Other mistake: During the chase through the London Underground station, in the shot before Silva jumps onto the escalator, a female extra can be seen looking directly into the camera. (01:31:40)
Continuity mistake: When Silva and Bond jump onto the sides of the escalators, there is a sign at the top. Whilst they are sliding down the escalator, the sign at the top is no longer there. (01:31:45)
Deliberate mistake: In the chase through the tube station, Bond and Silva both slide down between the escalators. On the London Underground, this area has hard vertical signs at regular intervals, precisely to prevent people sliding down. (01:31:50)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Bond is chasing Silva in the Underground, he leaps over the emergency buttons and slides down the escalator panel. Initially you can see the emergency buttons at the bottom of the escalator, which would have broken his slide, however, these "disappear" as Bond slides smoothly off the panel at the bottom. (01:31:50)
Continuity mistake: Just after Bond has lost track of Silva in the London Underground station, the scene cuts to M's parliament meeting. At this time, the time on M's watch reads 3:00. Yet when Bond catches up with Silva in the basement of the London Underground station, the time on Bond's watch reads 4:55. Far too long to have passed given the events seen and distances travelled. (01:32:45 - 01:33:45)
Continuity mistake: When Bond has begun searching the train for the villain, a blonde passenger's face is clearly shown on the right hand side of the screen. About a minute later, the same extra is waiting to board the same train at the next station. (01:34:10 - 01:35:27)
Revealing mistake: When the train plummets into the basement, the windows never seem to smash nor crack, nor does the paint on the train ever seem to scratch the slightest bit. (01:34:15)
Continuity mistake: When Bond runs out of the London Underground Station, he is covered in dust. The dust is still there when he runs into the Houses of Parliament and still there when he drives off with M. Yet the dust has disappeared when Bond and M find the Aston Martin. There was no time to clean up the dust since he was driving. (01:36:05 - 01:39:35)
Factual error: James Bond is seen running down Whitehall in London. Behind him a number 38 bus is seen. However the 38 does not travel down or indeed particularly near Whitehall. This was probably done to show off the new Routemaster bus, which is currently only used on the 38 route. (01:36:25)
Continuity mistake: In the courtroom shoot out scene, Bond shoots two fire extinguishers to use as a smokescreen. If you watch Eve as he steps out, she lowers her weapon dramatically at the last second. When the camera cuts to her immediately after, her gun is raised again. (01:37:45)
Factual error: The Ambulances used in the film in the "M" attack in London are incorrect, as they are not the current vehicles used by London ambulance service. They all now have the patient lifts on the rear. Various vehicle tax discs were out of date too. (01:38:25)
Factual error: When Bond drives M away in the Jaguar XJ, police cars can be seen driving towards them when he speeds around the corner. The Volvo police car in front has two yellow dots on the top of the windscreen which mean armed response, but on the roof there is a circle, which means traffic/incident response. The aerial roof marking symbol should have been a five-edged star for armed response. Metropolitan police don't even use Volvos for armed response. They use BMW 5 series and X5s. (01:38:30)
Other mistake: When M is attacked by Silva during the parliamentary committee's hearing, Silva enters the room from M's back and M turns 180° around her own axis to face Silva - now M's own desk is at her back, that is, her very own desk cannot and is not protecting her from Silva. A few seconds later, after the gun battle intensifies, her desk is now located between herself and Silva, and she is using the desk as a protective shield against Silva's bullets. (01:40:45 - 01:41:20)
Factual error: It would be impossible to drive a silver Aston Martin DB5 from London to Scotland without getting splash marks on the side of the vehicle. Especially in view of the fact that the road conditions are wet by the time 007 and M reach the Scottish Highlands, but the car still looks immaculate. (01:41:35)
Continuity mistake: When Silva's henchmen arrive at Skyfall, the Aston Martin is visible on the left side of the wall around the house. When Silva commands the Aston Martin to be shot at later, it has moved to the right side of the wall around the house without any time to move it. (01:50:45 - 01:57:45)
Continuity mistake: When Silva gets out of the helicopter at Skyfall, the sky is approaching dark (7 o'clock to 8 o'clock sky). After throwing the grenades in the house and Silva says "Everyone listen to me! Don't you dare touch her, she's mine!" about 50 seconds later, it is suddenly pitch black (11 o'clock to midnight sky). (01:55:25 - 01:56:15)
Continuity mistake: When M arrives to see Mallory, a bag is placed on the ground near her seat. It is still there just as she stands up and grabs her coat. In the next shot, the bag is gone and she walks out without it.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is stalking Patrice before he kills the mark, 007 is not wearing gloves. Later, when he is seen holding Patrice before his fall, he is wearing black gloves.
Continuity mistake: Bond and Silva are in a train with a number beginning in 96 and ending in 69 (96269, 96469, etc). However, near the end of this scene, the carriages have now become 96424 and 96224.
Factual error: In the opening scene on the train, the coupling is shot away and the rear wagon separates. This ruptures the continuous brake pipe, which would cause both halves of the train to stop immediately.
Answer: Because Bond is fighting to the death with a man who's trying to throw him off a train. He can't exactly step out of the way.
Brian Katcher