used a tighter edit. Plus, so much of the impact depends on seeing Bond and the honest-to-God Queen together that a little life starts leaking out the moment they leave the palace and stop truly sharing the screen together. The helicopter/jump scenes seems a bit awkwardly shot, as if Boyle wasn't sure how to show his stand-in.
Still, the concept is oddly touching, and evidence for how much Bond has become tied into the British identity. Had you gone back in time and told Ian Fleming about this--that his character would five decades later jump out of a helicopter with the Queen to celebrate the Olympics in London--he would have thought you insane. And yet it has happened. Once Fleming proclaimed that Bond was On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And now Her Majesty shares the screen with James Bond. When the hyper-real and the fictional collide, life becomes gloriously surreal.

[pgram]

Still, I think she should have said: Ah, mr Bond, I've been expecting you...

[marktmurphy]

And I do wish someone would give Craig some walking lessons - the shoulder thing is starting to bother me.

I liked that- it looked to me like he was having a little laugh at his own Bond's walk!

[marktmurphy]

Still, the concept is oddly touching, and evidence for how much Bond has become tied into the British identity. Had you gone back in time and told Ian Fleming about this--that his character would five decades later jump out of a helicopter with the Queen to celebrate the Olympics in London--he would have thought you insane.

I'd like to go back in time and tell Daniel Craig he'd be doing a scene with the actual Queen in front of a billion people; and he'd be as famous as she is! Probably around the time he was doing Heartbeat