Follow the Clues to 10 Great Movies 2 Quiz

Answer: The Goonies

The Goon docks are being developed by a ruthless businessman, and all the houses there are earmarked for demolition, to accommodate a golf course. A group of young friends find an old map in the attic and set out to find the treasure. Over the years people have searched for it but never found it, including a local man called Chester Copperpot (we find out what happened to him during the movie).

The search sets in motion an exciting chain of events in the quest for the treasure that will save the town.

This includes a disturbing encounter with a criminal family called the Fratellis, who chase them all the way. This is a Nancy Drew type story, given the Steven Spielberg treatment. The child actors are incredible and very funny, and the action is superbly set in underground tunnels and caves, and an old pirate ship. Spielberg wrote the story but the film was directed by Richard Donner, who had directed "The Omen" and "Superman" and went on to direct the "Lethal Weapon" movies.

Answer: Total Recall

The brilliant "Total Recall" is set in the near future. Mars has been colonised and is ruled by a sinister dictator, who uses his monopoly on the air to control the people. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker on Earth who has vivid dreams of Mars.

These dreams spur him to try out a virtual holiday on Mars. The "holiday" company implants memories into your brain so you think you have been to that place. Quaid's memory implant goes wrong and he believes he has really been to Mars and was a member of a rebel uprising there.

The rebels are fighting against the dictator and his men, who are withholding an important discovery that would change the lives of the colonists forever. Quaid must go to Mars to investigate the conspiracy, but the trouble is, it seems like everyone is out to kill him, including his wife! Once there he finds out that his name is in fact Hauser, not Quaid after all.

This comes amongst many other startling revelations that he has to quickly come to terms with.

The ending is quite amazing, and definitely worth wading through some of the poorer parts of the script to get to. The storyline is fairly complicated, but also very exciting.

Answer: Snatch.

"Snatch." is directed by Guy Ritchie as the follow up to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". This is a very well made film. At the time, Ritchie was heralded as the saviour of British crime cinema. This hasn't really materialized, but there's no denying the impact of both movies.

The plot is a complex story of robberies, gambling, illegal fist fighting, double crosses and blackmail. It is quite a violent movie, intertwined with stylish dialogue and excelent humour. Pitt plays a gypsy bare knuckle fighter who doesn't fall when he is supposed to in a fight, with fatal consequences.

This is just one of the story lines that crisscrosses throughout the movie, and it's interesting to see it all come together in the end.

Answer: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

The third installment in the "Mad Max" series is certainly affected by Hollywood, but is still gritty and Australian enough to keep the feel of the first two. Mel Gibson is Max, a lone man wandering the desert after a devastating war. In such a world, oil and petrol have become the most important commodity (much like now!) and people guard their oil supplies to their very last breath.

The first part of the story concerns this oil obsession and, in a way, is a statement on greed and the lengths people will go to to protect what they own. On one of his frequent journeys across the wasteland he discovers Batertown, a desperate little community guarding their own oil refining plant.

The people living in this town include Aunty Entity (Turner) and a myriad of disgusting and despicable characters. Max is used by Aunty Entity to fight for control of the town, after this he is banished from the town with only a small amount of water.

He is on his last legs when he is rescued by a group of orphan children who are the only survivors from a plane which crashed during the war.

The children live in an oasis, and they believe Max is their savior. They have been living without adults for so long that legends have grown without constraint and they believe he can guide them to "tomorrow morrow land". This is their utopia (a big bustling city), but this, in reality, is just a myth because all the cities were distroyed in the war. Over time Max begins to connect with these children, and when a small group head out in search of their utopia he is forced to follow and help save them from the desert and Bartertown.

Answer: Altered States

A research scientist begins experimenting with sensory deprivation using a floatation chamber. Each time he goes inside the chamber, he uses a different drug to explore different states of consciousness. This brings about intense and vivid hallucinations and life changing experiences, and this in turn, spurs him to delve deeper into his own mind.

He begins to lose control as the "trips" in the chamber start to take precedence over real life. The exoticness and amount of the drugs increases to the point where his mind and body begin a kind of evolutionary regression, and the primal instincts begin to take over, even his body starts to change. "Altered States" is a slightly disturbing movie, inlaid with drug and animal symbolism and freaky visualizations, it is definitely for the broad minded!

Answer: Zulu

"Zulu" is based on a true story, and is one of the best British movies of the 60s. It's 1879 and a small band of (mainly Welsh) infantrymen are attacked by over 4000 Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift, South Africa. The soldiers are guarding a small missionary post, hospital and supply dump while a bridge is being built nearby.

After less than 24 hours of fighting, with wave after wave of warriors attacking the beleaguered force, the Zulu army finally withdraw, and the British can regroup. The short battle of Rorke's Drift left approximately 550 Zulus and only 17 British dead, with 15 injured. Of the 139 British soldiers there, 11 won Victoria Crosses.

This is the most VCs awarded for any single battle up to now (2006). The brilliant Michael Caine made his first major cinematic appearance in this wonderful movie.

Answer: The Wicker Man

The "Wicker Man" is one of the classic British horrors released in the 60s and 70s that are still totally watchable today. Edward Woodward plays a devoutly Christian policeman sent to a remote Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.

When he arrives he realizes the locals are not prepared to help in his investigation, in fact, they seem to be hindering him at every opportunity. The Pagan inhabitants of the island have a lot of strange rituals and seemingly sinister ways, and Woodward's character (Sergeant Howie) grows increasing outraged and suspicious.

After a few days of investigation he is sure the child has been sacrificed to ensure crop success, but needs a body, a suspect and evidence to bring any charges. He is sure Lord Summerisle (Lee) has something to do with it but can't pin it down.

As this story draws you in, the music of the movie takes control and you are swept along with Sergeant Howie in his pursuit of justice (although his Christian ranting does get a bit much at times).

The body of the film (the investigation and musical interludes), does not prepare you for the crushing denouement. If you manage to sit through the final 10 minutes of this movie without flinching in some way, then you are made of stone!

Answer: Picnic at Hanging Rock

This eerie movie is as strange and mysterious as any made before or since. It is set in 1900, and a prim and proper Victorian girl's school day out turns to disaster when three students don't return. Search parties are sent out and Hanging Rock is completely scoured, yet they find the rock deserted.

The mystery deepens when one girl appears, unharmed, from the rock a few days later. After this development another search party is sent out. Amazingly, another girl is found alive on the rock, suffering only from dehydration.

The third girl doesn't return and no body is found. The movie creates more questions than answers and this is appealing to me as a movie buff. "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is full of sexual repression, twisted symbolism and has an oppressive atmosphere that sucks you in.

The casting and direction are perfect and the music is so haunting that it sends shivers up your spine. It is directed by Peter Weir ("Dead Poets Society", "Master and Commander") and supposedly based on a true story, but there is conflicting evidence as to whether this is true.

Answer: Deliverance

Four city friends decide to canoe down a river in the American back country before it is destroyed. These include Ed (Voight), Lewis (Burt Reynolds) and Bobby (Ned Beatty). Before long their bonding adventure turns into a nightmare when two of the friends are abducted at gunpoint by two local men, and Bobby is subjected to a horrific ordeal (squeal like a pig!).

While rescuing their friends, Lewis kills one of the mountain men and the friends have to cope with being in the middle of nowhere, and having a dead body on their hands.

Their situation is compounded by the belief that they wouldn't get a fair trial in the hostile southern community. The men decide to keep quiet and try and get out of the area. This is easier than it sounds with the second man stalking them and the very nature of the river gorge holding them back.

The friends pull together and strive to survive under the most exceptional pressure. "Deliverance" is a brutal and somber movie set in the wonderful Georgia countryside, with great acting, and perfect direction from John Boorman.

Answer: The Shining

In my opinion "The Shining" is one of the greatest horror/psychological thrillers ever made. Hoping for months of peace and quiet to finish the the book he is writing, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes the job of winter caretaker at the remote Overlook Hotel.

He is told at the interview that a previous caretaker went crazy and killed his entire family. The owners brush this occurrence off as cabin fever and a "one off", never to happen again. Jack agrees, and takes his wife and son to look after the hotel. Only us, the viewers, knows that his son Danny, has a supernatural talent (shining), and can see and feel things that other people can't.

The young lad knows early on that something bad is going to happen but doesn't know what to do about it.

As the snow falls and the hotel is completely cut off, Wendy (the diminutive Duvall) takes over the caretaking while Jack writes his book. While this is happening Danny is exploring the haunted hotel and having some freaky experiences. Gradually Jack is taken over by the evil spirits existing inside the hotel and is convinced by a phantom barman that his family must die. What ensues is one of the most intense cat and mouse chases of any film ever, with Wendy trying to protect herself and her son from the axe wielding madman who was once her husband. Wonderful direction by Stanley Kubrick ("A Clockwork Orange", "Full Metal Jacket"), amazing acting all round and an excellent soundtrack create a totally memorable experience, albeit a chilling one.