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.
Revealing mistake: When Bond falls off the train the scenery switches from outdoor filming to an obvious film set.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is pinned to the wooden door by the knives we see each knife cut his shirt, trapping him to the door, but when he opens the door and grabs the knife with his left hand, his left arm is now completely free, with no holes or rips on his sleeve.
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.
Continuity mistake: When the train passes the signal box and the points get changed you can see the train in in the background and it is halfway past the station. When the Mercedes passes the train, it's still halfway past the station, and when the Mercedes catches it up again it's no further along. The train is moving at a constant speed the whole time.
Visible crew/equipment: When General Orloff first catches the train up, the reflection of the camara helicopter can be seen in the car's windows.
Revealing mistake: When Bond exits the carriage at the tunnel, it's an obvious stunt double.
Audio problem: When the circus train pulls out of the station just after Bond has the shoot out in the tunnel we hear the sound of a steam train pulling away with wheel slip, but the wheels are not slipping at all.
Continuity mistake: When Bond asks for the jet's tank to be filled, his cockpit swaps from closed to open between shots.
Continuity mistake: While with Q, Bond rolls-up his sleeve to show his watch. In the close-up the shirt is further down.
Continuity mistake: When Bond approaches a gas station with the jet, in the close-up of Bond's face the background changes (cars and buildings disappear).
Continuity mistake: When Bond is about to fly through the second door of the hangar there are no soldiers holding it. A shot later a bunch of them have suddenly appeared.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is about to fly through the hangar, the soldiers are running away. In the immediate next angle they're standing still and the colonel is commanding them to run.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is about to take-off, there's a brief shot of the plane speeding up. It is obviously a different runway because a) the trees on the side have disappeared, and b) the road swaps from clean to filled with skid marks.
Continuity mistake: When Bond places the bomb inside the radar he is slightly facing backwards and twisting his arm, but a shot later he is perfectly positioned in a much more comfortable position.
Continuity mistake: During the pre-credits Bond enters a military base, knocks down a soldier and places his suitcase on a table. The position of the suitcase changes between shots.
Factual error: Bond is given a tag in Spanish, but it shows the word Col., short for Colonel. It should read Coronel.
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.