The Spy Who Loved Me

Factual error: When James Bond programs the two submarines to destroy each other, we see the paths of the missiles displayed on a globe. They swing across in two arcs, narrowly missing each other. However, we are looking down on the surface of the globe with no height perception, so the missiles should, in fact, travel in straight lines directly between the submarines.

Factual error: When Jaws kills the shark, the carcass floats on the surface of the water in the tank. It should sink to the bottom, as dead sharks do.

Factual error: At the end of the film Stromberg shoots at Bond under the table with a pneumatic spear gun-type weapon that shoots most likely a spear with an explosive tip through a long tube. This type of spear gun, unlike elastic-operated spear guns, has an actual sort-of gun barrel that's closed at the back. As such, when Bond shoots Stromberg through the tube with his hand gun, he somehow hits him, despite the fact that the bullets would ricochet off the closed barrel.

Tobin OReilly

Factual error: Jaws kills Fekkesh by biting his neck, something that would make him bleed a lot. Later, when Bond finds his body, there is no blood on the ground.

Dr Wilson

Factual error: When the two missiles blast out of the water, the first thing you see is the glare of the rocket motors under water. SLBMs rise out of the water solely on the air or steam pressure impulse that propels them out of the launcher. The rocket motors ignite only after the missile has left the water completely. (01:43:20)

Doc

Factual error: When Bond and Amasova are on the speed boat going to see Stromberg, the underwater lair is super-imposed on the horizon, rather than midway. This would make the lair around 50 miles high.

wizard_of_gore

Factual error: As the SLBMs eject from the submarines, they visibly jostle and shake the missile tube hatch, especially the second one - the hatch even scrapes the missile surface. Real missile hatches don't do that. In fact, if the missile actually did scrape the hatch, both the hatch and the missile would be irreparably damaged - consider the momentum of a 10m high, 13 ton missile... (01:43:20)

Doc

More mistakes in The Spy Who Loved Me

Captain Carter: That armour plating must be inches thick. We'll never get through it.
James Bond: Come on, let's go to the armoury.
Captain Carter: The armoury? What do you expect to find there?
James Bond: A nuclear missile.

More quotes from The Spy Who Loved Me

Trivia: Due to his failing eyesight, cinematographer Claude Renoir was unable to see to the end of the supertanker set, forcing Production Designer Ken Adam to ask friend Stanley Kubrick to supervise lighting for the set. Kubrick agreed on the condition of complete secrecy of his involvement.

More trivia for The Spy Who Loved Me

Question: How does the Liparus explode and sink at the end? After the nuclear subs have been destroyed, the ship just starts blowing up for no apparent reason. Was there any explanation for it?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: When the nuclear subs have been destroyed, there's an explosion in the control room, and one of the men cries out "Fuel tank!" Liparus has numerous internal fires raging after the battle with her crew. These uncontrolled fires eventually spread to her fuel tanks and ammo storages, one of which explodes in a huge fireball and finally causes Liparus to sink.

I thought the final explosions that sank the Liparus were deliberate self destruction after completing the mission in an attempt to destroy any evidence, rather like when Bolfeld manually triggers explosives after being thwarted in You Only Live Twice.

Liparus sinks slowly, and that would leave her crew plenty of time to evacuate. Angry and armed crew with a grudge against Stromberg.

Jukka Nurmi

More questions & answers from The Spy Who Loved Me

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