Ailsa n Dave

I tuned into this last night honestly expecting it to be a bit crap and cringe worthy...

However in actual fact I loved it!! Thought it was great and very well done, I'd say somewhat eclectic rather than disjointed, but I felt it worked. How can you beat James Bond and the Queen leaping from a helicopter!!! :d

Paul McCartney at the end was the only bit that didn't quite work for me, definitely a British icon of pop... and very definitely long long past his prime, plenty of other people could (and should) have done this bit, maybe a medley of a few big names...

Despite this though, Over all very well done London!!

curleytops

+1

Boy d

no i didn't, i saw Kenneth do his Brunel bit, and one could hardly miss the smoke stacks, but they were hardly centre stage were they? I liked how it started but it lost ground and became a jumbled mix. Although some later parts were great like Mary Poppins...the NHS thing i didn't get at all.

To me there was no grandeur or pomp, just a mosiac of Brit pop cultue, which is fine, but it tended to take over....as jonboye notes, all that was missing was someone throwing up or fighting in the ensuing chaos of the balance of the show.

JulieLord

Hear Hear!! I second that.. The Mod Father should have sang!! and a few Vespa's and Lambrettas while the 60's stuff was playing would have gone down a treat!!

Alan2005

Grandeur would have been the wrong thing to do. There was no way London could compete with Beijing on that - so they did something different instead.

(and I think they picked paul mccartney cos everyone can do the 'na na na na' chorus)

el_richo

The NHS was the first free cradle to grave health care of its kind at the time. Like the industrial revolution, literature, music, suffragettes, and so on, it pioneered the way other countries and people around the worl developed what they have today.

GOSH was a great tribute to JM Barrie, and visa versa, and how his Peter pan funding has helped develop the best children's hospital in the world. Another look at how British literature impacted the country and the world.

The cell phone storyline was a view of generational changes with family and young kids, aided by british music and visuals from different eras. The young girl was quite fit

It seemed typical Danny Boyle and he did an excellent job given the gravity of it all.

dollface

My take on it is 9/10.

Mostly bloody brilliant - I didn't love the "music" bit - I think they could have done alot better on that front with ALL the Brit talent past and present.

Loved the forging of the olympic rings! the lighting of the cauldron was nothing short of spectacular.

Didn't get the point of dragging poor Ali out again, others could have done that rather than the sick old fella.

Still think Beckham should have brought the torch into the stadium and representatives from the athletes of the future and past should have lit the cauldron imo.

McCartney should now retire, indeed. However, for me, no-one else should have had that spot, The Beatles, are one of Britains biggest icons worldover and it was right that he ultimately played. May have been good had they brought on Ringo to play drums.

And who dressed the athletes???

Overall

ExKiwilass

I really liked it but the Rowan A. thing went on for too long.

feelbritish

I had luckily finished working so could watch it "live" unfortunately from CTV because they spoilt it by throwing in some ads and stupid comments (can't help it can they?) I then watched it a second time with my OH and my feeling was still the same. I loved it. I thought it was a well balance of what is all British and what was history, be it Industry, NHS, WWars, Literature, Music, film and new technology to show how far we have come. I especially liked the opening singing of "Oh Jerusalem" and not having to be politically correct with the opening music, showcasing songs from all of Great Britain. I may not have liked some of the more modern music but it is still part of the growing Britain. Mr Bean was my best followed by the Queen, such a good laugh and only the British can pull that off! Well done London! Proud to have British roots and made me very homesick.

MillieF

I really didn't expect to like it....but I really did, and I could feel a desire for a quick burst of Rule Britania swell within. I loved the mix of kids and teens being involved and they all looked so happy. I thought Mike Oldfield had stood the test of time, but I'm with the general consensus that Macca should just stop as it's getting painful. I was pleasantly surprised...I thought the fireworks were fab.

Boy d

These are my sentiments entirely.

feelbritish

Oh I agree on the TeamBritain althletic outfits were awful, they would have looked more stunning in Blue Red and White! Made more of an inpact when they came out last!

Lorna at Vicenza

I didn't like them either. I heard they were inspired by Sir Jimmy Saville. Still didn't make me like them.

ann m

Someone on facebook made me giggle - asked if they had been designed by Ali G.

JonboyE

It was nice to see The Queen having a good laugh.