-Judi Dench's seventh and final time playing the M character. Dench has played the role of M for seventeen years between 1995 until 2012, her first being in GoldenEye (1995). This record ties with Bernard Lee who played the M character for the same amount of time except Lee appeared in eleven Bond movies whilst Dench appeared in seven. Additionally this puts Dench at the same number of Bond films as Roger Moore, as well as Sean Connery (if one counts the unofficial Bond film Jamais plus jamais (1983)).
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-In October 2012 controversy broke out in the media and the web about the film's homo-erotic overtones from villain character Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) directed towards James Bond (Daniel Craig), Bond traditionally being a devout heterosexual ladies' man. The furor suggests that Silva may be the first ever male Bond Girl and that James Bond may actually be bisexual. However, it's not the first time that a male Bond villain has been suggested to be gay as the Mr Wint and Mr Kidd characters in Les diamants sont éternels (1971) were camp henchmen. 'Skyfall' is the second time in three Daniel Craig films that his James Bond has been tied to a chair and tormented by the main villain. In Casino Royale (2006), Bond had his testicles beaten by Le Chiffre with a knotted rope. In 'Skyfall', Bond's chest is caressed by Raoul Silva, then both his legs are then groped with two hands by Silva. There is an out-of-shot inference that Bond's testicles were fondled between shots, making the scene controversial in a similar way to the scene in Casino Royale (2006).
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-Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe) is the eighth major Bond Girl in the official series to be killed by the main Bond villain after falling for the charms of James Bond and then failing/betraying the villain. Often one of the two leading Bond Girls is a sacrificial lamb story element anyway (they're just "Another Girl Who'll Die") and end up dead but not all of them are always killed by the villain, but some are. In 'Skyfall', Sévérine is tortured then shot by Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). Sévérine's predecessors include Jill Masterton (Shirley Eaton) - painted entirely in gold by Oddjob and/or Goldfinger suffocating her skin in Goldfinger (1964), Helga Brandt (Karin Dor) - fed to piranhas by Blofeld in On ne vit que deux fois (1967), Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry) - shot by a gun in a scarecrow of Mr Big / Dr Kananga in Vivre et laisser mourir (1973), Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) - shot by Scaramanga in L'homme au pistolet d'or (1974), Corinne Dufour (Corinne Cléry) - mauled to death by Drax's Doberman dogs after Drax terminates her employment in Moonraker (1979), Paris Carver (Teri Hatcher) - shot by Elliot Carver's assassin Dr. Kaufman in Demain ne meurt jamais (1997), and Solange (Caterina Murino) - tortured, murdered and wrapped in a hammock by Le Chiffre's henchmen in Casino Royale (2006). Those who have survived betraying the villain include Domino (Claudine Auger) in Opération Tonnerre (1965), Solitaire (Jane Seymour) in Vivre et laisser mourir (1973), and Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto) in Permis de tuer (1989).
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-The first James Bond film where M (or any top-ranking MI6 official) dies on-screen.
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-In 50 years of Bond movies, Skyfall is only the second film in which James Bond suffers a gunshot wound. (He is also shot in Opération Tonnerre (1965) during the Junkanoo chase.)
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-The film's villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) is an ex-MI6 agent. It's not the first time that a rogue ex-agent has been the main villain in a Bond movie. GoldenEye (1995)'s main villain was Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean, a former fellow agent whose code number had been 006. Meurs un autre jour (2002), Casino Royale (2006), and Quantum of Solace (2008) had MI6 turncoats as assistant villains.
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-The London underground tube train crash that occurs when James Bond chases Raoul Silva was filmed at Pinewood Studio's mammoth 007 Stage which has been the filming home to most of the super-scale Bond set pieces of the past. For the crash, filmed on "The Catacombs Set", crew built two full size fabricated replica Tube train carriages, each weighing around 5-7 tons, the real ones weigh around 25-30 tons. The Tube carriages were raised onto a track about 20 feet above the base of the set. Near the ceiling of the set, broken Tube tracks curved downwards with a monorail supporting the carriages from above. The trains were then accelerated on the elevated track guided by the monorail as they veer off the tracks and crash through the catacombs ceiling which was composed of breakaway elements. When the train crashed, it dismantled the majority of the 007 Stage.Digital visual effects were later added in post-production to supplement the practical special effects. It was too dangerous to allow people to stay on the sound stage during the filming of the crash, so eleven remotely-operated cameras were placed around the 007 Stage to cover the crash from various angles.
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-Stunt-man and Bond stunt-double Andy Lister performed the opening sequence's fall from the bridge into the river. Riggers were set up a crane on a train carriage to hold a safety line. Andy then reacted to the gun shot by limply diving backwards off the 300 foot (92 m) drop. This jump stunt is a typical Bondian 'Skyfall' jump stunt synonymous with the series. Skyfall jumps having appeared regularly since L'espion qui m'aimait (1977), with others in Moonraker (1979), Rien que pour vos yeux (1981), Octopussy (1983), Dangereusement vôtre (1985), Tuer n'est pas jouer (1987), Permis de tuer (1989), GoldenEye (1995), Demain ne meurt jamais (1997), Le monde ne suffit pas (1999), Meurs un autre jour (2002) and Quantum of Solace (2008).
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-Just prior to post-production lock-off, about ten minutes of footage were cut out of the film due to the picture's extensively long running time. These scenes and sequences include MI6 agents after the MI6 HQ explosion; a funeral procession for MI6 agents; Sévérine at Shanghai International Airport; an M and Mallory scene; early scenes with M's Assistant Vanessa; Bond running through Regent's Park; and scenes involving Sévérine's activities.
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-A sizable amount of the film's story takes place below London's street surface, an underground environment that is based on what was historically known as "The Churchill Bunker System". During World War II, many government offices were relocated underground for protection from German bombing during "The Blitz". In 'Skyfall', after the headquarters at MI6 are the subject of a terrorist attack, M makes the decision to relocate underground, just like Winston Churchill did during the Second World War.

-In three consecutive Bod movies - Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), and Skyfall (2012) - every featured girl Bond sleeps with or fools around with wind up dying. This includes: Solange, Vesper Lynd, Strawberry Fields and Sévérine. He doesn't sleep with Camille Montes or Eve Moneypenny (though a liaison with the latter was strongly suggested, happening off-screen if so) and they both live.
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For the destruction of the Aston Martin DB 5, the production crew naturally did not rely on the real car. Instead the model shop turned to a German company that created parts of the car utilizing vintage 3D printer technology. The built model was at a 1:3 scale and then destroyed in front of the cameras.
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When Ralph Fiennes confirmed that his character is a government agent, it led to rampant speculation that his character would be the new "M" in the series and that Dench's "M" would be depicted as retiring in 'Skyfall'. None of that was ever confirmed, but Fiennes' confirmation of his role's nature put an end to speculation that he would be playing Bond's old nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the end, the speculation proved true, as Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, becomes M at the end of the film. Fiennes' M is the first time a male has played the part since Robert Brown in Permis de tuer (1989), a gap of around twenty-three years.

-The meaning and relevance of the film's 'Skyfall' title is that it refers to 'Skyfall Lodge' (aka 'Skyfall Glencoe' or 'Skyfall House'), the name of James Bond's Scottish childhood ancestral home. In the Bond books, author Ian Fleming gave his James Bond character a real life lineage to the Bonds of Peckham. The real life Bond family motto "Orbis non sufficit" ("The World is not enough") was used in the novel of Au service secret de Sa Majesté (1969) and as a title for the Bond film Le monde ne suffit pas (1999). The Bond Family Arms were once displayed prominently in St. Giles Church in Camberwell but were destroyed in a fire in the 1800s.

Similarly, an explosion of fire is the fate of 'Skyfall' in the film. 'Skyfall' forms the third part of an unofficial trilogy in the James Bond franchise dealing with Bond's ancestry, the first and second parts being Au service secret de Sa Majesté (1969) and Le monde ne suffit pas (1999). Producer Barbara Broccoli has said that the film's 'Skyfall' title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film". This was also the case with the previous Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008).
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-Ralph Fiennes is the fourth actor to play the M character in the official series. Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory becomes M at the end of the film. Bernard Lee was the first actor to play M between 1962 and 1979 through the Connery, Lazenby and some Moore films. Robert Brown then played M for four films for the rest of Moore's films and the two-film Dalton era. Judi Dench played M between 1995 and 2012 with her last appearance being in 'Skyfall'. Fiennes' M is the sixth actor to play the character if one counts the unofficial Bond films where John Huston and Edward Fox played M in Casino Royale (1967) and Jamais plus jamais (1983) respectively.

-Villains in the Bond movie series have often had some physiological dysfunction or trait that makes them distinguishable. For this movie, the Raoul Silva villain played by Javier Bardem has a false jaw. This was caused by his attempted suicide when a hydrogen cyanide capsule implant in one his back left molar was broken open and left his mandible lower jawbone (aka the inferior maxillary jaw bone) physically scarred. Interestingly, Jaws from L'espion qui m'aimait (1977) and Moonraker (1979), another villain with a false jaw, is Bardem's favorite Bond villain. Similarly, Sévérine played by Bérénice Marlohe, who is initially represented as an antagonistic femme fatale working with Silva has the distinguishing feature of the the tattoo on her wrist. However, as her true character is explored, it is discovered the tattoo meant she belonged to the sex trade of Macau.
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-Second James Bond film to feature an attack on MI6 headquarters in London; the first was in Le monde ne suffit pas (1999). Similarly, a raid on MI6's countryside Blayden Safe House was seen in Tuer n'est pas jouer (1987).
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-Naomie Harris is the fourth actress in the official series to play Miss Moneypenny. Harris is the fifth if one counts Pamela Salem from the unofficial Jamais plus jamais (1983) and the sixth if one counts Barbara Bouchet from the unofficial Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967) where the character was technically Miss Moneypenny's daughter. Harris' Moneypenny is called Eve making her characterization the first time in the official series that the character has had a first name. 'Skyfall' is the first time the character has appeared in the series since Meurs un autre jour (2002), a gap of around a decade. Harris is also the first black actress to play the part. Lois Maxwell first played Moneypenny in 14 Bond films between 1962 and 1985 through all of the Connery, Lazenby and Moore movies. Maxwell was then followed by Caroline Bliss for two films during the Dalton era and then Samantha Bond for four films during the Brosnan era. 'Skyfall' represents the first time that Miss Moneypenny is a fully-fledged main Bond Girl and not a supporting character.

-Skyfall' is the 11th time in the official James Bond series that Bond is seen playing a game or entering in some kind of sport with the main villain. In 'Skyfall', Bond is forced to partake in a shooting contest with Raoul Silva using reproduction Percussion Cap Ardesa 1871 Duelling Pistols. Bond's previous rounds with villains included playing golf with Goldfinger (1964), Texas Hold 'Em Poker with Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (2006), Baccarat and skeet shooting with Emilio Largo in Opération Tonnerre (1965), playing backgammon with Kamal Khan in Octopussy (1983), tarot cards with Mr Big / Dr Kananga in Vivre et laisser mourir (1973),

pheasant shooting with Drax in Moonraker (1979), horse-riding with Max Zorin in Dangereusement vôtre (1985), toy board war-games with Brad Whitaker in Tuer n'est pas jouer (1987), fencing with Gustave Graves in Meurs un autre jour (2002) and pistols dueling and fun-house games with Scaramanga in L'homme au pistolet d'or (1974). It's the 12th time if one counts the World Domination video-game with Maximillian Largo in the unofficial Jamais plus jamais (1983).
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-Silva's helicopter attacking the Skyfall estate bears an orange-red logo that looks just like the logo of the Austrian Air Force, though the movie leaves it open whether this is a hint at any of Silva's connections or not.