London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder

A fun and vibrant opening ceremony! The UK celebrated its iconic culture in style. That James Bond intro? The spice girls?! Absolutely amazing.

Wonderful choreography, music, and theme tell the story of Britain from its green roots to dark industrial might. A recognition of the country's emotional, cultural, and physical wealth.

Engaging and enthralling people of every nation with intelligence, whit, and charm; a moment of self-deprecation and self-praise, properly delivered with an all-rounded English-ness.

Music from every corner of every type, culturally relevant the ceremony throws out a message of turmoil, of arrogance (perhaps), and of success.

The Baby Boomers, the elderly, the young are enthralled and moved; they get the light, the sound, the message:

"We've done it; we did it brilliantly; I'm bloody proud to be a Brit. (And all those moaning buggers can get back where they belong: in their Early Graves)."

I just rewatched the opening ceremony 10 years later in 3D (a TV capture from BBC back when they still broadcast in 3D) and it was even better than I remembered, and also better in 3D. A beautiful colorful production full of surprises and happy emotion, it just put a smile on my face. It also made me nostalgic for a few reasons. First is the sad demise of 3D broadcasting. Even in the era of UHD 4K HDR, the 3D broadcast from ten years ago looks absolutely fantastic on the right screen. Second is that in hindsight 2012 feels like the happy pinnacle of modern times. No hint of Brexit, or bitter partisan politics, or populist leaders, or fake news and misinformation, or Covid, or war in Ukraine. Just looking at the opening ceremony makes me want to teleport back in time into that happy place, where everybody and every nation celebrates together as one. Since there's no actual way to do it, rewatching the London Olympic games opening ceremony in 3D is probably the next best thing.

Just as Los Angeles in 1984 invented the Olympic Opening Ceremony, then Danny Boyle's London 2012 reinvented it in so many ways. The first to have an all-star cast (Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Craig, Mike Oldfield, JK Rowling, Rowan Atkinson, Dizzy Rascal, Tim Berners Lee, the Arctic Monkeys, David Beckham, Paul MaCartney). The first to have filmed sequences (the thrilling opening journey up the Thames, James Bond meets the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Mr Bean dreams he's in Chariots of Fire, David Beckham delivers the Olympic torch by speedboat). The first to tell a story (the industrial revolution, the founding of the NHS, the digital revolution).

Like the Coronation in 1953, the World Cup Final in 1966, Live Aid in 1985 and Diana's funeral in 1997, it is one of those iconic British national moments that's likely to be remembered for decades to come.

The organisers of the London 2012 had a problem and it has been over 30 years in the making.

Ever since Moscow 1980 when you had all the choreographed banner changing and then LA 1984 when it went all space age. The opening ceremonies have become grander and wildly more expensive culminating in Beijing 2008 with the money no object even though part of the country is backwards and underdeveloped with people starving.

London 2012 had an Oscar winning director leading a creative team and a wildly cut down budget and a seismic creative shift from the past.

What we had was a history of Britain moving from its agrarian past into the Industrial Revolution to the rise of social welfare including the NHS, celebration of arts and culture and leading into the computer age.

We had Kenneth Branagh reciting Shakespeare, Music for a host of performers and James Bond meeting The Queen.

It was very untypical, rather surreal, edgy and smart. In fact it was nice to see the end of the synchronised banner switching.