Headscratchers / The World Is Not Enough

• So what came first; Bond's motto or the nineteenth Bond film of the same name? Did the producers just think it sounded good or did Bond have it in mind when he used it against Elektra?
  • The motto. It shows up in the book On Her Majesty's Secret Service when they detail heraldry; it's the family motto. Orbis non sufficit was the actual motto of Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet and Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria (consort of Charles I and mother of Charles II). He is thought to have been born around 1620, and died in 1685. Bond Street in Westminster is named after this Bond.
• Why is Q Branch's boat dock several levels above the river? Wouldn't it make more sense for the area where they work on boats to be at water level? (I know, rule of cool when the boat launches through the air.)
  • Ground level isn't as secure presumably. Q Branch's stuff is always highly-advanced — whatever you can do to make it difficult for outside agencies to learn about what you're developing is a good thing to have, and if that means hoisting it up several floors above the water level to tinker with it then so be it.
• Also in the boat chase, why does Bond stop when the police boat catches fire? He's soaking wet and in a jet-powered boat that would be in the flames for less than a second if he kicked the throttle up. That's how firewalking works, as the exposure to the flames isn't long enough to cause damage. The film treats it as though she's dropped a brick wall in front of him.
  • Maybe, despite his Universal Driver's License and attendant staggering experience in all categories of vehicles, he just hasn't seen a situation like this before and is erring on the side of caution.
• Why would Q need a fishing boat with rockets for his retirement?
  • Extreme Dynamite fishing?
  • Even retired he is a significant target for Britain's enemies. He was the man behind pretty much all of MI6's technical expertise for decades, that means he is a priority target for capture or execution by any rival nation. Even some non-national groups would consider netting him and trying to make him work for them, or spill the UK's secrets, a real prize. Not to mention that Bond's enemies, a man he has been friends (and maybe one of Bonds very few still living friends) with for years, would see him as an excellent way to hurt Bond on a personal level by targeting him. The man needs to defend himself.
• Dr Jones. A potentially solid (if not that interesting) character mirred by bad acting and wrong casting, a Lara Croft wannabe so badly written that no actress could have pulled her off convincingly, or some elements of both?

---