Fifteen Minutes in the Future Trivia Quiz

Answer: Minority Report

An excellently-constructed, neo-noir thriller based on Philip K. Dick's short story "The Minority Report", this movie starred Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell. In the movie, Cruise starred as a PreCrime agent in the year 2054. This unit of the police department relied on three precognitive psychics who unearthed violent crimes before they were even committed.

As a result, they were able to stop the crimes from even being committed, eliminating murder in Washington D.C. When Cruise was identified as the perpetrator in a murder, he set out to stop his fate from occurring.

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and took in over $350,000,000 in the box office. This dystopian film was nominated for an Academy Award though it did not win.

Answer: Dark City

Another neo-noir title, this time released a mere year before "The Matrix", "Dark City" was a uniquely-made science fiction/mystery film in which the main character, John Murdoch, awakened without his memories and needed to determine his purpose in an ever-changing cityscape.

At midnight, the population of the entire city, plunged into eternal night, would fall asleep and be manipulated by the powers-that-be. Soon, however, John discovered that his own powers rivaled those of The Strangers, and with the help of a scientist (played by Kiefer Sutherland) they could finally see the sun. Alex Proyas also directed "The Crow" and "I, Robot". "Dark City" was his third feature film and it received relatively good reviews from critics while earning about $27,000,000 in the box office.

Answer: Sunshine

Following a group of scientists in the year 2057, "Sunshine" tracked the final days aboard the Icarus II, the second spacecraft sent by Earth to reignite our failing sun. The crew on-board discovered their predecessors, the crew of the Icarus I, in orbit around the sun and realized that a horrible fate had befallen them all.

As they neared the sun, they faced off against their own minds and the horrors that lay waiting in space. Although director Danny Boyle had directed "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later" prior to "Sunshine", his popularity had failed to allow the movie to recover its costs- it only took in $32,000,000 in the box office. Nonetheless, "Sunshine" was a popular sci-fi film with critics and fans. Boyle's next film, "Slumdog Millionaire", won the Best Picture Oscar.

Answer: Children of Men

"Children of Men" starred Clive Owen as Theo, a man asked to protect a woman who, as it was discovered, was pregnant. Having had no human births on the planet in nearly 20 years, this was not only a surprise, but a hope to everyone. Theo raced across the UK and into the refugee zones to reach a possible safe haven, a research ship known only as Tomorrow, facing off against the military, terrorists, and others along the way.

The movie also starred Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. Director Alfonso Cuaron had previously directed "Y tu mamá también" and the third "Harry Potter" film. "Children of Men" topped a number of critics' lists of top films in 2006 and was nominated for three Oscars.

It took in nearly $70,000,000 in the box office, but it was unable to recoup its $76,000,000 budget.

Answer: Wall-E

Depicting a more frightening future than most normal Disney movies, "Wall-E" followed a small trash robot by the name of Wall-E who, oddly enough, was one of the cutest robots to hit the big screen. Grossing over $500,000,000, as Disney/Pixar movies have been apt to do, "Wall-E" was one of 2008's biggest films.
In the movie, Wall-E met another robot named EVE and the two of them discovered the fate of the human race and the reasons behind the toxification of the planet on an epic space journey.
"Wall-E" was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Animated Feature. It was critically-lauded and was Pixar's most expensive film to date.

Answer: Planet of the Apes

Although most of this movie seemed like it would lead up to the humans from the future landing on a distant planet where humans were captured and apes ruled the land, it was not to be. Instead, Charlton Heston discovered that they had inadvertently landed back on Earth in the future in a time when apes had taken over and destroyed human civilization.

It took another four movies to discover the roundabout story as to how this all came to happen. This movie was later remade in 2001 by Tim Burton. Both were based on the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle. The original "Planet of the Apes" earned over $30,000,000 in the box office to become one of the highest-grossing films of its year.

It was nominated for three Academy Awards (winning one) and also starred Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter.

Answer: Total Recall

"Total Recall", set in 2084, followed a blue-collar worker who decided to implant memories into his mind for the vacation of a lifetime. Unfortunately, on his trip to Mars, it turned out that it was a bit difficult to tell the real from the fake. A plot to hijack and withhold the planet's air, some double-crossing women, and a number of vast shots of a futuristic colony on the red planet were just a few major perks of this Schwarzenegger film adapted from Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". This one earned over $250,000,000, hit number one in the box office, and became a relatively well-received film (as per critics).

It was nominated for three Oscars, winning one for special effects.

Answer: Starship Troopers

Starring Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Neil Patrick Harris, this sci-fi cult classic directed in 1997 by Paul Verhoeven took viewers to a future in which evil bugs from the depths of space emerged to crash asteroids onto Earth and begin an all-out war.

The protagonists of the film fought their way through swarms of space bugs, established the importance of the Mobile Infantry, an army dedicated to ridding the Earth of scum, and and watched as their home (Buenos Aires) was flattened by a bug blast. The film was nominated for one Oscar and it earned over $120,000,000 in the box office despite a mixed critical reception.

It was followed by a number of straight-to-DVD sequels, most of which did not star the main cast.

Answer: The Fifth Element

Raking in a hefty $263,000,000 in the box office, "The Fifth Element" was classic from the get-go. Set in a futuristic consumer world in which space travel was possible, flying cars ruled the streets and the air, and the planet was powerless to stop a horrible asteroid, it followed Bruce Willis' character, Korben Dallas, as he tried to collect the five elements needed to stop the world from being hit.

This included four stones and their protector, Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich. The movie also starred Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker (as the obnoxious, eccentric Ruby Rhod), and Ian Holm.

After this well-received sci-fi movie, director Luc Besson went on to write and produce several French films.

Answer: I, Robot

Containing a surprising amount of product placement for a science fiction film, "I, Robot" was released in 2004 and directed by "Dark City" filmmaker Alex Proyas. Based on Isaac Asmiov's "I, Robot", a short story collection first appearing on shelves in 1950, Will Smith starred as a detective who set out to determine who murdered a robotics engineer. Of course, it couldn't have been the robots, could it? Thanks to the 'Three Laws of Robotics', robots couldn't possibly have harmed a human being. "I, Robot" was very popular, grossing nearly $350,000,000 overall and attaining decent reviews.