Continuity mistake: Gobinda kills the two helpers at the Monsoon Palace and throws them on the floor in the freezer and we hear the thumps. Minutes later Bond hides in the freezer. The bodies now hang on meat hooks, and have already turned gray.
Continuity mistake: When we see the Monsoon Palace from the lake, it is set very high on a barren brown mountain. When Bond escapes on foot, he very quickly is in a dense and moist jungle - and walking out in a low-lying marsh land with a wide river. That can't be the same lake, since we don't see him running down a steep barren cliff-side.
Visible crew/equipment: During the climax on the plane Kamal Kahn asked the henchman with the turban to get Bond. When Bond uses the antenna to push him off the plane, you see the henchman fall off from a below view, you can see that the henchman is wearing a parachute.
Continuity mistake: Octopussy is standing next to her bed when Bond comes to kiss her. They kiss. In the next shot when they lay down on the bed they are inside the golden 'legs' of the bed. But they didn't move sideways and definitely did not step over the leg. (01:12:15)
Continuity mistake: When 009 is knifed in the back, the knife goes in all the way to the handle. When he crawls out of the water, the blade is visible. And if the knife had moved out by itself, it would be loose and would have fallen out.
Continuity mistake: In the Circus scene towards the end of the movie James Bond holds up a program to cover his face, and you can clearly see a clown's face on the back of the program. A few seconds later (and in subsequent shots) the back of the program is blank.
Revealing mistake: When the plane comes out of the horse box you can see that the undercarriage is fixed and that the wheels cannot retract like they do in the next scene. This version of the plane is the same one at the petrol station where the controls are the same as a motorbike with handlebars and a throttle, steering was done using the front wheel.
Revealing mistake: Near the end, When Bond is hanging onto the outside of Kamal's plane (first on the roof, then on the side), we see two instances of Roger Moore's stunt double. (02:04:13 - 02:05:10)
Revealing mistake: When Bond throws the baddie on the bed of steel spikes, the spikes bend revealing they're made of rubber (despite a crunch and a yell of pain being heard).
Continuity mistake: When Bond escapes from the train and drives away the number and position of the bullet holes changes between shots.
Revealing mistake: When Bond is driving on two wheels, the stuntman behind the wheel is very noticeable, mainly because of his toupee.
Revealing mistake: When Bond horseback rides towards the plane, Roger Moore is replaced by an obvious stunt man wearing red goggles. (02:02:50)
Continuity mistake: Grishcka holds the lower tip of the diamond but a shot later the diamond is tucked inside his hand. (01:31:00)
Revealing mistake: On top of the plane, Gobinda's stunt is noticeable because he has less of a beard.
Revealing mistake: When Grischka pins Bond to the cabin door with his knives, he takes out a knife and attempts to kill Bond for killing his twin brother. Bond then opens the cabin door and then kills Grischka by opening the cabin door and throwing a knife into his stomach. If you watch carefully, you can see the cabin door begin to open before Bond pulls the cabin handle down.
Continuity mistake: During the pre-credits sequence, Bond pulls the ripcords on the parachutes of the two guards who are in the truck with him and the guard on the right is holding a rifle in his right hand, but when he is flying in the air in the next shot, the rifle has gone.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is fighting Gobinda on the roof of the train carriage, Grischka appears and you can see from behind he puts his left hand on the roof, but when the camera angle changes in the next shot, Grischka now has his right hand on the roof.
Factual error: When Bond is fighting with Glenda on the wagon roof, shortly before passing a tunnel, which is supposed to be already in West Germany, a communist slogan is visible on the tunnel entry, stating 'Our contribution to a positive balance: daily fulfillment of the plan'. Not something that would be on the west side.
Continuity mistake: Bond arrives in West Berlin to travel to Karl-Marx-Stadt. The Mercedes stops just before Checkpoint Charlie and the other guy gets out of the car. One can see the license plate - which appears to be genuine German (DIN font and spacing etc). When the "same" car later arrives at the Circus the plates are obviously props. The font is off and the plates are obviously fake.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is beside the train going through the station there is nothing on the left, but as the train leaves a platform has appeared, and an engine shed and a brick bridge This was filmed back at the main station because of the double track set up.
Answer: It wasn't meant to be related at all. It was just an action sequence to start off the film as Bond completes a previous assignment before a segue into the familiar 007 opening theme and a new song. I recall there were some other earlier Bond films that also used this formula. After the opening bit, the story starts as Bond meets with "M" for a new mission, then a briefing with "Q" about the latest spy gadgets. There was also the obligatory flirtatious banter between Bond and Miss Moneypenny.
raywest ★
I see what you mean. I'm thinking of those films where the opening scene has some link to the main plot (e.g. The Spy Who Loved Me), but Moonraker is like this one, it starts off (spectacularly) with Bond at the end of a previous assignment.