Factual error: In the balloon scene, it seems like Q can circle around and land on a spot where he flew past previously. A balloon can only fly in the direction of the wind.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, Bond chases Khan following the battle at Octopussy's mansion. In the short time it takes to run to a nearby plane, it turns from pitch darkness to bright sunshine.
Plot hole: Bond would not have had (nor taken himself) time to lay a complete and careful clown make-up while changing clothes in the circus trailer.
Factual error: At the East German/West German checkpoint, there is a level crossing. The warning signs for road traffic are clearly visible and are unique to the UK (where the shot was filmed).
Plot hole: When Bond is on the roof of the train, he opens the roof panel on the rail car, jumps down into the car, and puts on a gorilla suit to hide. He does all this while the knife thrower is in the small car. Wouldn't the knife thrower have heard something? The roof panel opening alone would have amplified the train's noises, not to mention the air that would have blown in.
Continuity mistake: When Bond is taking off with his Mini-Jet, he nearly hits the jeeps and trucks that are chasing him. The landing gear is still down. After the cut, you can see the scene from the other side, and now the gear is suddenly up. There is no interruption between the two shots, not even the two or three seconds the gear takes to retract.
Continuity mistake: When Bond takes off in the plane, we see - in one shot from Bond's view - the Cubans approaching. The background is a flat (English) countryside. In the next clip, we see a close-up of one of the Cubans. behind him are quite large hills/mountains. (00:04:55)
Factual error: Bond tells Q at one point, "I've lost my PPK." However, he has been carrying a Walther P-5 throughout the movie and continues to use it in the later action sequences. A PPK never does make an appearance in the movie. The P-5 was also used that year by Bond in "Never Say Never Again."
Factual error: During one of the chases, when James Bond hops into the water, he is picked up by a group of American tourists on a tour boat. The city of Cincinnati is misspelled as "Cincinatti" on it.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Bond is trying to escape with his new Mini-Jet, he flies through a big hall. If you look carefully, you can see that the aeroplane which is supposed to be flying with its wings vertical is fastened to some kind of sustainer.
Revealing mistake: When Bond and Gobinda are fighting on top of the train, Gobinda rolls over with his sword, which bends like a rubber prop.
Revealing mistake: When the police cars chase Bond and stop outside the circus, you can clearly see a lot of brake-marks. It's quite obvious that the filmmakers re-shot the scene several times, before they got it right, but didn't bother to remove the marks made in earlier takes.
Factual error: Being in Berlin talking about the Octopussy Circus, M says that Karl-Marx-Stadt (now again "Chemnitz") is further to the east, however it is 200 km to the south of Berlin.
Continuity mistake: When James Bond is trying to escape from Kamal Khan in the jungle, he passes through a spider web and crushes a spider that is on his elbow. The stain disappears in the following shots.
Revealing mistake: When Gobina first slashes at Bond during the climactic fight on the plane, a subsequent medium shot reveals a stunt double (note the bald spot). He's even wearing completely different clothing - a black stunt suit instead of a blue jacket and white shirt. (02:05:00)
Continuity mistake: When Bond passes under the Autobahn bridge you can see the traffic is very slow. But seconds before - when Bond's car left the Autobahn, there was no traffic congestion. (01:45:15)
Continuity mistake: When Bond and M are driving through Berlin, in the outside shots, their car is a Mercedes-Benz Type W123 standard wheelbase sedan. In the take when the driver is talking, he's driving that vehicle. When the camera switches to Bond and M in the back seat, it's a long-wheelbase V123 Pullman sedan, evidence being the large pop out rear quarter windows and M leaning forward to open his door. (01:17:57)
Plot hole: Bond falls off the train, and in the time it takes him to reach the air force base the train has arrived and unloaded all of the equipment including the cannon, staged a town parade including the cannon and erected and filled the big top with an audience. You could argue that the big top was sent ahead but the unloading and use of the cannon couldn't have been done in the time frame - would take at least 4-5 hours.
Other mistake: When Bond drives into the train tunnel, below the train cart with the jewelry, we see that welding is going on in the other train cart. But that is before the bomb is placed in the hole below the cannon. There is no sign of weldings, and no sign of welding equipment once we get inside that cart.
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.
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.