Corrected entry: During the boat chase at the beginning, Bond's special boat is seen to have a feature that allows it to dip down and under the surface of the water, effectively turning it into a short-duration submarine. Unfortunately, the designers of the boat failed to equip it with any kind of sealed cockpit for the operator. What could possibly be the advantage of an open-cockpit boat that can also completely submerge? The driver could not effectively see to operate the controls, nor could he hold his breath long enough to travel any reasonable distance. Additionally, at any speed above "extremely slow", the force of the water rushing by the driver's face and body would be quite painful indeed! And it would be impossible to quickly drain the water out of the hull to allow it to float on top of the surface again. About the only useful purpose this function would serve is conveniently exactly what happened in the movie. What an amazing bit of foresight on behalf of Q-Branch.
Tailkinker
19th Nov 2007
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Correction: The intended usage for the craft is never precisely stated - it could, for example, be designed for high-speed covert insertions, with the user staying above water for the initial travel, then taking the craft below the waves for the final approach to the target, in which case they'd undoubtedly be wearing scuba gear to allow them to stay submerged, while the absence of a cockpit cover would allow for a swift exit in case of problems. Basically, we don't know exactly what it's designed for, it's pretty obvious that being driven by a man in a sharp suit is highly atypical and the design may well make perfect sense in the right circumstances. Just because we don't know what those circumstances are doesn't make this a mistake.
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Correction: Q also quite loudly states that the boat isn't finished as Bond takes off with it.