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Meteor Trivia Quiz

Consistently panned by critics, "Meteor" came at the tail end of the 1970s disaster movie craze. See how much you know about this campy disaster classic!

A multiple-choice quiz by cag1970. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
cag1970

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
118,140

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
8 / 15

Plays
290

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. At the beginning of "Meteor", what specific event is American astronomer Paul Bradley (Sean Connery) pulled away from? Hint

A basketball game

A lovemaking session

A college lecture

A sailboat race

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Question 2 of 15

2. What is the name of the main-belt asteroid that is hit by a comet and starts the deadly chain of events in the movie? Hint

Ceres

Vesta

Orpheus

Pallas

3. Bradley is told by his former boss, Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden), that a number of smaller chunks of rock are headed for Earth. But the greatest threat, from a large chunk following the splinters, is how big? Hint

Three miles wide

Five miles wide

Seven miles wide

Nine miles wide

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Question 4 of 15

4. One of the first questions that Bradley asks Soviet scientist Alexei Dubov (Brian Keith) is "What do you call yours?" The "yours", in this case, is the Soviet counterpart to the American nuclear missile satellite, Hercules. What was the Soviet counterpart called? Hint

Ivan the Terrible

Lenin

Catherine the Great

Peter the Great

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Question 5 of 15

5. Under which major corporation's headquarters was the Hercules command center built? Hint

IBM

AT&T

CBS

RCA

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Question 6 of 15

6. The first of the asteroid splinters strikes what sparsely-inhabited area? Hint

Siberia

Sahara Desert

Antarctica

Death Valley

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Question 7 of 15

7. A large group of smaller asteroid splinters puts on a spectacular show over what major European city? Hint

Rome

London

Madrid

Berlin

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Question 8 of 15

8. The third strike in the movie occurs in the Swiss Alps, during a festive weekend of skiing. An entire village gets wiped out by a massive avalanche triggered by the impact. What bombshell actress, who appears only in this sequence, can be seen running for her life and eventually dying in this disaster? Hint

Raquel Welch

Ann Jillian

Ursala Andress

Sybil Danning

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Question 9 of 15

9. Early on Sunday morning, December 7, hours before the largest chunk of meteor is supposed to hit Earth, which city gets wiped out by an impact-induced tsunami? Hint

Tokyo

Hong Kong

San Francisco

Rio de Janeiro

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Question 10 of 15

10. Which actress plays Tatiana Donskaya, Dr. Dubov's lovely and widowed translator? Hint

Meryl Streep

Audrey Hepburn

Dawn Wells

Natalie Wood

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Question 11 of 15

11. New York is destroyed by an asteroid splinter just after the missiles from Hercules are launched. Where specifically does the splinter land? Hint

At the Empire State Building

In Central Park

In Prospect Park

At LaGuardia Airport

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Question 12 of 15

12. How does the Hercules team escape from the destroyed command center? Hint

Through a special airlock

Through a parking garage

Through an elevator shaft

Through a subway tunnel

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Question 13 of 15

13. To celebrate the joint success of the American and Soviet nuclear missiles in deflecting the biggest chunk of asteroid, Bradley and Sherwood present Dubov with a baseball bat. Which Major League Baseball team sends this unusual gift? Hint

New York Yankees

Los Angeles Dodgers

New York Mets

San Francisco Giants

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Question 14 of 15

14. Who directed "Meteor"? Hint

Ronald Neame

John Sturgis

Irwin Allen

Steven Spielberg

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Question 15 of 15

15. Though "Meteor" was a fictional movie, it was based in part on "Project Icarus", a real-life report done in 1967 by students at what major institution? Hint

Georgia Institute of Technology

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

California Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At the beginning of "Meteor", what specific event is American astronomer Paul Bradley (Sean Connery) pulled away from?

Answer: A sailboat race

Even the great actors have at least one turkey on the resume. Connery plays things straight, with the world around him going completely haywire, as the American scientist who leaves the government after his creation, the cosmic-defense satellite Hercules, is turned into an offensive weapon.

2. What is the name of the main-belt asteroid that is hit by a comet and starts the deadly chain of events in the movie?

Answer: Orpheus

A crew of American astronauts parked in orbit alongside the giant asteroid watches in horror as the comet strikes. It is their death that prompts NASA to get the estranged Bradley back into the fold.

Answer: Five miles wide

Exasperated at Bradley's reluctance to help the government, Harry ultimately screams at him "That rock is five miles wide and it's definitely going to hit us!"

Answer: Peter the Great

After some gamesmanship by the President (Henry Fonda, in one of his last film roles), the Soviets have to admit to the presence of this satellite, just as the Americans have to admit to Hercules, under the guise of being spaceborne cosmic defense arsenals.

5. Under which major corporation's headquarters was the Hercules command center built?

Answer: AT&T

As he explains it to Bradley, Sherwood says that they picked the AT&T Building to hide the Hercules command center because of the ability to build it secretly and because it gave the center access to a vast telecommunications network.

6. The first of the asteroid splinters strikes what sparsely-inhabited area?

Answer: Siberia

The only physical witnesses of the first strike were a native family in the desolate, snow-covered wilderness of Siberia.

7. A large group of smaller asteroid splinters puts on a spectacular show over what major European city?

Answer: Rome

The world watches in fear as the splinter swarm puts on a dazzling light show over Europe. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as the swarm peters out, except for the Hercules center commander, General Adlon (Martin Landau). Incensed by the perceived lack of a threat, Adlon storms out of the center.

Answer: Sybil Danning

A native of Salzburg, Austria, Sybil Danning translated her success as a B-movie queen in Europe to the United States during the 1980s. In addition to her role as "Girl Skier" in "Meteor", she also appeared in such movies as "Airport '79: The Concorde", "The Man With Bogart's Face", "Reform School Girls" and "Amazon Women on the Moon". (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database for specific information on Sybil Danning.)

9. Early on Sunday morning, December 7, hours before the largest chunk of meteor is supposed to hit Earth, which city gets wiped out by an impact-induced tsunami?

Answer: Hong Kong

The fast-moving wave literally washes the city off the face of the Earth. Bradley stays on the videophone with his counterpart, Yamashiro (Clyde Kusatsu), until the line goes dead.

10. Which actress plays Tatiana Donskaya, Dr. Dubov's lovely and widowed translator?

Answer: Natalie Wood

"Meteor" provided Natalie Wood with one of her last movie roles. The part of Tatiana proved to be a subtle, understated counterpoint to the occasional bluster of Brian Keith's Dr. Dubov.

11. New York is destroyed by an asteroid splinter just after the missiles from Hercules are launched. Where specifically does the splinter land?

Answer: In Central Park

New York suffers the worst hit of all in the movie, as the splinter plows through the World Trade Center and Rockefeller Center before exploding in Central Park. The Hercules command center crumbles as the AT&T Building collapses on top of it.

12. How does the Hercules team escape from the destroyed command center?

Answer: Through a subway tunnel

The same subway tunnel used to bring in the materials to build the Hercules command center is also used by the Hercules team to scramble to safety. The escape is complicated when river water begins breaking through.

Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers

By his own admission, Dubov knows very little English. But he did pick up one colorful anti-Dodgers phrase during a previous visit to the United States from a New York cabbie. As it turns out, the Yankees had beaten the Dodgers in back-to-back years (1977 and 1978) prior to the release of "Meteor" in the United States (1979).

14. Who directed "Meteor"?

Answer: Ronald Neame

A native of London, Ronald Neame compiled a tremendous body of work as a director, producer, cinematographer and actor. Not only did he direct "Meteor", he also appeared in the movie as the British representative to the United Nations. His other directorial efforts included "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", "The Poseidon Adventure" and "First Monday in October". Neame died in Los Angeles on June 16, 2010, at age 99. (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database and Wikipedia for specific information on Ronald Neame.)

15. Though "Meteor" was a fictional movie, it was based in part on "Project Icarus", a real-life report done in 1967 by students at what major institution?

Answer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The asteroid Icarus approached to within four million miles of Earth in 1968. The report described possible interception/deflection techniques that could be used on the asteroid, provided there were enough time to put things together.

Thanks for taking this quiz! Please rate it and let me know what you think of it.

Source: Author cag1970

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
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