* Pre-production work for this film began before Casino Royale (2006) started filming.

* Daniel Craig, a fan of Marc Forster, recommended him to be the film’s director.

* 22nd official James Bond movie in the EON Productions franchise, the second to feature Daniel Craig as James Bond, the sixth to feature Judi Dench as M and it’s the 25th James Bond movie overall.

* Daniel Craig felt Casino Royale (2006) was physically “a walk in the park” compared to this film; his training was extremely intense, involving more boxing, running, speedboating and stunt driving. He was injured about three times in the making of this film.

* Dan Bradley was hired as the film’s second unit director on the basis of his work on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, so the film would continue the contemporary gritty action style begun in Casino Royale (2006). Alexander Witt, the second unit director on Casino Royale, was also second unit on The Bourne Identity.

* First time that an official James Bond movie title song has been sung by two artists as a duet. The theme is called ‘Another Way To Die’ and is sung by Jack White and Alicia Keys. They were officially announced to be performing the song on 29 July 2008.

* As a promotional book-tie in for the movie, all the original Ian Fleming James Bond short stories have been housed in the one volume for the first time. The compendium is called “Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories”. It includes all nine short stories from the For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Octopussy (1983) and The Living Daylights (1987) anthologies. It was released on 29 May 2008 in the UK and on 26 August 2008 in Northern America.

* The movie is being released worldwide in 2008 which is the 100th anniversary year of the birth of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

* This film marks the return of the “traditional” gun barrel sequence, albeit at the end of the film as opposed to the beginning. Similarly, the previous film Casino Royale (2006), incorporated the gun barrel sequence as part of the opening fight scene. These two films are the first to break away from the “traditional” use of the gun barrel sequence at the beginning of a James Bond film.

* This is the first James Bond movie to utilize the now rebuilt (for a second time) Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage which burnt down (for a second time) one week after Casino Royale (2006) finished filming there on 30 July 2006.

* Producer Michael G. Wilson conceived the film’s story during the production shoot of Casino Royale (2006).

* The Aston Martin DBS car will make a return in this movie due to a three picture $100 million deal that car company Ford has for exclusive vehicle product placement rights.

* First time that an actor (Jeffrey Wright) has played the Bond ally character of Felix Leiter in a consecutive Bond movie (the precursor film is Casino Royale (2006)). It is only the second time that an actor has played Leiter twice. David Hedison played him in Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).

* Director Marc Forster had wanted to film in the Swiss Alps which was a location for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and is where he grew up. Switzerland was also the nationality of the literary James Bond character’s mother. However, the Swiss Alps location was written out of the movie for cost reasons. The film’s climax originally featured here. There were concerns that the locale would be too similar to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The finale now takes place in the desert, a terrain which has never before housed a villain’s lair in a Bond movie.

* First James Bond movie to take its title from an original Ian Fleming short story since The Living Daylights (1987), a gap of twenty-one years. It is also the first time since this movie that James Bond has visited the opera.

* This film is being released in the same year that celebrates the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming, James Bond’s creator. Fleming was born on 28 May 1908 and this film was originally scheduled to be released on 2 May 2008, a few weeks before the 100th Birthday on 28 May 2008. However, the general release date was deferred until 7 November 2008 to allow more time to produce the movie. The film was released in the UK, and some other countries, on the 31 October, a week before the general worldwide release.

* In July 2006, the film was set for a release date of 2 May 2008, and Roger Michell was in negotiations to direct. He decided to turn down the job as he felt that that set production schedule of 18 months was not adequate for him (“I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all. “And I like to be very well prepared as a director.”). The release date was consequently pushed to November 2008.

* Plans to film near the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu, Peru were scratched due to uncertain weather conditions in the area.

* Dennis Gassner’s production design in this Bond movie is a homage to the pioneering work of Bond production designer Ken Adam. Daniel Craig described this film as “a classical Bond movie, with a touch of Ken Adam.” Art Director Adam was renowned for creating the lairs of the villains in the early 007 films. Michael G. Wilson also described Dennis Gassner’s designs as “a post-modern look at modernism.”

* On 1 April 2008, while filming was going on in the village of Baquedano, the local mayor Carlos Lopez drove his sedan into the village of Baquedano, nearly running over a policeman. He was reportedly furious that the filmmakers did not seek his permission to film in the village; he was outraged that the film portrayed the region of Antofagasta as part of Bolivia when Chile had conquered it in 1883; and criticised security measures like “special forces and water cannons to prevent people walking in the street” for the small town, which reminded him “of the worst of the Pinochet years.” He was arrested, detained briefly, and put on trial two days later. His claim that they needed his permission to film in the area was dismissed: Michael G. Wilson explained that Bolivia was essential to the plot due to its history of water problems, and was surprised the two countries disliked each other a century after the War of the Pacific. When the Chilean newspaper “La Segunda” ran a poll on the incident, 75% of its readers disagreed with Lopez’s actions, feeling it now presented a negative image of Chile

* Screenwriter Paul Haggis was offered the post of director, but turned it down, as to write AND direct a film would take too long.

* Director Marc Forster had originally envisioned Bruno Ganz to play the main villain Dominic Greene but the production had already contracted Mathieu Amalric.

* While filming in Panama, Daniel Craig had to change hotels a number of times after the press discovered his whereabouts. Problems for the cast and crew were caused by the increased attention of the paparazzi.

* Paul McCartney turned down the offer to write a new James Bond song for the film, and recommended singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse for the job. Winehouse actually recorded a demo with music producer Mark Ronson. The demo was not used for reasons linked to Winehouse’s inability to record music at a time due to her well publicized personal situation.

* On 19 April 2008, Fraser Dunn, an engineer driving Bond’s Aston Martin DBS to the set lost control of the car and ended up in Northern Italy’s Lago di Garda (Lake Garda). Some media labelled the incident, “Dry Another Day”. The technican suffered only minor injuries but the car, valued at £120,000 ($235K), was completely totaled. Reportedly, a fan later paid about (UK) £200,000 for the wrecked car which is about £70,000 more than what the car was worth brand new. More surprising is the fact that this particular car (one of six) was not part of even any filming for the movie and is not seen in the final film.

* Screenwriter Paul Haggis described James Bond in this film as “a very human and flawed assassin, a man who has to navigate a morally complex and often cynical world while attempting to hold onto his deep beliefs of what is right and wrong.” Daniel Craig further described Bond as “an unfinished article with a sense of revenge, who is still headstrong and doesn’t always make the right decisions.”

* According to Mathieu Amalric, it was easy to accept the role of Dominic Greene because “it’s impossible to tell your kids that I could have been in a Bond film but I refused!” Having played a paralyzed newspaper editor in his previous film Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007), Amalric found the role refreshingly physical.

* According to Mathieu Amalric, his character does not have any distinguishing features to make him more formidable and to represent the hidden villains of society: “He has no scars, no eye that bleeds, no metal jaw. I tried everything to have something to help me. I said to Marc: No nothing? A beard? Can I shave my hair? He said: No, just your face.” Amalric also described Greene as “not knowing how to fight, so James Bond would be more surprised. Sometimes anger can be much more dangerous. I’m going to fight like in school.”

* To prepare for her role as Camille, Olga Kurylenko spent three weeks training with weapons and learned how to fight and body fly, a form of indoor skydiving. Kurylenko dislikes filming stunts, but Daniel Craig’s compassion helped her to carry them out. Kurylenko also trained with a dialect coach to perform with a Spanish accent, which was easy since “she has a good ear and can imitate people.” She was also given a DVD box set of all the 007 films since she has not seen many of them, although the Bond franchise is quite well-known in her homeland of Ukraine.

* The character of MI6 Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) is a tribute to the Bond girls of the 1960s, notably Tracy Bond from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and Goldfinger (1964)’s Pussy Galore, both of which are Atherton’s favourite performances. Gemma Arterton described Fields as “not as frolicsome or femme-fatale as other Bond girls, but is instead fresh and young.”

* To film the aerial dogfight, a “Snake-head” camera was built and placed on the nose of a Piper Aerostar 700. This camera is shaped like a periscope and can turn 360°. It was used so that pilots for the first time can fly as “aggressively as they dare without sacrificing the drama of the shot.”

* Marc Forster hired screenwriter Joshua Zetumer to reshape any scenes that didn’t satisfy Forster. Each day Zetumer rewrote dialogue every day according to the actors’ ideas and contributions.

* The principal photography was plagued with many accidents. For example, one stuntman was seriously injured when he crashed a car in a chase sequence. Daniel Craig sliced open the tip of a finger. He also cut his face and required 8 stitches. In Austria, a technician was stabbed by his wife while working. An outdoor set in Pinewood Studios was damaged by fire.

* Writer Paul Haggis turned down the role of directing the movie. Roger Michell also passed on it.

* Out of the 400 women who auditioned for the role of Camille, Marc Forster chose Olga Kurylenko because she seemed the least nervous of them all.

* This film marks the first time since You Only Live Twice (1967) that Bond does not introduce himself with the catchphrase “Bond, James Bond.” The line was shot for several different scenes but was completely cut out as Forster and the producers found it unnecessary. (The Bond films From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965) also do not use the line) The other staple Bond line stating a “vodka martini, shaken not stirred” does not appear in this movie either, the fourth Bond movie not to do so.

* American fashion giant Tom Ford was personally commissioned by Daniel Craig to design exclusive clothing for his 007 character.

* Marc Forster is the first director in the EON Productions James Bond series not have a nationality from the British Commonwealth. Forster was born in Germany whereas all previous directors were from England or New Zealand.

* Word of the film’s secret title was discovered by fans when it was noticed that the domain name of quantumofsolace.com had been registered by Sony Pictures on 22 January 2008. The title of the movie was then leaked onto the internet prior to the official press conference on 24 January 2008. Similar domain name quantumofsolacemovie.com was registered by Sony Pictures in September 2007.

* This movie represents the first time that a Bond movie or any Hollywood Blockbuster for that matter will open in India prior to its US premiere. It debuts in India on 7 November 2008, exactly a week before it rolls out in Northern America.

* Screenwriter Paul Haggis finished his final draft of the script for the film only two hours before the Writers Guild of America Writer’s Strike started.

* Daniel Craig was injured at least three times during the making of this movie. The most prominent ones included an injury to his face, which required four stitches; another to his shoulder, which required 6 surgical screws to be inserted in an operation and his arm in a sling; and then his hand was injured when one of his finger tips was sliced off.

* At 106 minutes long, this is the shortest James Bond movie in the EON Productions Official Series. This film is a direct sequel to Casino Royale (2006) which ironically is the longest film in the official series. This film is also the first Bond movie to run under two hours since Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). The non-EON made-for-television “Climax!: Casino Royale (#1.3)” (1954) tele-movie has the record for being the shortest Bond movie ever, running at 51 minutes.

* This is a James Bond movie which utilizes an original Ian Fleming title but nothing else from its source material. The first Bond movie to use just the title and zero or little else was You Only Live Twice (1967) , then The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), then Moonraker (1979) and later A View to a Kill (1985). Ironically, no novelization of this movie is being released. The original short story has been re-issued along with all the other original Fleming short stories.

* The film’s US release date was pushed back a week from 7 November 2008 to 14 November 2008 when Warner Brother’s announced that it would be moving off their 14 November 2008 release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and delaying its launch for eight months.

* Stuntman Aris Comninos was seriously injured in a car accident whilst filming the opening sequence of this movie.

* Vehicles featured include the 510bhp 6.0-litre Aston Martin DBS V12 returning from Casino Royale (2006); Alfa Romeos including a black Alfa Romeo 159 belonging to villain Dominic Greene; a C-47 skytrain; a 1930s Douglas DC-3 propeller aircraft; an old Peugeot 404; a Daimler Double 6 & Super 8; a motorcycle; Sunseeker Powerboats including a Sunseeker Sovereign 17 speedboat, Sunseeker 37 Metre Yacht M4 & two motoryachts; Ocean Sky Jets including a Gulfstream G550 executive jet; and Ford vehicles in the last of their three picture deal which include the Ford GT, a gold 2009 Ford Ka MkII, an electric model Ford Edge, Volvo, a Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender 110 makes.

* The film’s first major teaser entitled “TRAILER A” was launched in theaters with the wide-release of Sony’s US Summer blockbuster Hancock (2008) on 2nd July 2008 after having its premiere on-line a couple of days earlier on 30 June 2008.

* This movie marks the return of semi-clad / naked girls dancing in the opening title sequence, a trademark of the series, and something that was left out of the previous Bond movie Casino Royale (2006)’s opening title sequence.

* A free-fall scene with James Bond and Camille was shot in the Bodyflight Wind Tunnel in Bedford with 17 small digital cameras. It was going to be shot in the conventional way (with a large fan blowing the actors faces), but Craig disliked the idea of a fan in his face and stunt coordinator Gary Powell suggested filming in a wind tunnel. For safety, Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko shot for only 30 seconds periodically, and wore wind-resistant contact lenses that enabled them to open their eyes as they fell. The Body Flight Wind Tunnel is 26 feet (about 8 meters) long with a diametric width of about 16 ½ feet (about 5 meters) and can simulate free falling at 170 mph (about 274 kph).

* Marc Forster chose to film in the Atacama Desert, the Cerro Paranal Observatory and the Observatory’s ESO Hotel to represent Bond’s rigid emotions.

* James Bond’s eleven costume changes in the movie required about 420 pieces of clothing. There were nine versions of every suit used in the movie. Three were normal, three were battered with blood and debris whilst three were this but also waterlogged.

* According to the documentary Bond on Location (2008) (TV), this film spent more time on location than any previous Bond movie whilst the production notes for this film state that it utilized more locations than any other Bond movie. It was filmed on three continents (Europe, North America, South America), in one studio (Pinewood), and across six different countries (Austria, Chile, Italy, Mexico, Panama and the UK). This feat is close to the record held by Moonraker (1979) which was was filmed on three continents, in four studios, and across seven countries.

* The film shoot used 200,000 rounds of blank bullets which were used for training, testing and filming.

* The floating opera stage sequence utilized 1700 extras who were paid £42 a day for three day’s work. CGI visual effects enable the audience to appear as almost 7000 patrons.

* Reportedly, Daniel Craig was paid (UK) £4.5 million for the movie, more than twice as much as the (UK) £2 million he received for Casino Royale (2006).

* Mathieu Amalric based his character of Dominic Greene on two political figures: France’s current President Nicolas Sarkozy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

* Real life intelligence operatives acted as on-the-set consultants for the movie including spies and assassins from the British Mi6 and the Israeli Secret Service.

* Cameo: [Oona Chaplin] Charles Chaplin’s grand-daughter as a Hotel Receptionist.

* Cameo: [Alfonso Cuarón] The Mexican film director as a helicopter pilot, credited for additional voices. Cuarón is a friend of the movie’s director Marc Forster.

* QUANTUM, the name of the criminal organization, is not actually an acronym. James Bond creator Ian Fleming was famous for creating the acronymic criminal organization. SPECTRE stood for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion whilst SMERSH is derived from “Smiert Spionam” which means “death to spies”. Many James Bond and spy parodies have organizations with spoof acronyms, but QUANTUM isn’t an acronym, at least not yet.

* The criminal organization revealed as QUANTUM in this film, which was active but unknown in the previous film Casino Royale (2006), is something which producer Barbara Broccoli has revealed to be intended to be an ongoing and regular foe of James Bond, much like SPECTRE in the early Bond movies of the 1960s. EON Productions, which produces the series, allegedly do not own the rights to the name SPECTRE due to a legal settlement with Kevin McClory.

* This is the first James Bond movie to have both a boat chase and a car chase since Live and Let Die (1973). This film is the only Bond movie that has a foot chase, a car chase, a plane chase and a boat chase.

* This is the first James Bond film ever in the series that a car chase will be the main action piece in the pre-credits opening sequence (the opener in The Living Daylights (1987) was a chase with a Land Rover jeep).

* Parody t-shirts of the movie’s teaser poster which showed a tall silhouette of James Bond with a gun featured taglines such as “Shoot First – Vodka Martini Later”, “Never Stirred, Never Shaken” and “Even My Shadow Has A Big Gun”.

* The media in 2008 reported that Gemma Arterton once had six fingers on each hand. This is a condition known as polydactyly. She called it her “little oddity”. Bond villains have long been famous for having some kind of physiological dysfunction. To date, no Bond movie villain characters have had this trait, though Dr. No (1962) had metal hands, Carl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) had webbed-hands and there was also Mr. Goldfinger (1964). Lee Fu-Chu in the Bond novel “Brokenclaw” was born with his left hand’s thumb on the opposite side of his palm whilst The Sheik villain in the Eurospy movie Agent 505 – Todesfalle Beirut (1966) has four fingers.

* This is the first ever James Bond film in the series that has no gun barrel sequence at all at the start of the movie, and the first to use it at the very end of the movie. This is also the first James Bond movie where we see Daniel Craig perform the gun-barrel walk synonymous with the sequence and the series. The gun-barrel walk was not part of the alternate gun-barrel sequence in Casino Royale (2006) which had a gun-barrel sequence at the start but with different graphics but was not the traditional sequence. Daniel Craig becomes the seventh person to perform the traditional gun barrel walk and sequence after the first five actors who played James Bond and stuntman Bob Simmons who did it in the first three Bond movies. It’s also the first gun barrel sequence to be presented in color since Die Another Day (2002), and the first to show Bond wearing a business suit since The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

* Gemma Arterton won the part of of Agent Fields over 1500 other applicants. The full name of her Miss Fields character is never revealed in the film and is only ever referred to as “Fields”. Her full name is given in the film’s closing credits and publicity documents as “Strawberry Fields”.

* Originally, Agent Fields’ character (played by Gemma Arterton) was known as Strawberry Fields, but is only referred to as Agent Fields throughout the movie. She has red hair, like strawberries. Strawberry Fields can be considered a typical Ian Fleming-esque moniker. Arterton has reportedly based her character on a number of 1960s Bond Girls, particularly Pussy Galore and Tracy di Vicenzo, on whose hairstyle Arterton based Fields’ hair on.

* The movie’s title song “Another Way To Die” sung by Alicia Keys and Jack White entered the US Charts at No. #107. In the UK, it debuted at the No. #26 spot on the UK Singles Top 40 Chart.

* Chile’s Atacama Desert is a significant terrain in the third act of this movie and it’s only the fourth major time that a Bond movie has featured desert terrain. The Nevada and Black Rock deserts in Nevada were the first deserts featured in the series in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Next was perhaps the most famous so far, the Egyptian desert in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The Desert would next feature twelve years later in The Living Daylights (1987) featuring both the Moroccan and Mojave Deserts.

* This is the first Bond film that is a direct sequel. However, it’s not the first time that there’s been a direct sequel in the Bond universe. In January 1997, a Raymond Benson’s James Bond short-story “Blast From The Past” was published. It is a direct sequel to the 1964 Ian Fleming James Bond novel ‘You Only Live Twice”. This story was cut by about a third and has been is published uncut for the first time in October 2008 in Pegasus Books’ Benson omnibus “The Union Trilogy”. As such, both direct sequels have been released for the first time in the same year if one considers the short-story’s complete version.

* First Bond film to be released in a year ending with the number 8. There was no Bond film in 1968, 1978, 1988, or 1998.

* “Universal Exports”, the company name on Bond’s contact card, as a phrase is an in-joke among the Intelligence Community. It is also the company that Bond “works for” throughout the books, it is the front company of MI-6.

* Designer Tom Ford, working with the film’s costume designer, Louise Frogley, to create made-to-measure suits, shirts, knitwear, and ties for Bond. More than 400 pieces were made for 11 costume changes. For each scene they made three suits that were perfect, three suits that were bloodied and blown up, three suits that were bloodied, blown up and had been in a pool. These were made for various stunt-men as well.

* The Q symbol on Dominic Greene’s lapel pin represents the name of his organization, QUANTUM. Q has previously been made famous in the EON Productions series as the code-name of the gadget-master Major Boothroyd. The Q character does not appear in this movie as with its precursor Casino Royale (2006).

* This is the first ever James Bond movie in the series not to have a montage of scenes in one of the movie posters for its release. Painted artwork montages in some posters were a staple of the series up until Licence to Kill (1989) from which after photo montages took over for some posters.

* The film’s Royal World Premiere was held on Wednesday 29 October 2008 at London’s Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in the presence of British Royals Prince William Windsor and Prince Harry Windsor of England. The Gala Charity Premiere Benefit was held in aid of the “Help for Heroes” and “The Royal British Legion” charities.

* Cameo: [Robert Braithwaite] The Managing Director of Sunseeker International Powerboats (the boats are regularly seen in the James Bond movies of recent years) as a Speedboat Captain on a Sunseeker power boat carrying Daniel Craig as James Bond.

* Mathieu Amalric, who portrays the film’s main villain Dominic Greene, portrayed the son of former Bond villain Michael Lonsdale (as Hugo Drax in Moonraker (1979)) in Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005). Daniel Craig also co-starred in that film.

* As the first ever direct sequel in the series, Daniel Craig has commented: “We felt we needed to tie up the loose ends from Casino Royale (2006) and make sure people realize we are back making Bond movies. For me it’s about creating something that is going to stand alone but if you put the two films together, you’re going to have an incredible experience because you will see one continuous story.”

* The free-fall sequence seen in the film was performed by the actors doing indoor skydiving. This utilizes a vertical wind tunnel (VWT) which shifts air up through a vertical column wind tunnel at about 120 mph. People can fly through the air without having to skydive or parachute. As a person floats in mid-air, their action is so described as body flight or bodyflight. This activity is a legitimate pastime similar to sky-diving and is also used as training for that sport.

* The use of Bodyflight / Indoor Skydiving in this movie continues an often overlooked tradition in the official Bond series of using new and different sports, activities and pastimes. Parkour / Free Running and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker appeared in Casino Royale (2006); Die Another Day (2002) showed Kite-Surfing and Switchblades (one-person gliders modeled on fighter jets aka PHASST – Programmable High Altitude Single Soldier Transport); Thunderball (1965) had Sky-Hooking and the Bell Jet-Pack Flight; Winter Sports featured in For Your Eyes Only (1981) and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), the latter of which showed a Stock Car Rally on ice; Moonraker (1979) was the first movie to feature a modern Space Shuttle and it also showed the space training ride in a centrifuge chamber (though hardly a sport); You Only Live Twice (1967) showcased the mini-helicopter Little Nell; Octopussy (1983) had the mini AcroStar Bede jet; GoldenEye (1995) had a Bungee jump; The Living Daylights (1987) opened with Paintball; the 1970s popular sport of hang-gliding featured in two 70s Bond pics, Live and Let Die (1973) and Moonraker (1979); Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) had the free-falling parachuting HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) Jump (aka a military free fall); A View to a Kill (1985) sparked international interest in Snowboarding; and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) premiered the water Jetski Wetbike.

* It was once extensively rumored that Al Pacino would be making a cameo appearance at the end of this movie as the head of the QUANTUM criminal organization in a brief role equivalent to that of a master villain like Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Apparently, Pacino was interested in taking the role of General Medrano.

* Of the film’s somewhat different title, Daniel Craig said that it was “meant to confuse a little. It’s meant to make you sort of wonder” and “We want people to start thinking as they come and see the film” whilst producer Michael G. Wilson said an original Ian Fleming title was “really important to us” and “We thought it was an intriguing title that references what’s happening to Bond and what’s happening to him in this film.”

* With an estimated (US) $225,000,000 budget, to date, this is the most expensive James Bond movie ever made.

* With the use of this original Ian Fleming James Bond story title for this movie, there now remains only four original Fleming titles that haven’t been used as movie titles. These are “The Property of a Lady”, “The Hildebrand Rarity”, “Risico” and “007 in New York”.

* Strawberry Fields, one of the Bond girls in this movie, was previously also the same name of a character thirty years earlier in the Beatles movie musical Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) played by Sandy Farina. In this movie, her character was derived from the Beatles Song “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Strawberry Fields in this context refers to the Liverpool Salvation Army Orphanage near where John Lennon spent his childhood.

* Strawberry Fields (aka Agent Fields) is a red-headed Bond Girl and she’s the fifth major redheaded Bond Girl in the official James Bond series. The others in the series were Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) in Thunderball (1965); Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) in Diamonds Are Forever (1971); Helga Brandt (Karin Dor) in You Only Live Twice (1967); and Tracy di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

* This is the sixth James Bond movie in the EON Productions official series not to mention the film’s title in the film’s main song (heard during the opening titles). The others were (in order) Dr. No (1962); From Russia with Love (1963); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969); Octopussy (1983) (“All Time High”) & Casino Royale (2006) (“You Know My Name”). [n.b. the song lyrics for “From Russia With Love” are not heard during the opening titles of that movie as the instrumental not vocal version of the song is heard.]

* Reportedly, this is expected to be the final James Bond movie released under the Sony banner. This is allegedly due to a legal agreement which was made when Sony formed a consortium to buy the MGM studio four years ago in 2004. This film and its precursor Casino Royale (2006) have both been MGM / Columbia Pictures co-productions and both studio logos are seen at the start of each film. For Bond 23 (2011), MGM is expected to return to being the Bond franchise’s sole exclusive studio. However, it has been touted that Sony may be staying on.

* Whilst filming in the hot and humid town of Colon in Panama, the film crew drank over one thousand bottles of cold water per day.

* For the film’s explosive finale, the special effects team set-off fifty four controlled explosions in twelve days on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios.

* Stuntman Gary Powell and other members of his family have worked on every EON Productions official series Bond movie since Dr. No (1962). Father and uncle Nosher Powell and Dinny Powell worked on all the early 60s and 70s Bonds with Sean Connery and George Lazenby; brother Greg Powell worked on the 70s and 80s Bonds with Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton whilst Gary has worked on all the 90s and 00s Bonds with Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

* The literal translations of some of this film’s foreign language titles include A Quantum Consolation (or A Quantity of Consolation) (Germany); Quantum of Mercy (Russia); 007 Quantum (Mexico & Canada); A Grain of Comfort (Croatia); 007 Quantum of Solace (Argentina & Brazil); and 007: Reward of Comfort (Japan).

* The film’s title song “Another Way To Die” was not used for the film’s associated tie-in video-game Quantum of Solace (2008) (VG). The name of the game’s main title song instead is “When Nobody Loves You”.

* Cameo: [Michael G. Wilson] As man reading newspaper whilst sitting in green-armchair whilst Daniel Craig as James Bond handles metal case over counter.

* Cameo: [‘Ulrich Bez’] The Chairman of Aston Martin as a man wearing an earpiece sitting next to villain Dominic Greene at the Bregenz Floating Opera and follows out Greene when James Bond intercepts.

* Product placements, brand integrations and promotional tie-ins for this movie include the Aston Martin DBS and the Ford Motor Company including vehicle makes Volvo, Range Rover, and the new Ka; Corgi International Limited’s toy gadgets, die-cast vehicles and action figures; Sony’s “Mission for a Million” competition; Omega SA Watches, James Bond wears a Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial Chronometer with a black dial; Swatch; Coca-Cola’s Coke Zero (as in “Zero Zero 7”); Smirnoff Vodka; Bollinger Champagne which is “The Champagne of James Bond”; Sony Electronics including Sony Bravia TV sets and Sony Vaio laptops and tie-in ad for Sony HD TV; Sony Ericsson cell phones, particularly the Sony Titanium Silver Edition C902 Cyber-shot Phone; Virgin Atlantic Airlines; four Scalextric toy racing sets; Heineken Pilsener Beer with ads featuring Olga Kurylenko; Avon Products Inc.’s “Bond Girl 007” women’s fragrance with ads featuring Gemma Arterton; UK National Lottery operator Camelot’s James Bond scratch card game; Ocean Sky Jets; Orbitz’ “Travel Like Bond” Tourism Competition Giveaway; VisitBritain; Tom Ford tailoring for James Bond’s clothes; Sunseeker Powerboats; and Activision’s Quantum of Solace (2008) (VG) video-game.

* The cocktail that Bond has aboard the plane is called a “Vesper”. Mathis mentions the name of the drink in this scene. The drink is taken from the novel “Casino Royale”. The scene suggests Bond is reflecting on Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale (2006) by way of using emotive music score reminiscent of their romance in a scene where he is drinking the martini which is known by her name.

* Released in Brazil and Turkey with its original name since a proper translation could not be formed.

* Near the beginning, Swiss actor Anatole Taubman (Elvis) says, “es isch scho e chli heiss”, (meaning, ‘it’s a bit hot’) in authentic Zürich-dialect Swiss German.

* The names of villain Dominic Greene’s henchmen are Yusef, Elvis, Mr. Slate, Gregg Beam, Craig Mitchell and General Medrano. The character of Mr. Slate was originally called Mr. Black whilst Dominic Greene was originally called Maurice Greene. There are three villains in the finished film with names representing colors: Dominic Greene, Mr. White, and Mr. Slate (= gray; previously Mr. Black).

* This movie, a direct follow-up to Casino Royale (2006), actually contains a real roof-top chase sequence. In Casino Royale (2006), the Free Running / Parkour sequence was inspired by an edited-out roof-top chase sequence from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). As such now, both movies reference On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

* According to Henry Chancellor in his book “James Bond – The Man and His World”, the meaning of the title “Quantum of Solace” relates to the necessary iota of emotion that is needed between lovers.

* This is only the second time that production designer / art director / set decorator Peter Lamont has not worked on an official Bond movie since Goldfinger (1964). The other time was Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) when he won an Oscar for Titanic (1997). This film marks his retirement from the series.

* Cameo: [Guillermo del Toro] The Mexican film director provides additional voices in the film. del Toro is a friend of the movie’s director Marc Forster.

* This is only the third time that an M character’s home has been shown in an official EON Productions James Bond film. The first was in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and the second was in Casino Royale (2006). The unofficial James Bond film, the comedy spoof Casino Royale (1967) also showed an M character’s home.

* This is the first time that the studio logos are seen in their normal full color representation for both the Sony – MGM studio Bond partnership and for a Daniel Craig Bond movie. The opening sequence for Casino Royale (2006) was in black and white and the studio logos were shown in b/w.

* In this direct sequel, the characters that return from Casino Royale (2006) include James Bond, M, Felix Leiter, Rene Mathis and Mr. White. Characters referred to from that film mentioned in this movie include Le Chiffre and Vesper Lynd. Characters that appear in this film who were in the original “Casino Royale” novel include James Bond, M, Rene Mathis and Felix Leiter. Of all these characters, only James Bond appeared in the original Ian Fleming “Quantum of Solace” short-story. The character of Strawberry Fields has been considered a version of Mary Goodnight.

* The others are Casino Royale (2006) and The Living Daylights (1987). (Bond does begin an affair with the character Solange in Casino Royale (2006), but he clearly leaves her before they actually have sex, leaving the relationship with Vesper as his only consummated one.) This is also the second Bond movie where the girl in the affair dies. This is also the second Bond movie where Bond has only one consummated liaison in the whole film (the opening sequence of The Living Daylights (1987) implied an affair with the woman on the boat).

* A closing theme heard after the James Bond theme during the movie’s closing credits was not featured on the movie’s soundtrack. The theme is called “Crawl, end crawl” and it was composed by David Arnold and Four Tet (also known as Kieran Hebden). The track was not included on the soundtrack because it was produced at a very late stage and after the soundtrack was already in a well advanced stage of production.

* The phrase “Quantum of Solace” is never spoken or seen as written text in this movie. The phrase however is mentioned on more than one occasion in the Ian Fleming James Bond short-story “Quantum of Solace”.

* Villains in the Bond movie series have often had some physiological dysfunction or trait that makes them distinguishable. For this movie, some may have thought that there was none for Dominic Greene, but arguably, critics have noticed his distinguishable and menacing bug eyes which do set him in the company of Bond villains of old.

* Mathieu Amalric is the fourth French actor to play a leading Bond villain in the official James Bond series. As Dominic Greene, he follows Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax in Moonraker (1979), Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan in Octopussy (1983) and Sophie Marceau as Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

* The ingredients of the famous martini shaken not stirred James Bond drink that is described in this film as three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, a half a measure of Kina Lillet, shaken over ice, with a thin slice of lemon. In Casino Royale (2006), James Bond alluded to naming it after Vesper. The Vesper name has two sources according to Henry Chancellor’s book, “James Bond: The Man and His World – The Official Companion to Ian Fleming’s Creation”. One of them was that she was named after an exotic cocktail called a “Vesper”. The rum punch drink contained ice, rum, fruit and herbs and was served to Ian Fleming and his life-long friend Ivar Bryce at a north-eastern Jamaican plantation house.

* The “Vesper” martini drink is described as being three measures (9 ounces) of gin (Gordon’s was Bond’s choice), one measure (3 ounces) of vodka (Bond preferred a grain vodka be used; e.g. Absolut) and half a measure (1.5 ounces) of Kina Lillet. The ingredients are shaken over ice until cold, served in a cocktail glass with a slice of lemon peel for garnish. Kina Lillet has not been made since 1985 and the modern substitute would be Lillet Blanc, made by the same company, Lillet, based in Podensac, France. This also creates somewhat of an anachronism as this movie is clearly set in the present, where Kina Lillet would no longer be available.

* The Bregenz floating opera sequence was filmed during Philipp Himmelmann’s 2007 production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” at the Bregenz floating opera stage on Lake Constance in Austria. A full version of Himmelmann’s “Tosca” can be seen by viewing Tosca (2007) (TV). The part of the “Tosca” opera seen in this James Bond movie is the Te Deum scene and parts of Act 2. Major characters from the opera that can be seen in the movie include Floria Tosca, Baron Scarpia, Mario Cavaradossi, Sciarrone, Spoletta and Hirtenknabe.

* The title “Quantum of Solace” is taken from the Ian Fleming short story of the same name in the book “For Your Eyes Only” first published on 11 April 1960. It’s the third short story from “For Your Eyes Only” collection and it’s the last short story from the book to be used in some way for a Bond movie. “For Your Eyes Only” and two other Fleming short stories were originally conceived in the 1950s as scripts for a never-produced James Bond TV series with CBS. “Quantum of Solace” was not one of the short stories conceived for television. The short story was written by Ian Fleming on the way back from / after returning from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean during the Summer of 1958. As such, this makes the release of this film the 50th Anniversary of the writing of the short-story. 2008 is also the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Fleming who was born in 1908. “Quantum of Solace” was first published in Modern Woman / Cosmopolitan magazine in May 1959. The source story is not actually considered a spy espionage story though there is mention of a mission, the story is an anecdote told to James Bond at a dinner party. This is therefore the first EON Productions James Bond movie since The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) to utilize a non-spy story as a source for a Bond movie. The story was an attempt by Fleming to write a more literature serious story somewhat in the vein of W. Somerset Maugham, and is frequently described in the literary world as “a Maughamish anecdote”. It was inspired by a true story in an anecdote told to Ian Fleming by friend, neighbor and one-time lover Blanche Blackwell who received a Cartier wrist watch as gift from him when it was published.

* According to producer Michael G. Wilson, the film doesn’t uses any part of the original Ian Fleming short story “Quantum of Solace” except its title. Apart from James Bond, none of the characters from the short story (Rhoda Llewellyn, Philip Masters and the Governor) are used as character names in the movie, nor is its Nassau / Bermuda setting.

* The meaning of the film’s title according to different sources. The Governor character in the Ian Fleming short story of the same name defines it as “… a precise figure defining the comfort, humanity and fellow feeling required between two people for love to survive. If the quantum of solace is 0, then love is dead.” He then introduces the Law of the Quantum of Solace as follows: “I’ve seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I’ve seen crimes and even murder foreign by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and other forms of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster – all of these can be overcome. But never the death of common humanity in one of the partners. I’ve thought about this and I’ve invented a rather high-sounding title for this basic factor in human relations. I have called it the law of the Quantum of Solace.” In the same story James Bond comments on the Law of the Quantum of Solace as follows: “That’s a splendid name for it. It’s certainly impressive enough. And of course I see what you mean. I should say you’re absolutely right. Quantum of Solace – the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it’s obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You’ve got to get away to save yourself.” In an interview, the producers explained: “It means that a relationship cannot be salvaged unless there is a ‘quantum of solace’ between the two parties – ‘Quantum’ meaning ‘measure’ and ‘solace’ meaning ‘comfort’ – so if they are not willing to share that then their relationship is not redeemable. In our case, it is a couple of things: Bond is looking for a ‘quantum of solace’ after his experiences in Casino Royale (2006), and QUANTUM also happens to be the name of the villainous organization in the film.

* The use of the title “Quantum of Solace” for a Bond movie was first touted around the time of Licence to Kill (1989). A minor sensation erupted when the announcement of the title for this movie was made in January 2008. The title is taken from arguably the most obscure of the original Ian Fleming James Bond story titles. Some media likened it to being like a “Harry Potter” title (imagine “Harry Potter and the Quantum of Solace”) whilst others commented on its difference, one outlet saying that it was “a real Oddjob” and that, “The Name’s Odd. Very Odd.” In an interview with GQ Magazine, Daniel Craig stated that he was involved in making the decision for the title, Quantum of Solace. He also admitted that “in the great tradition of Bond movies, the film’s title is often meaningless.” Daniel Craig has also said he wanted to avoid titles that mention dying or death for this film’s title. Ironically, the name of the title song for this movie is “Another Way To Die”.

* This film’s distinguishable title uses two uncommon words but it’s not the first time that one of them has been used in the James Bond universe. An episode of “James Bond Jr.” (1991) was entitled “Quantum Diamonds” [See: “James Bond Jr.: Quantum Diamonds (#1.56)” (1991)].

* An initial storyline for this movie was to be based on an original Ian Fleming James Bond short-story titled “Risico” which involved drug-running. This was to involve M sending Bond on a mission to avenge a friend. This is reflected in trade paper Variety’s early published synopsis for the film which stated: “James Bond infiltrates a drug ring that is flooding Britain with heroin”. Story elements from “Risico” have previously been used for the movie For Your Eyes Only (1981).

* The fighter plane in the air-chase is an Aermacchi SF-260, a small plane designed in 1964 (then SIAI Marchetti later Aermacchi in 1997) and used by many small air forces.

* Dominic Greene’s distinguishable bug eyes are the most recent addition to the series rogue gallery of villains with identifiable physiological attributes. But it’s not the first time that such an optical trait has befitted a Bond villain. Emilio Largo in Thunderball (1965) wore an eye patch over his left eye; Media baron Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and computer nerd Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye (1995) both wore glasses whilst Emile Leopold Locque in For Your Eyes Only (1981) wore hexagonal ones; Gettler in Casino Royale (2006) had a pair but one with one clear and one dark round lense; Dr. Mortner aka Hans Glaub in A View to a Kill (1985) wore a monocle whilst Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (2006) had tear drops that wept blood. David Bowie, whose eyes are often perceived as being of different colors, was the original choice for the lead part of villain Max Zorin in A View to a Kill (1985) but turned the role down.

* The first line of the Ian Fleming James Bond short-story “Quantum of Solace” read: “I’ve always thought that if I ever married I would marry an air hostess” whilst the last lines read: “He reflected on the conference he would be having in the morning with the Coastguards and the FBI in Miami. The prospect, which had previously interested, even excited him, was now edged with boredom and futility.”

* The Governor character alludes to the “Quantum of Solace” in the original Ian Fleming short-story of the same name as follows: “The Governor paused and looked reflectively over at Bond. He said: “You’re not married, but I think it’s the same with all relationships between a man and a woman. They can survive anything so long as some kind of basic humanity exists between the two people. When all kindness has gone, when one person obviously and sincerely doesn’t care if the other is alive or dead, then it’s just no good. That particular insult to the ego-worse, to the instinct of self-preservation-can never be forgiven. I’ve noticed this in hundreds of marriages.”

* The version of the title song heard during the opening credits is a different, shorter mix which was not released on CD.

* This is the first James Bond movie where James Bond is seen inebriated. Bond has never actually been shown drunk (he may have appeared as this in Casino Royale (2006) but he had been poisoned). The scene in a bar on the plane in this movie clearly shows he has been affected by alcohol and it is mentioned that he has drunk six Vesper martini cocktails.

* First opening title sequence in a Bond Movie designed by US special effects company MK12 of Stranger Than Fiction (2006) fame and first in recent years not to be designed by Daniel Kleinman who did it consecutively between GoldenEye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006).

* Mr. White is only the second Villain in the series to be played by the same actor (‘Jesper Christensen’) in two movies. The first one was Jaws (Richard Kiel) from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Ernest Stavro Blofield was also played by the same actor in From Russia With Love and Thunderball, although we never see his face in either. Anthony Dawson had the privilege of being the only person to portrait Blofield twice (he also appeared in Dr. No as the villainous Dr. Dent).

* Editing this movie was so stressful that co-editor Richard Pearson was brought in to assist Matt Chesse to speed up the editing process. Marc Forster only had five weeks to edit the entire movie. In his previous movies, Forster would take an average of 14 weeks to edit.

* Cameo: [Michael G. Wilson] Appears as a motel guest with newspaper at the reception hall in Haiti before Bond meets Camille.

* Marc Forster’s image (as seen in production stills) was used with consent for the video game tie-in. In the train mission of the game, Vesper hands Bond a photograph of the an enemy that resembles Forster.

* Filmed (but cut in the final release) is the infamous coda-ending (revealing the final fate of Mr. White), where Bond tracks down and discovers that Mr. White (who was missing earlier and assumed of eliminating Greene) was in league with Guy Haines. Haines was earlier spotted by Bond in Bregenz. He notifies M, went in and had a scuffle with White before he introduces himself to Haines. The gun-barrel sequence seen was originally intended to come in place just as Bond eliminates White for good. Part of the ending can also be seen in the video game tie-in.

* Chile’s Atacama Desert (where the finale was filmed) is the driest region on planet earth with little or no record of any rainfall.

* The Ford GT in the movie is a limited edition version of the 4-time Le Mans winner from the 1960s with a top speed capability of 205mph.

* The movie was filmed in more locations than any other 007 movie in the franchise’s 46-year history: UK, Panama, Chile, Italy, Mexico and Austria.

* It’s the first James Bond movie since Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) where Bond uses the Walther PPK as his main weapon. It should be noted that in that film, Wai Lin given Bond a Walther P99 before he joins her in searching for the stealth boat, becoming it in his new main gun for the following three Bond films. The Walther PPK was used also by Daniel Craig in promotional photos of Casino Royale (2006).

* 4th James Bond song to utilize the word “die” in the title, and the only to begin using the motif (“You Know My Name” – Casino Royale) from a previous Bond film.

* Marc Forster thought Judi Dench was underused in the previous films, which is why she has such a much bigger part to play this time. He had her interact with Bond more because “she is the only woman Bond doesn’t view in a sexual context”, which Forster always found interesting.

* This is the 5th time (behind OHMSS, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy and Casino Royale) that the title song bears no relation to its title. Consequently, this is the first time that two consecutive Bond films does not have a theme song that relates to its title.

* Abbie Cornish, ‘Fulya Keskin’, pop singer Jamelia, ‘Carice Van Houten’, Mischa Barton, Juliette Lewis, Shilpa Shetty, Fernanda Lima, Juliana Paes, Cléo Pires, Moran Atias, ‘Mayrin Villanueva’, Livia Rossi, ‘Juliana Galvao’, Michelle Alves, Fernanda Motta, ‘Ana Paula Araujo’, Paula Franco and ‘Camilla Alves’ were all rumored to play the Bond girl.

* The film’s title was selected only a few days before its announcement on 24 January 2008. For a long time, it had been considered unsuitable for an 007 film; Daniel Craig admitted he was unsure about it, but it seemed to fit in the context of the film: “Bond is looking for his Quantum of Solace, that’s what he wants. Ian Fleming says that if you don’t have a Quantum of Solace in your relationship, you might as well give up. Bond doesn’t have that because his girlfriend has been killed, therefore he’s looking for revenge to make himself happy with the world again.” QUANTUM is also the name of the organization in the film; a kind of new-age SMERSH, or the fictitious S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

* The set for the floating opera sequence utilizes a gigantic EYE which invariably references For Your Eyes Only (1981) as does the distinctive appearance of the eyes of the film’s chief villain. The “For Your Eyes Only” book is the anthology which includes the short story “Quantum of Solace” from which the movie takes its title.

* The MacGuffin in this film is the natural resource water. Producer Michael G. Wilson has referred to the movie Chinatown (1974) where it was used as a MacGuffin. This film will be an environmentally themed Bond movie, the second to do so since the Solex Agitator solar power source appeared in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

* Whilst the film was in pre-production, some filming of background shots occurred during August 2007, long before principal photography was scheduled to start. This was because of the Palio di Siena Horse Race which forms the opening to a chase sequence through the medieval architectural town of Siena and its famed Bottini underground aqueduct which evokes From Russia with Love (1963) and its Basilica Cistern.

* Giancarlo Giannini as double agent Rene Mathis from Casino Royale (2006) returns in this movie. This is the second EON Productions official series James Bond movie to feature the James Bond ally character of Rene Mathis. The Mathis character appeared in the original Ian Fleming novel but not film of From Russia with Love (1963) and variations of this character’s name have appeared in “Climax!: Casino Royale (#1.3)” (1954) (as Valerie Mathis) and Casino Royale (1967) (as Inspector Mathis). As the character dies in the film, this is probably the last time in the series that Mathis will be seen.

* SPOILER: As with Casino Royale (2006), the traditional film series characters of Q and Miss Moneypenny will not be reappearing. Producer Barbara Broccoli has said: “In ‘Casino Royale,’ the book, there was no Moneypenny or Q so that is why they are not in that story. And, in this follow-up, there didn’t seem to be a reason or a place for them”.

* A sequence where James Bond was to come out of the underground cisterns at Siena Cathedral was cut from the script as it was considered culturally insensitive, disrespectful and offensive to have the character arise from this location. Instead, James Bond will be seen emerging from the Fonte Gaia.

* The scene where Bond stalks a double agent during Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” opera was shot at the floating opera stage on Lake Constance at Bregenz, Austria. The opera itself, dealing with deception and revenge, holds a parallel to the film. The fight ends when the double agent falls from the roof, mirroring Tosca’s suicide at the end of the opera (by throwing herself off the castle ramparts).

* To shoot the foot chase in Siena, officials supplied 1 million Euros to the filmmakers for them to build four camera cranes, alter rooftops, and hire 300 extras needed for the scene. The centuries-old roof-top tiles had to be removed by the production from the old houses and the roofs reinforced so actors and stunt-men would not fall through them.

* The film makes a number of nods to thriller auteur Alfred Hitchcock. Director Marc Forster wanted the plane fight to be a homage to Hitchcock and chose an old propeller-built planes (like the Douglas DC-3) to suit the retro-but-suspenseful atmosphere. This references North by Northwest (1959). The bell-tower sequence and bell sounds at the end of the Siena foot-chase references Vertigo (1958). Paul Ritter plays a character named Bruce Kimmel. This is the same name of the main character played by Farley Granger in Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951).

* For the Lake Garda sequence, where a truck explodes and falls into the Lake, a custom-made net was designed to catch the truck.

* Gemma Arterton’s character is found dead covered in oil – a call back to a similar discovery in Goldfinger (1964). In that film the victim is covered in gold. Both bodies are also found in similar locations and positions. The media went onto label this scene “Oilfinger”. Arterton filmed the scene on her first day of filming for the movie.

* This movie has a number of nods to the earlier bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The Universal Exports business card Bond gives to the guard displays the pseudonym “R.Stirling”. This pseudonym was used in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) where James introduces himself to Stromberg as “Robert Stirling”. This movie has Bond let a man fall off a roof by breaking the physical contact he has with him (as with Sandor in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)). At one point, Bond asks an airport worker to tell anyone who calls he is going to Cairo whilst parts of the car chase evoke the one from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The desert scenes in this film too evoke that movie.

* James Bond and the leading Bond Girl (Camille, played by Olga Kurylenko) share a kiss in this movie but do not make love, making it the second James Bond film where a relationship with a leading Bond Girl is not consummated since Tomorrow Never Dies (Michelle Yeoh).

* The so-called “Oilfinger” death scene of Bond girl Agent Fields, a direct homage to Goldfinger (1964), is not actually the first time that such a reference has been made using black instead of gold. In the 1988 animated parody short James Bonk in Matt Blackfinger (1988) (V), Agent 0016, a wind-up clockwork aubergine toy pear is attacked by plastic ninjas and painted matt black on a beach in the tropics a la Goldfinger (1964).

* The title “Quantum of Solace” has two connections with the movie. First, “Quantum” is the name of the secret criminal terrorist organization first introduced in Casino Royale (2006). As such, QUANTUM replaced SMERSH, the latter which featured in the original “Casino Royale” novel and in Casino Royale (1967). Second, “Quantum of Solace” is the condition of James Bond’s emotional state.

* This is the third James Bond movie where James Bond is either suspended, decommissioned or has his license to kill revoked. The first was Licence to Kill (1989) and the second was Die Another Day (2002).

* This is the third consecutive time in the official Bond movie series that James Bond has acted as a rogue agent. The previous two times were Casino Royale (2006) and Die Another Day (2002). Bond has acted as a rogue agent four times in the series altogether with Licence to Kill (1989) being the first time. GoldenEye (1995) and GoldenEye (1997) (VG) featured British rogue agent Alec Trevelyan whilst another James Bond video-game was called GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004) (VG).

* There is a deleted scene that runs for about a minute from this movie where the film was originally going to end. It involves James Bond meeting Mr. White and it was taken out of the film so Bond 23 (2011), the next movie in the series, would not be compelled to continue this storyline (hence making a trilogy) if the producers decided to go with a different story. CinemaRetro reports that MI6 Declassified discloses: “The movie was originally intended to end with a one-minute sequence where 007 introduces himself to Mr Haines at his estate, setting up the next movie. The gun-barrel sequence, uniquely positioned at the end of “Quantum of Solace”, would have appeared after Bond dispatches Mr White for good.” The deleted scene is intended to be included in the DVD release.

* Dominic Greene is the second leading Bond villain in the EON Productions series to die but not by the hand of James Bond, a Bond Girl or Bond ally. Nor are any directly involved with events that lead to his death. As with both the Ian Fleming novel and film of Casino Royale (2006), Dominic Greene shares the same fate as Le Chiffre in that he is a major villain (i.e. not including henchmen) who is killed by his own people.

* Second and second consecutive James Bond movie in the EON Productions official series where the movie ends with James Bond alone and without a leading Bond Girl with him.

* Second James Bond movie in the EON Productions official series where the demise and death of a leading villain is not shown and is only referred to. The first being General Georgi Koskov in The Living Daylights (1987).

* The “Oilfinger” death scene of Agent Fields, a direct homage to Goldfinger (1964) is not the only reference to that earlier Bond movie in this film – the opening title sequence features dancing girls colored as golden sand.

See also:

• Quantum of Solace: Film
• Bond films: Trivia