Desperate Measures Trivia Quiz

Answer: Crane technique

"The Karate Kid" (1984) told the story of Daniel Larusso, a 17 year old kid who moved from New Jersey to California. He fell for the charms of Ali Mills, and thus angered Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence. Johnny and some of his fellows from the karate school Cobra Kai then harassed Daniel every time they met. At the Halloween prom, it escalated to a major fight, and the janitor Mr. Miyagi saved Daniel by knocking down Johnny and his four comrades.
Mr. Miyagi then suggested to confront Johnny's teacher Kreese, but they did not agree on ending the feud. Mr. Miyagi then convened a truce with the Cobra Kai gang while he would train Daniel for the "All Valley Tournament" - a karate competition for juniors (up to 18 years). Daniel did at first not understand the training ("wax the car" or "paint the fence" to learn blocking moves).
At the tournament, Daniel progressed to the semi-finals, as also did Johnny. Johnny won his semi-finals without any effort, but Daniel only won because his opponent (one of the Cobra Kai gang) was disqualified for deliberately injuring Daniel's leg. In the finals Johnny once again hit Daniel's injured leg, and Daniel could hardly stand straight. So Daniel took on the crane stance: hopping on one foot, arms spread out above the head - a very vulnerable stance. As Johnny attacked, Daniel jumped up and kicked Johnny in the face.
Ralph Macchio played Daniel, and Noriyuki Pat Morita played Mr. Miyagi. Other roles were for Elisabeth Shue (Ali) and William Zabka (Johnny).
A reverse punch is a punch with the rear fist. The front sweep is a kick to the leg on which your opponent balances, and plays a part in "The Karate Kid Part III". The drum technique is a fictitious attack tactic: alternating blocks from one side and from the other side, as demonstrated in "The Karate Kid Part II".

Answer: Casino Royale

In "Casino Royale" (2006) a young James Bond was sent to Montenegro to confront Le Chiffre, an infamous banker involved in financing terrorists, in a poker game with very high stakes. During the game, Le Chiffre's girlfriend spiked Bond's drink with digitalis, a poison that disturbs the cardiac rhythm Bond used his high-tech watch to contact his superiors, and a doctor advised him to use the defibrillator built in Bond's car.
In "Casino Royale" Daniel Craig played James Bond, and Mads Mikkelsen played Le Chiffre. Other notable roles were for Eva Green (Vesper Lynd), Judi Dench (M) and Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter).
"Dr. No" (1962) had a scene in which a deadly tarantula crawled on Bond's naked chest.
In "Live and Let Die" (1973), the villain Kananga tried to dispose of Bond by locking him into a pool with hungry sharks.
"A View to a Kill" (1985) had a scene in which James Bond was locked in a car and lowered into a lake. Bond escaped from the car and stayed under water several minutes, breathing the air from a car tyre.

Answer: Ron Weasley

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was the first instalment in the popular book and movie series about this young wizard and his friends. During his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry discovered he was the sole victim of He Who Should Not Be Named (Lord Voldemort) to survive a deadly curse. Harry and his friends also found out that somewhere in Hogwarts the legendary Sorcerer's Stone was hidden, which could be used to brew an elixir of life. Of course Voldemort was eager to find this Stone, and Harry and his friends decided to thwart Voldemort and steal the Stone for safekeeping. Harry, Ron and Hermione then sneaked out of their dormitory (opposed by Neville, who didn't agree with their illegal schemes) and had to cope with several obstacles.

The last obstacle in the movie was a game of wizard chess with life size pieces, in which the three heroes each took a role: Ron as a knight, Hermione as a rook and Harry as a bishop. Wizard chess is very similar to ordinary chess, except that taking a piece is accompanied by an outburst of violence on the captured piece.

At one moment, Ron sacrificed his knight piece to lure away the enemy queen, so that Harry could deliver mate. Ron was severely wounded in the process. Chris Columbus directed the first and second "Harry Potter" movies, with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron, Emma Watson as Hermione and Matthew Lewis as Neville.

Answer: Cecil B. DeMille

The character hinted at in the question was of course Moses, and the book of Exodus mentioned the story that he was sent floating in a basket on the river Nile. Moses' parents Amram and Jochebed took this desperate measure because of the Pharaoh's decree that all Hebrew male new born children would be put to death. The Pharaoh made this harsh decree because the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, and a prophecy among the Hebrews mentioned that a new born son would liberate them from slavery.
As a daughter of the Pharaoh saw the basket drifting, she opened it and decided to pretend the child inside was her natural born son. So Moses grew up in the royal family of Egypt. But as a young adult, he found out the truth and stood up for the Hebrews. The Pharaoh banished him, but after divine intervention Moses came back, unleashed several plagues on Egypt and finally set the Hebrews free.
Cecil B. DeMille directed "The Ten Commandments" twice: a silent movie (in black and white) in 1923, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses and Charles de Roche as Pharaoh Rameses. In 1956 DeMille directed a technicolour sound version of this movie, with Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Rameses.
Ridley Scott directed the 2014 movie "Exodus: Gods and Kings" based on the same story. Here the main roles were for Christian Bale (Moses) and Joel Edgerton (Ramses)
Mel Brooks portrayed Moses in one of the sketches in Brooks' historic parody "History of the World: Part I".
Roger Young directed the TV movie "Moses" (1995) starring Ben Kingsley as Moses and Christopher Lee as Ramses.

Answer: Ingrid Bergman

Doctor Constance Petersen was the only female psychiatrist in a psychiatric asylum headed by Doctor Murchison. But Murchison was sent on early retirement because of an episode of nervous breakdown. Doctor Edwards, a total stranger to the staff, would replace Doctor Murchison.
Soon after the arrival of Doctor Edwards, he and Doctor Petersen fell in love. But she discovered that Doctor Edwards suffered from a weird phobia, and found out that Doctor Edwards was a fraud. When she confronted him, he admitted to having killed the real Doctor Edwards and assumed the dead man's identity - but details were scarce, because he suffered from amnesia. "Edwards" ran away, followed by Petersen, and together they eloped to her psychiatry professor. A dream sequence was the key to solving what really happened...
Key roles were for Ingrid Bergman as Doctor Petersen, Gregory Peck as "Doctor Edwards" and Leo G. Caroll as Doctor Murchison.
Ingrid Bergman is probably best known for her role in "Casablanca" (1942). She won Oscars for "Gaslight" (1944), "Anastasia" (1956) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974). Bergman also starred in two other movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock: "Notorious" (1946) and "Under Capricorn" (1949).
All other actresses mentioned in the question starred in one or more movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Janet Leigh starred in "Psycho" (1960). Kim Novak played a double role in "Vertigo" (1958), and Tippi Hedren starred in "The Birds" (1963) and "Marnie" (1964).

Answer: Gimli

Frodo and Sam finally made their way into Mordor via a dangerous back passage. But these two little hobbits had now to cross a volcanic landscape with ten thousand enemies, in order to reach Mount Doom and destroy the Ring. Gandalf regretted having sent the hobbits on their quest. As a desperate measure, Aragorn suggested that they march to the gates of Mordor with their allies, and thus draw the attention of the evil wizard Sauron. Legolas immediately saw the benefit of such a diversion, and Gimli answered with the quote given here.
So the men from Rohan and Gondor, led by Aragorn, and accompanied by Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli marched to the Black Gate of Mordor. Aragorn demanded that Sauron surrender, which of course he did not. And thus ensued the final battle between good and evil in this movie trilogy.
Peter Jackson directed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy with roles by Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), John Rhys Davies (Gimli), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin).

Answer: Destruction of the Death Star

After a brief battle aboard her spaceship, Princess Leia was captured by the Imperial forces, but only after she managed to send the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to Tatooine, calling Obi-Wan Kenobi for help. Obi-Wan, a retired Jedi master, and Luke Skywalker, together with the two droids, teamed up with Han Solo and Chewbacca.

They landed on the Imperial War Cruiser, where they freed Leia and fought their way out. R2-D2 had plans for the Death Star, a formidable weapon that could obliterate any planet with a single shot.

But although the Death Star was heavily armoured, it had one flaw: a thermal exhaust port over the reactor system. The target area was only two meters wide, and fighter pilots had to make the approach in a narrow trench (perhaps 50 km long, compare the readings on the instruments of the approaching fighters). Luke boasted he could do it, and in the end he did so - destroying the Death Star and saving the rebels' base. The leading roles in this movie directed by George Lucas were for Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). Alec Guinness played Obi-Wan, and Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca.

The roles of the droids were for Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO).

Answer: Roquefort was a mouse

"The Aristocats" was an animated movie in which the title characters (Duchess and her three kittens Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz) lived with a retired opera diva named Adelaide. When Adelaide decided to make her final will and testimony and leave her whole estate to the cats, the butler Edgar schemed to get rid of the cats and become sole heir. At first he "catnapped" them and left them in the countryside, where Duchess and her kittens met the alley cat Thomas O'Malley and his gang of five musician alley cats. Thomas accompanied Duchess and the kittens home, but Edgar captured them again and planned to send them to Timbuktu. At that moment Roquefort the house mouse informed Thomas, and Thomas asked Roquefort to find the other alley cats and call for help. One of the funniest scenes of the movie was a group of five feral cats running over the pavement, pursued by Roquefort the mouse - and the reaction of a wine drinking man: he poured out his glass and the bottle of red wine, apparently swearing he would never drink again.
In the final battle, Thomas and the five alley cats (aided and abetted by Frou-Frou the horse) fought Edgar, and Roquefort set Duchess and the kittens free.
There were two dogs (Napoleon and Lafayette) in the movie, but they only thwarted the first "catnapping". And the geese in the movie were Abigail and Amelia, who rescued Thomas from drowning and then joined the troop to Paris, where they met the geese's uncle Waldo.
The principal voice actors were Phil Harris (O'Malley) and Eva Gabor (Duchess). Sterling Holloway voiced Roquefort. The kittens were voiced by Liz English (Marie), Gary Dubin (Toulouse) and Dean Clark (Berlioz).

Answer: Wiggle your big toe

"Kill Bill Vol. 1" and the sequel "Kill Bill Vol.2" (2004) told the story of Beatrix Kiddo, a hired assassin who wanted to quit her colleagues because she was pregnant. At the wedding rehearsal, her former colleagues came and murdered every one - but Beatrix survived, although in a coma for four years. When she regained conscience, she forced herself to get moving again, starting with her big toe (and then working upwards). The rest of the two movies portrayed her as she tracked down her ex-colleagues and took revenge on them: O-Ren Ishii, Vernita Green, Budd, Elle Driver and the boss Bill.
Uma Thurman played the role of Beatrix Kiddo in these movies directed by Quentin Tarantino. The other main roles were for Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii, Vivica Fox as Vernita Green, Michael Madsen as Budd, Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver and David Carradine as Bill.
"Lift a Finger" is the title of several songs, among others by Oh Sees and by Adam Green.
"Open Your Eyes" is the title of several songs, among others by Snow Patrol and by Guano Apes.
"Reach Out and Touch" was a song by Diana Ross. All these song titles remind me of something people do when first awakening.

Answer: Bruce Willis

The quote "Yippie Ki-Yay" is not complete, but the last word is not permitted on this family-friendly site. Let's say it is a very impolite word to indicate your daddy.
Bruce Willis starred as detective (later lieutenant) John McClane, one of the more unorthodox members of the New York Police Department. While on vacation in Los Angeles, McClane rescued his wife and other hostages from a group of terrorists in the skyscraper on Nakatomi Plaza in "Die Hard" (1988). In "Die Hard 2" (1990) McClane single-handedly took down a group of trained troops on an airport. The next instalment was "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995), in which McClane tracked down some terrorist bombers only to discover the bombings were a pretext for robbing a bank.
The scene I described in the question is in the final of the fourth instalment, "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007). After having downed a helicopter with a car and having performed other incredible stunts, McClane finally found the villain Thomas Gabriel (played by Timothy Olyphant) threatening McClane's daughter. When Gabriel crept up behind McClane's back and pointed a gun to McClane's injured left shoulder, McClane delivered the aforesaid quote and pulled the trigger. The bullet traversed McClane's shoulder and ended up in the centre of Gabriel's heart.
Clint Eastwood's most recognizable quotes were said by the character Harry Callahan: "Go ahead, make my day" ("Sudden Impact", 1983) and "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" ("Dirty Harry", 1971).
Roy Scheider was not the most quotable actor. But in "Jaws" (1975) he delivered the unforgettable line "You're gonna need a bigger boat".
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator (T-101) had two memorable quotes: "I'll be back" ("The Terminator", 1984) and "Hasta la vista, baby" ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day", 1991).