Filmed in Utah Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Wayne

One of my all-time favorite films, John Ford directed this 1956 western about a Civil War vet (John Wayne) who goes in search of his niece who has been kidnapped by a Comanche tribe. He searches for five years and finally reunites with her at the end of the film and brings her home to her family. The movie, intended to take place in Texas, was actually filmed in the scenic Monument Valley in southern Utah, near the border of Utah and Arizona.

Did you know this film was inspired by a true story? In 1836 Cynthia Ann Parker, a nine year old white girl, was captured by a Comanche tribe in Texas and lived with the tribe for decades. She was eventually returned to her family.

Answer: James Franco

This thought-provoking film about the dangers of hiking alone in rugged terrain is based on the 2004 autobiography "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" written by Aron Ralston. After getting trapped by a boulder in a slot canyon and without any other means of escape, Ralston did the unthinkable. He cut off his arm with a pocketknife. As an experienced mountaineer he knew basic survival skills that would help in saving his own life. The book goes into much more detail of how this amazing young man survived. He kept a video diary of his experience which became the basis of his book.

Danny Boyle directed this film in Bluejohn Canyon, a slot canyon located in Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. Boyle used the exact spot where Ralston almost lost his life to film the movie.

The movie's title "127 Hours" refers to the amount of time Aron Ralston was trapped.

Answer: Nicolas Cage

This exciting action film tells the story of a Gulf War vet and former prisoner, played by Nicolas Cage. He boards a plane filled with violent inmates being transferred to a maximum security prison in another state. The inmates then take over the plane and not in a good way.

Filming took place in Wendover, a small town in western Utah that straddles the border of Utah and Nevada. West Wendover is actually in Nevada, the part of town where one can gamble since gambling is not allowed in Utah.

Director Simon West filmed "Con Air" at a former U.S. Air Force Base, now
Wendover Airport. The tower that appears in the film is a replica of the
original airfield tower.

Answer: Anthony Hopkins

The Bonneville Salt Flats, located 120 miles west of Salt Lake City, consist of 30,000 acres of dry salt beds dating back to the Pleistocene era. Made up of sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, director Roger Donaldson chose this setting for his film and for good reason. It's a true story.

Hopkins plays New Zealander Burt Munro who enjoys racing his 1920 Indian motorcycle. His plan to compete in a racing competition at the Bonneville Salt Flats is something he has done before. In 1967, at age 68, he succeeds in a big way. He sets the world speed record of 184.087 mph, a record that still stands in 2023.

Answer: Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone and George Clooney is Matt Kowalski in this science fiction thriller. Two astronauts are stranded in space due to an accident involving space debris. The core story involves the astronauts' attempts to make it back to Earth by any means possible. Only one survives.

The Earth scenes where Dr. Stone makes it back and lands in a body of water was filmed at Lake Powell, an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in southern Utah. Lake Powell is a popular vacation destination.

Answer: Susan Sarandon

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon star as Thelma and Louise respectively. Both are on the run from the police for committing crimes. What starts as a weekend retreat turns into a suicide at the end of the film where Davis and Sarandon drive over the edge of a cliff in their car at the Grand Canyon.

That cliff was actually filmed at Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab, Utah, near the Canyonlands National Park. And yes, that was a real car going over the cliff.

Answer: Tom Guiry

Although this coming-of-age film was intended to take place in California, it was filmed entirely in Utah. The real sandlot is located in Salt Lake City. Other scenes were shot in Ogden, a city 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

The film takes place in 1962 and takes a nostalgic look back at the adventures of a team of young baseball players. Who can forget Squints, Yeah-Yeah, Ham, and new kid on the block, Scotty Smalls? It's a great family film.

Answer: Reese Witherspoon

First there was "Legally Blonde", a 2001 comedy starring Reese Witherspoon. Reese plays Elle Woods, a young woman who gets dumped by her boyfriend. She tries to win him back by following him to Harvard where he is a law student. "Legally Blonde 2" picks up Elle's story. She is now a lawyer herself with a new boyfriend and a new case. The case involves cosmetic testing on dogs. The dog in question is the mother of Bruiser, Elle's beloved pet chihuahua.

The story is set in Washington D.C. but was filmed at Salt Lake City's State Capitol building and what was then known as the Delta Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Answer: Tim Allen

This parody of science fiction films also stars Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors.

The premise of the film involves Tim Allen and the cast of an old TV show, "Galaxy Quest", who spend a lot of time at fan conventions. Tricked by aliens with an agenda of their own, the actors are transported to a re-creation of the starship featured on "Galaxy Quest". Here they must fend off some very strange-looking creatures before they can be rescued.

Southern Utah has an other-worldy look about it with its odd land formations and colored rocks. Goblin Valley State Park is the actually filming location for much of this film. The park is so named because mushroom-shaped rock structures have formed over centuries of eroding sandstone. These rock formations are known as hoodoos. The locals call them goblins.

Answer: Robert Redford

Robert Redford is a well-respected actor and associated with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City which takes place every January.

In this 1969 film, Redford co-stars with Paul Newman. The two actors play off each other well, portraying real life outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The actual names of the outlaws were Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Longabaugh respectively. The film covers many of their exploits.

Some of the filming locations included Zion National Park and nearby Grafton, a ghost town, as well as Snow Canyon State Park. All these locations are located in southern Utah where a number of films have been made.