Mistakes - Tomorrow Never Dies
During the pre-credits sequence, Bond takes off in a fighter
aircraft. In face-on shots of him in the cockpit, his oxygen mask
is attached to the side of his helmet but is missing from all
profile shots.
In the opening sequence, after firing the missile, the ship reports back that they have lost contact with the missile because it is out of range and thus it cannot be destroyed. Moments later, back at headquarters, M and her team are seen watching the missile's on-board camera as it flies through the mountains towards its target. It seems unlikely that the camera could broadcast a picture but the self destruct feature could not be used.
As Bond knocks out the pilot in the opening scene, the co-pilot's
body disappears in the following scene.
Since the sinking of the Titanic, it has been mandatory that British shipping must maintain a visual watch with the use of binoculars. How is it then that the HMS Devonshire does not notice the stealth ship, clearly visible in the moonlight, just a few feet away?
The plane flown by Bond in the opening scene is not a MIG-type
fighter but a L-39 FENIX from Czechoslovakia, the Czech name for
this plane is Albatros. It was however also based in the USSR
and DDR.
Most Military aircraft can't arm their weapons when their landing
gear is down, so how did Bond fire missiles and other weapons
on the aircraft?
After the Chinese MIGs fly over the HMS Devonshire an alarm
sounds and all the sailors are seen leaving the mess hall and
going to their battle stations - yet a few shots later when the
drill hits the ship sailors are present back in the mess hall.
The ship's captain is wearing Lieutenant Commander's epaulettes
on his shoulders, but when you see him next he is wearing full
Commander's epaulettes.
If the HMS Devonshire were 17 miles off the coast of China's
main land it would have appeared on the radar screen, thus proving
that the satellite position was incorrect. Did Carver alter the
Chinese GPS systems too? The MIGs that buzzed the Devonshire thought
that it was in Chinese waters while later we learn that it sank
in Vietnamese waters.
In the scene where Bond test drives the BMW using the phone, set in Hamburg airport (but filmed in England) a Vauxhall Astra van with a UK numberplate is visible in the shot where the BMW spins around.
When in the motorcade with M the separator panel which Miss Moneypenny
lowers to hand papers to Bond, it is clearly seen up in the exterior
shot of the car, but when cutting back into the car the separator
is lowered.
Though Q introduces Bond's new car as a BMW 750i V8, it's actually
the more powerful 750i V12.
When Bond drives the BMW via the phone for the first time a figure
is visible for a very short time on the driver's side. Also you
can see small black spots on the wing mirrors, which
were the video cameras that enable the specialist driver to see
where they were going.
When discussing the location of Bond's gun when he sleeps, he
is clearly seen looking at Paris Carver, however on the replay
on Gupta's monitor Bond is seen to be staring down in to the crowd
and not at Paris.
The level of vodka in Bond's glass in his hotel room fluctuates
without him drinking from the glass after he fills it the second
time.
When Bond parks his car in the garage, the tires are turned slightly
to the right. Later, when Carver's people try to break it open,
the tires are in straight position
When fighting a goon on the moving platform in Carver's newspaper
factory, the crash mat can be seen when the goon is thrown over
the railing and thus not the cause of the bloody mess, which is
seen.
After discovering a dead Paris, the videocassette removed by
Dr. Kaufmann is fully rewound, and thus could not have been played.
When explaining how to open his car to Dr. Kaufmann, Bond gives instructions that include the use of a recall buton. There is
no "Recall" button on that model of the cellphone.
When Bond shoots Dr. Kaufmann you can clearly see the spent bullet
cartridge hitting Brosnan squarely on the forehead.
When using his phone as fingerprint scanner it is a Samsung model,
but when using it opened up to control the car the Ericsson logo
is visible.
When Bond is searching Carver's lab for the GPS encoder, he is
standing at a table with his hands by his sides. In the very next
shot, a close-up on his face, he has his thumb on his chin as
if in thought for a moment.
The BMW's registration plates are supposed to be German but they are the wrong size, shape and font. They don't resemble real German license plates.
The chase scene in the Atlantis Hotel car park shows the BMW
having a solid metal sunroof, however when the car is launched
off the top floor and flies into the Avis rental shop the BMW
has a glass roof.
During Bond's remote controlled escape from the car park in Hamburg,
he fires a stinger missile at a car in his way, which is dramatically
thrown backwards through the air. However, both the metal ramps
used to lift the car and the steel cable used to pull it along
are clearly visible.
The rear window of Bond's car repairs itself soon after the missile
passes through the hole in it.
When Bond flips the switch for activating the rockets in the
MIG during the opening, you can see German descriptions around
the switches.
There's no reason why a hotel's parking garage door should be
armored and be able to withstand missiles. (It's a holdover from
an earlier version of the script, where the car battle took place
in the villain's headquarters.)
When Bond and Wai Lin make the daring dive from teh top of Carver's headquarters and smash through a lower floor window, the glass is broken before their feet touch it.
English subtitles on the majority of releases claim Wai Lin (speaking Cantonese) is saying, "Bring the boat. What are you waiting for?" when, in fact, she is saying, "Over here. Hey, come over here."
When Bond re-inflates his Q-ified BMW tires they change from
a sport tread to a standard one. It shows a wheel of the "classic"
series for the BMW 7, yet the car was equipped with "sports"
wheels.
When arriving at the airbase located in Asia, the F-15E fighter
aircraft have "RAF Lakenheath, England" detailing on
their tails.
Wade is walking toward the camera with his hat in his right hand.
The next shot shows him walking away from the camera with his
hat in his left hand.
When the HMS Devonshire gives its position as 114 23 818 E, 37
74 624 N, that longitude and latitude is actually 300 miles inland.
When jumping out of the plane Bond is wearing a skin suit and
parachute and a small air tank on each side. When he lands in
the water he has a single tank and no parachute.
When making the HALO jump Bond's oxygen mask disappears for two
shots when having the details of the HALO jump explained. Also
if the aircraft was truly that high, all members of the crew should
be wearing oxygen masks, or the aircraft should be pressurised.
Opening the rear door of the transport airplane at 40,000 ft for
the parachute jump would decompress the cabin and blow everyone
out of the airplane. As this is a cargo door, it should have special
restraining latches to prevent it from opening, for exactly this
reason; these latches would be impossible to move in a pressurized
cabin.
When the jump officer is prepping Bond for the HALO jump,
and we see him from behind, his mouth doesn't match what he is
saying.
When Bond parachutes into the ocean, in the air the tanks are
quite spread apart, almost behind each shoulder, but as soon as
he gets underwater, the tanks are right next to each other.
When Bond parachutes into the ocean, his swimming flipper is
knocked off his foot and floats away, yet in the next shot he
is seen swimming away with the flipper in place.
The HMS Devonshire is a Duke Class Frigate and fires Cruise Missiles
from fixed tubes. The tubes shown are for Harpoon missiles only
and can't be reloaded. Therefore nothing shown in the missile
room is used by the British navy in the story's context.
Wouldn't Bond and Wai Lin both suffer the bends when they surface
so quickly from the wreck of the Devonshire?
When Carver's goons initially try to break into Bond's car, they can not even dent the vehicle; however, during the chase scene immediately after, the windows on the car shatter when the guards shoot at the vehicle.
When captured Bond's blue shirt is buttoned up about three quarters,
but whilst escaping down the banner it's buttoned up one more
notch.
The street scenes of Vietnam use Chinese and Thai characters,
not the Latin-based Vietnamese characters. The Saigon scenes were
actually filmed in Bangkok. When Bond and Wai Lin arrive in Saigon
by helicopter, a Thai flag is even clearly visible flying from
a building.
When Bond and Wai Lin are talking to Carver before escaping from
Stamper, the last line Carver says has been looped, as his month
does not move.Carver says, "I'll leave you to Stamper and
his toys." The words "and his toys" were dubbed
in, and Carver's mouth never moves along with them.
When Wai Lin and Bond are captured and brought to Carver, Carver
types their obituary on a giant screen. However, he is only randomly
hitting keys on his keyboard. The characters on the screen do
not appear as quickly as he types.
Wai Lin's outfit becomes less revealing as she and Bond fall
down the side of the skyscraper.
When escaping on the BMW motorcycle it is not until the following
scene in which they figure out how to drive the bike together.
During the motorcycle chase, the Range Rovers become dusty and
dirty while hitting bags on the side of the road. In a subsequent
shot when they stop at right angles, they are absolutely clean.
When Bond and Wai Lin are being chased by the helicopter, Wai
Lin's fake left arm is much too long.
A helicopter can't perform the chase move, which is performed
by the helicopter as it defeats the aerodynamics of the blades.
The helicopter could only perform something similar when accelerating
at a very high speed.
When sliding under the helicopter's rotors, Bond and Wai Lin's
left legs would have rubbed the ground and shredded their clothes.
If you watch the crew of the helicopter through out the chase
you will notice they change.
When the helicopter is about to crash into the Saigon St. the
crew is made up of very poor looking dummies. Also as the helicopter
crashes the wall bends, and once smashed daylight is clearly seen
behind the explosion.
When Wai Lin ditches Bond in the shower scene, you can see that
the handcuffs don't close around the pipe, but it sounds as if
they do. The following scene shows both characters with dry hair
and clothes.
The stealth ship, just like Dr. Who's TARDIS, looks small outside
in comparison to the Bond and Wai Lin's raft, but is massive inside.
If the glass in the sound studio were sound-proof, it would be inches thick. Bond and Carver's henchman would not have gone crashing through it so easily.
In the final gunfight on the stealth ship Bond's silenced pistol
is clearly heard un-silenced.
When Carver is talking about launching his missile into Beijing,
and his motive, he says, "Oh, nothing - just exclusive broadcasting
rights in China for the next hundred years." When he says
"hundred years" his mouth doesn't match his speech
How did Stamper tie Wai Lin up with a chain, without making a
sound or have her struggle? Also when the stealth ship is blown
up the chain holding her does not move or drop down into the sea.
Why does Wai Lin not climb up the chain?
The fleet as seen is missing the Royal Navy's most powerful units,
the aircraft carriers, of which at least one would almost certainly
have been sent along with any naval buildup. Further, none of
the ships present choose to deploy their helicopters for recon
or assault on the stealth ship.
At the end of the film when HMS Bedford is searching for Bond
and Wai Lin, a voice is heard over a loudspeaker calling "This
is the HMS Bedford...". A Royal Navy ship would be referred
to as "HMS Bedford" or "the Bedford" or "Bedford",
but never "the HMS Bedford".
How did Carver expect to escape the stealth ship? He talks about
escaping on a Carver News chopper - we never saw any of them and
surely any approaching aircraft would have been engaged or warned
off by either of the navel forces present.