Fractured War Movies Quiz for Experts | Movies Word Play

Answer: Roberts

In this comedy/drama, Henry Fonda plays a U.S. Navy officer working aboard a cargo ship in the Pacific during WWII. Roberts wants to see action in the war, but his captain won't let him transfer off the ship. Also starring James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver.

Answer: Full Metal Jacket

In Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War film, Matthew Modine plays a journalist who wants to find out what is really happening on the front lines. Also stars Vincent D'Onofrio.

Answer: Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War film is partly based on the novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. Martin Sheen's character, Captain Willard, travels upriver on a secret mission to find (and execute) the renegade Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando. Also stars Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, and Sam Bottoms (who starred in "The Last Picture Show").

Answer: The Caine Mutiny

In the Pacific during WWII, an American Navy captain cracks up at sea. His junior officers must decide whether to risk their careers by carrying out a mutiny. Starring Humphrey Bogart as an unforgettable Captain Queeg, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Robert Francis.

Answer: Catch-22

Alan Arkin plays Yossarian, a U.S. Air Force flyer who is stuck in Italy during WWII. He has flown the number of missions necessary for discharge, but the powers that be keep jacking up the number. This Mike Nichols movie, from the novel by Joseph Heller, is pure Theater of the Absurd--it's more so than "Mash," for example. Wow, look at this cast: the movie also stars Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight as the intensely weird Lt. Milo Minderbinder (who wanted to serve the men chocolate-covered cotton), and...Orson Welles!

Answer: The Great Escape

This is my favorite war movie. During WWII, a group of Allied prisoners of war carry out a brilliant escape from a German prison. Stars handsome Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, James Donald, and David McCallum. By the way, spanishliz has terrific quizzes on this film under Movies.

Answer: The English Patient

This WWII epic won 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It stars Ralph Fiennes as a horribly wounded archaeologist, Juliette Binoche as his nurse, and Kristin Scott Thomas as the married woman with whom he had a passionate affair. Also stars Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, and Colin Firth.

Answer: Gettysburg

This Civil War movie about the famous battle and the events leading up to it stars Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee, Jeff Daniels as a young Maine professor turned colonel, Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, Richard Jordan, and many more. I never get tired of this movie--I think it's my second favorite, next to "The Great Escape."

Answer: Lawrence of Arabia

This classic David Lean film stars the marvelous Peter O'Toole as a British officer who united Arabian tribesmen against the Turks during WWI. Also stars Omar Sharif, star of "Dr. Zhivago," another war movie, I guess you could say.

Answer: Three Kings

This is the only movie I've seen about the Gulf War--it's fantastic, too. Three U.S. servicemen go off on their own in search of 23 million dollars in gold that Saddam Hussein's army has stolen from Kuwait. This is George Clooney's best movie, in my opinion. Also stars another great actor, Ice Cube (check him out in "Barbershop"), along with Mark Wahlberg and Spike Jonze.

Answer: Miniver

Mrs. Miniver and her family try to survive WWII in a small English village. One of the few war movies starring women, this one won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Greer Garson) and Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright).

It also starred Walter Pidgeon, Dame May Whitty, Richard Ney, and others. The film has a lot of American actors with phony British accents, but it's great (if schmaltzy).

Answer: Gallipoli

A Peter Weir film starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee. This is the tragic story of Australian troops slaughtered in Gallipoli during World War I. Its deep sadness is intensified by the music, especially Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ.

Answer: Platoon

An Oliver Stone Vietnam War movie starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen. Sheen plays an infantryman caught between two sergeants, an alcoholic mean one (Berenger) and a pot-smoking kindly one (Dafoe). I have to say, I adore Willem Dafoe.

Answer: Gone with the Wind

The Civil War classic about a beautiful and brave but not-so-likeable Southern belle. Starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes, and Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Wilkes.

Answer: The Hunt for Red October

During the Cold War, a Russian submarine captain decides to defect to the U.S. and take his sub with him. Starring Sean Connery (speaking Russian with a strong Sean Connery accent), Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Scott Glen, and Sam Neill.

Answer: Good Morning Vietnam

Starring Robin Williams, Bruno Kirby, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanhn Tran, and Chintara Sukapatana. Based on a real-life military deejay named Adrian Cronauer who served in Vietnam.

Answer: Saving Private Ryan

The story of D-Day, from a few soldiers' points of view. Very gory, but wonderful. Starring, among many others, Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.

Answer: Band of Brothers

A 10-episode series about "Easy Company," one of the most decorated units in WWII. The series has a cast of largely unknown actors. Damian Lewis, who stars, also appears in Masterpiece Theatre's 2002 version of "The Forsyte Saga." In "TFS", Lewis plays creepy Soames Forsyte. In "B of B", he plays a likeable, heroic fellow.

Answer: A Farewell to Arms

Starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. Based on the book by Ernest Hemingway about a U.S. citizen who joins the Italian army during WWI and falls in love with a British nurse.

Answer: Slaughterhouse Five

The story of Billy Pilgrim, a well-to-do suburbanite who keeps jumping around in time. He travels back to his gruesome WWII experience as a POW witnessing the bombing of Dresden. Alternately, he travels ahead to the future in which he is kidnapped by aliens and leads a sheltered life inside a dome with a gorgeous porn star. Starring Michael Sacks, Valerie Perrine, and many more. From Kurt Vonnegut's novel. Thanks for taking the quiz. Players' favorite war movies include "Dr. Stranglove," "MASH," "Seven Days in May," and Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory." Please send recommendations for other good war movies. Peace, Robyn