Trivia: The pre-credits sequence is 14 minutes long, making it the longest in the history of the series. The original intro was simply Bond's escape from the meeting, rappelling down to the ground, but audiences were underwhelmed by that leading straight into the credits. As such the boat chase was included too, leading to the long intro. It was eventually surpassed by No Time to Die in 2021.
Trivia: In the opening sequence, with the speedboat jetting through the boathouse and over the road, was filmed in Wapping, East London. It took a week to film that one sequence, as I saw them doing it. Also, for the matter of continuity, when the boat goes across the road, it goes into some sort of alley with an arch above it. In reality, it's actually a Group 4 building on the other side of that road.
Trivia: Apparently, there was a line at the end of the intro sequence which was cut from the final release. Among the people turning up to rescue Bond is M, who takes one look at him and says, "Well, at least the Millennium Dome has some use."
Trivia: This is Desmond Llewelyn's final appearance as Q. He was killed in a road accident shortly after the film's premiere.
Trivia: There's been a heated debate on whether not Sophie Marceau's nipple is visible on camera. As Brosnan turns her over after he says, "Enough ice for one night," more is exposed than might be expected for a Bond movie. (00:51:20)
Trivia: There is a painting of Bernard Lee ("M") in the back of the Scottish MI6 Headquarters.
Trivia: As the traffic wardens get splashed, the "What was that?" remark was the actor's real reaction. He wasn't told the spray would be that big.
Trivia: The BMW Z8 seen in the film isn't actually a Z8. BMW did every thing they could to produce it in time for the film but they couldn't. The car in the film is a cobra with parts of the Z8 stuck on to it.
Trivia: The Castle that was used in the film as the location for MI6's headquarters in Scotland, was also used extensively in the film "Highlander" starring Sean Connery (the first Bond).
Trivia: The Traffic Warden who looks at Bond's speedboat in a somewhat confused manner during the speedboat chase sequence is 'famous' for his stint on BBC's short-lived 'Traffic Wardens' series. I believe his name is Jeremy.
Trivia: Not a mistake, just an interesting tidbit...in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", Bond (played by George Lazenby) is given his family's coat of arms. He is told it translates into, "The World Is Not Enough".
Trivia: As Bond is rolling down the Millennium Dome, he misses the first set of wires he tries to grab, and saves himself on a second set. The stuntman was actually meant to hold onto the first set, but couldn't. The director, Michael Apted, chose to keep that miss in as a tribute to how challenging the stunt was to achieve.
Trivia: In the boat chase scene, when Bond dives underwater to get past the bridge, the iconic moment where he straightens his tie was entirely improvised by Pierce Brosnan.
Trivia: In Zukovsky's operations room, the "girly" pictures seen on the walls are those of former Bond girls.
Trivia: Producer Michael G. Wilson has a cameo role in this film: he is the man who gives Elektra something to sign as she enters her private booth in Valentin's casino.
Trivia: Christmas Jones was originally written to be an insurance investigator. This was changed at the request of MGM, who had greenlit The Thomas Crown Affair, where Pierce Brosnan falls in love with an insurance investigator.
Trivia: A lot of Robbie Coltrane's lines as Zukovsky in this movie are actually taken from cut scenes from the GoldenEye script.
Trivia: Denise Richards did not have a happy experience making this film. According to her autobiography, the director Michael Apted gave her little direction and as her casting was a studio mandate she felt very lonely and unwanted. The backlash she got for her performance didn't help matters.
Trivia: Before being cast as The Cigar Girl, Maria Grazia Cucinotta auditioned for the role of Elektra King. However, she did not get the role as director Michael Apted felt her English was not good enough to play the role convincingly.
Chosen answer: We see them in the movie when Bond first arrives to meet Electra - they're used for cutting trees in a straight line. Google "helicopter tree trimmer" to see dozens of examples.
Jon Sandys ★