FILM · 2012 · UK
Skyfall
- Directed by
- Sam Mendes
- Runtime
- 143 min
- Studio
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, EON Productions, Columbia Pictures
320 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.
Summary: TMDB
21 Easter Eggs and References in Skyfall
- #052
This film has many things in common with The World Is Not Enough (1999). Both feature kidnapping victims abandoned to their fate by M, whom they see as a mother figure, and M has to deal with the consequences of her decisions when the victims in question seek revenge. They are also the only James Bond films in which M is actually part of the story rather than briefing Bond and sending him on his way. Both include scenes in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as a chase scene in London (a rarity for the series, although London appears in almost every film), an explosion at MI6, MI6's temporary relocation, the healing of the shoulder injury Bond received in the teaser, the introduction of a new Q who is a female assistant afraid of her male terrorist employer, Bond being held captive in a chair by the Big Bad, the Big Bad using Bond to reach M, Bond following a villain underground, a helicopter's destruction, Bond's car, Bond using gas to blow up a helicopter, and the villain being impaled by a metal object.
- #053
During the martini scene at the bar, the famous James Bond drinking catchphrase "shaken, not stirred" is not spoken, but the martini is clearly prepared on screen and the bartender is shown shaking it before pouring. Also, the label of the bottle of alcohol that Tiago Rodriguez, also known as Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), offers Bond (Daniel Craig) on his island reads "1962", a reference to the series' 50th anniversary. The beer is Heineken, which contributed a fairly large amount to product placement. Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) is also seen drinking it.
- #064
The Aston Martin DB5's license plate is BMT 216A, the same as in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965). Also in this film, the garage the Aston Martin DB5 comes out of resembles the villain's facility in Goldfinger.
- #077
In the Macau casino scene, Fukutu (Tom So), one of the high-stakes gamblers from Casino Royale (2006), can be clearly seen playing billiards in the background.
- #083
While speaking through microphones at "The Golden Dragon Casino," James Bond (Daniel Craig) warns Miss Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) to stop touching her ear. This is a reference to Casino Royale (2006), in which Bond warned Agent Carter (Joseph Millson) to stop touching his ear while speaking to him.
- #092
The gun barrel sequence was reshot specifically for this film, as it had been for the previous film. In this third Daniel Craig Bond film, Craig still did not appear in the traditional series gun barrel sequence shown at the beginning of the film (the last film to originally use this sequence was Die Another Day (2002)). According to Sir Sam Mendes, an attempt was made to place the gun barrel before the pre-title sequence, but it did not work artistically. It was also placed at the end of the film to mark the series' Golden Anniversary with Bond's 50th Anniversary logo. Daniel Craig is also the first actor to film three different gun barrel scenes, showing Bond wearing different outfits and in different poses while firing. In the famous gun barrel scene, Bond is seen for the first time wearing a gray suit instead of black. Sir Roger Moore is the other Bond actor to shoot more than one gun barrel sequence; he shot one for Live and Let Die (1973), which was reused in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), and eventually shot a second one for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), which would be reused in his other Bond films.
- #100
The names of the MI6 agents leaked in the YouTube video are those of production crew members, though the faces shown belong to actors. Among the names used are art director Paul Inglis, associate producer Andy Surry and special effects technician Steve Benelisha. The other two MI6 agent names, Mansur Dimka and Ben Daheer, appear not to be based on any particular person. The YouTube poster who uploaded the video in the film has the handle "vials", an anagram of "Silva", the surname of the villain Raoul Silva. The running time of the YouTube video is also 0:07, a reference to James Bond's 007 code number.
- #124
Contains a major spoiler — show
Tiago Rodriguez, also known as Raoul Silva, reads James Bond's psychological profile, which mentions Bond's unresolved childhood trauma. This refers to his losing his parents in a climbing accident when he was eight years old. This was explored in more detail in the next Bond film, Spectre (2015).
- #129
Adele's theme song was the first Bond song to share the film's title since Madonna's Die Another Day (2002), and the first to do so for a Daniel Craig James Bond film. The premiere of "Skyfall" took place on Friday, 5 October 2012 at 0:07 BST (4 October, 19:07 EDT), exactly 50 years after the release of Dr. No (1962). A ninety-second version of the song leaked online shortly after Adele officially announced on Twitter that she was the artist singing the title song. The song was recorded with a full orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.
- #151
It is the first James Bond film in ten years to have a theme song that shares the film's title.
- #163
Contains a major spoiler — show
Daniel Craig's first James Bond film, Casino Royale (2006), is a complete reboot of the 007 character, in which Bond is shown earning his "Double-0" status by carrying out the first two official kills of his career. In that film he killed a total of eleven people. In Quantum of Solace (2008) he killed seventeen people. In this film, not counting allied killings or deaths for which he is indirectly responsible, Bond causes at least eighteen definite intentional deaths directly or actively. His first kill (Patrice) does not occur until roughly fifty minutes in. When the Daniel Craig films reset the timeline, they invalidate all the kill counts of the older Bonds from previous films, giving this iteration of the character a total career of forty-six kills so far.
- #166
The title's meaning and relevance is a reference to "Skyfall Lodge" ("Skyfall Glencoe" or "Skyfall House"), the name of James Bond's Scottish childhood ancestral home. In the books, Ian Fleming gave James Bond the real-life lineage of the Peckham Bonds. The real-life Bond family motto, "Orbis non sufficit" ("The World is not enough"), was used in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and as the title of the film The World Is Not Enough (1999). The Bond family arms were once displayed in St. Giles' Church in Camberwell but were destroyed in a fire in the 1800s. Similarly, in this film the fate of "Skyfall" is a fire. This film forms the third part of an unofficial trilogy about Bond's lineage; the first and second parts are in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and The World Is Not Enough (1999). Producer Barbara Broccoli said the film "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film," which also applies to Quantum of Solace (2008).
- #172
The reference to "Station H" in this film is a nod to MI6's Hong Kong office.
- #192
When Q hands Bond the Walther PPK and his passport at the National Gallery in London, the painting behind him is Joseph Wright of Derby's "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)", which depicts a natural philosopher, a pioneer of the modern scientist, demonstrating an experiment to curious onlookers. This suits Q's role in scientific research and development for the S.I.S., MI6 and 007. The painting is also known for being used on the cover of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein".
- #209
Because it was the film series' 50th anniversary, there were many tributes and references to the older films. For example, when James Bond hands scrap metal to an agent he says "for her eyes only." This was a reference to For Your Eyes Only (1981). The Aston Martin DB5 and the scene in which M asks Bond how old he was when his parents died were references to Goldfinger (1964). The palm-print recognition gun grips were a reference to Licence to Kill (1989). The scene in which Bond enters M's house is a reference to Casino Royale (2006). The explosion at MI6 was a reference to The World Is Not Enough (1999). Bond's mention of his parents was a reference to GoldenEye (1995), and of course Bond's iconic "Bond, James Bond" introduction to a lady in a tuxedo at the casino and Q giving Bond a Walther PPK were references to those iconic moments in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962).
- #256
This tenth James Bond film is the one produced by Michael G. Wilson as regular (non-executive) producer. The next James Bond film (Spectre (2015)) was expected to be released in 2014, the year that marked the Golden 50th anniversary of Wilson's association with the official James Bond series. Wilson first appeared uncredited as a soldier at Fort Knox in Goldfinger (1964). Similarly, this film premiered in 2012, the series' Golden 50th Anniversary Year. Wilson has also worked on the films as a screenwriter and legal, administrative and technical consultant, and is also known for his regular cameo appearances in the series.
- #282
This is the only film in which Daniel Craig played James Bond that does not feature Jesper Christensen as Mr. White or reference Vesper Lynd or the QUANTUM organisation.
- #287
In the scene where Silva comes out of the tube and gets into the police car, you can see a production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins at the Playhouse Theatre in the background. There was no production of it at the time; likewise, there is a reference to the fact that Sam Mendes directed the original London production and that Bond himself is an assassin.
- #295
The Aston Martin DB5 that stores and drives M to the Skyfall lodge is a clear reminder of the car seen in Goldfinger (1964). Its plate reads BMT 216A, a reference to Goldfinger. The gear stick has the same ejector button as in Goldfinger, and when M sees it open as Bond is about to press the red button she says: "Oh, go on then, eject me. See if I care." Machine guns were later mounted under the lights added by Bond and were used when Silva's men storm the lodge; unlike in Goldfinger, they helped Bond. Viewers might think this DB5 is the one from Casino Royale (2006), but the car seen there is not the same one: the Casino Royale DB5 was left-hand drive, while this one is right-hand drive. The DB5's machine guns and other gadgets recall the car seen in Goldfinger more closely.
- #303
Miss Eve Moneypenny says there is more to Gareth Mallory "than meets the eye". This is the slogan of the "Transformers" series, about a group of shape-shifting robots. Many of the Transformers share the name "Skyfall".
- #313
Daniel Craig said that "Bond opens a few doors," allowing the production, because of the series' reputation, to close off busy London areas such as Whitehall and the London Underground for filming, access that would be denied to most films.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work