Continuity mistake: When M is imprisoned and is being spoken to by Robert Carlyle she is wearing a multi-coloured scarf which is draped over her left shoulder and down the left side of her body. When Carlyle leaves the room M turns around and walks towards the bed. The camera angle is reversed and she's not wearing the scarf. Later it is shown lying across the bed.
Revealing mistake: At the beginning when Bond jumps into the speed boat to chase after the assassin, he's not wearing a helmet. But when the speed boat hits the bigger one and rolls in the air, you can clearly see the driver with a helmet on.
Factual error: When Valentin takes Bond and Christmas into the FSB's headquarters in Istanbul, he explains "This used to be the KGB's headquarters in Istanbul. Now we call it the FSB: Federal Security Bureau. Different name, same friendly service," or something to that effect. However, the important part that Valentin flubs is that "FSB" is the *Russian* acronym transliterated into the Roman alphabet. What it really stands for is Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti. If he'd said the name correctly in English, he would've said "Federal Security Service," the FSB's official English name and that appears on all of its translated literature. Had a character unfamiliar with the FSB (Mr. Bullion, Electra, Bond, Christmas, and possibly even Renard) made this same flub, it would've been understandable. However, Valentin knows the FSB so well that he can apparently just waltz into a foreign headquarters building with whoever he wants. If he knows them that well, he's flat out not going to make so simple a mistake.
Continuity mistake: Despite running and jumping for her life, traveling at over 70mph, tumbling head over heels, and several massive explosions (during the nuclear factory and pipeline sequences), Dr. Jones' hair remains pinned up in a French twist with nary a strand out of place. Uh-huh. This is particularly glaring considering near the end of the film, the impact of an explosion finally does knock her hair loose.
Revealing mistake: When James Bond attacks the man at the casino bar, you can see that there are two holes on the board before he stabs the tie, from previous takes.
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene in the bankers office, the henchman comes in and places the suitcase on the desk and opens it so Bond can check the cash inside. Minutes later when Bond makes his escape out the window, the suitcase is on the floor, locked - very convenient.
Factual error: In the opening boat chase scene, when Bond takes the Q-boat ashore at high speed and hurtles through city streets, we see that his hands are still steering the Q-boat, even though there's no external means of steering the boat on dry land. We get a good look at the Q-boat's keel a couple of times, and it has no wheels nor other steering mechanism aside from its jet-ski nozzle, which would be useless for steering on dry land. Its twin rocket thrusters, which are both firing in the street sequence, provide only forward thrust. But, remarkably, the Q-boat manages to change direction by as much as 90° without losing momentum on dry land.
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, Bond's grip on the banker changes between shots. When seen from Bond's side, he holds him both by the tie and part of his jacket, but when seen from the banker's side he only holds the tie.
Continuity mistake: When in the monastery in Azerbaijan the position of Electra's scarf and hair changes between shots.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the doctor is telling the staff of MI6 about Renard, she says the bullet is moving through the medulla oblongata which is located in the neck below the left ear. However, Renard was shot in the head above his eyebrow, and in the hologram, it shows the bullet was moving straight into the middle of his brain.
Continuity mistake: In the ski-scene, Bond and Elektra start well above the tree line. Even when they stop to look at a stretch of the pipeline they are obviously high above the treeline. At the instant the motorgliders appear they are well below the treeline.
Factual error: When James Bond and Christmas Jones were in the pipeline, they were going at great speed, so when the robot explodes, why does the explosion suddenly stop?
Factual error: When Bond is in the little boat and nosedives it underwater to avoid whatever it was he was avoiding, he appears to be travelling at fairly high speed. With no windshield (or such a small one), the force of the water hitting him in the face should have knocked his head off or at least broken his neck.
Character mistake: Why is Electra using Windows 2000 (still in beta at the time) to survey her oil empire? (I think it's just after she's asked M to come and help her) You shouldn't use beta software for anything important....
Revealing mistake: In the scene at the end when the sub explodes, you see the hull split in two and the propeller drops away. But you do not see the prop shaft.
Factual error: Bond fires two torpedoes against the other speed boat on the Thames. They both hit, but in the next clip only the rear end of the boat is burning slightly. That must be some very weak torpedoes if a fiberglass boat is not completely destroyed by them.
Plot hole: When the hole is blown in the facade of the MI6 headquarter we first see flames and small debris - and then comes one more blast. Where did that come from? The money-bomb had already exploded and blown the hole in the building.
Deliberate mistake: The currency conversion program Bond uses to convert GBP into USD only has fields for a 7 figure amount. That's rather small for an organisation like MI6.
Revealing mistake: When Bond is talking with Zuckovsky in the casino, you can see a television set behind them with images from a security camera. You can tell it's the same footage used in the shot before showing people in the casino, only played again on the television.
Continuity mistake: When Bond shoots Renard in Kazakstan the bullet hits Renard's arm. Later when Renards is moving towards the elevator you can clearly see that his arm is undamaged.
Chosen answer: We see them in the movie when Bond first arrives to meet Electra - they're used for cutting trees in a straight line. Google "helicopter tree trimmer" to see dozens of examples.
Jon Sandys ★