Sand, Surf and Cinema Trivia Quiz

Answer: South Beach (1993)

Fred Williamson plays Mack Derringer (great name!) while Gary Busey plays his partner Lenny (no last name given). Peter Fonda also appears in this film as Jake, the pair's underworld contact.

Derringer and his partner are drawn into a confusing web of crime and deception when Mack's ex-wife begins receiving (through her phone sex business) threatening calls from a mysterious character named Billy.

Answer: House of Sand and Fog (2003)

The house from which Connelly's character is wrongfully evicted (for nonpayment of taxes) is purchased by an Iranian family for a fraction of its true value. The patriarch of the family, Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), is fighting to support his family in their new life in the United States, but is struggling to do so.

When Kathy comes to reclaim her home, he refuses to leave. From there things get more and more twisted until the shocking ending leaves no one with the house at all.

Answer: Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)

Barry Brenner plays Adolf, the leader of the Neo-Nazi surfer gang who calls himself 'Führer of the new beach'. After taking control of the rival gangs, his gang kills a man jogging on the beach (Leroy, played by Robert Harden). It is Leroy's mother, lovingly referred to as 'Mama' Washington (played by Gail Neely) who goes on a rampage, exacting vengeance on the Neo-Nazi gang for her son's death.

Answer: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Of course, the hero of the film gets all the screen time. The prince in question is played by Jake Gyllenhaal, whose action sequences aptly capture the same excitement one experiences in playing the video games on which the movie is based. Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, who was adopted into the Persian royal family as a child.

Unhappy with his second-brother status, Kingsley (Nizam) tries to capture the fabled Sandglass, which holds the sands of time, in order to turn back time and take the throne for himself.

Answer: Surf Ninjas (1993)

Ernie Reyes, Jr. and Nicolas Cowan play the two brothers, while Ernie Reyes, Sr. plays the mysterious Zatch who saves them from a ninja attack in Los Angeles and tells them of their true heritage. In addition to Leslie Nielsen providing the comedic villain, the brothers bring more comedic punch with them in the form of their friend Iggy, played by Rob Schneider.

As an interesting note, the fictional South Pacific island of Patusan is a creation of author Joseph Conrad in his novel "Lord Jim", published in 1900. Patusan has since made appearances in various other stories.

Answer: Blood and Sand (1941)

The 1941 version of "Blood and Sand" was the third of four renditions of the Ibáñez novel made in the 20th century. Previous versions were done in 1916 (filmed by Ibáñez) and in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino in the starring role, while more recently Christopher Rydell took on the role in 1989.

In the film Tyrone Power is joined by Linda Darnell, who plays his wife Carmen, as well as Rita Hayworth, who plays the seductress Doña Sol des Muire. This was the fourth film in which Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell were paired together.

Answer: Turtle Beach (1992)

"Turtle Beach" is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Australian novelist Blanche d'Alpuget (wife of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke), although the screenplay takes many liberties with the source material. In the story, Greta Scacchi plays reporter Judith Wallace as she investigates the story of the Vietnamese boat people and their struggle.

While there she makes friends with a woman (played by Joan Chen) who goes to Turtle Beach each night hoping to see her children arrive on the boats. Together, after witnessing the massacre, they decide to make the world aware of the situation.

Answer: Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

The seven films in the 'classic' series of beach films were:

"Beach Party" (1963)
"Muscle Beach Party" (1964)
"Bikini Beach" (1964)
"Pajama Party" (1964)
"Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
"How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965)
"The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" (1966)

In this fifth beach film offering, Linda Evans plays singer Sugar Kane who becomes the catalyst in a number of relational jealousies. By virtue of her having used skydiving in a publicity stunt, a number of the beach gang end up also getting involved in the sport.

The "Beach Blanket Bingo" is a reference to how the beach and the blankets on it look from the sky.

Answer: The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

As with the novel, the movie is set in 1901 and Carruthers (Michael York) and friend Davies (Simon MacCorkindale) stumble across something suspicious while yachting in the Baltic Sea. Upon investigation, they realize that they have uncovered a German plot to invade England, and it is being spearheaded by Kaiser Wilhelm (II) himself!

As a note of interest, the author behind the story fought for England in both the Boer War and in World War I, but afterwards became very anti-British. He was executed in 1922 by the government of the Irish Free State.

Answer: Surf's Up (2007)

A few other big-name actors also provide their voices for this film, including Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, and James Woods. The film was made to mimic the style of a surfing documentary, including the effect of hand-held, shaky cameras.

In the story, Cody sees his chance to realize his dream when a talent scout comes to his community looking for surfers to enter the 'Big Z Memorial' competition. Big Z was Cody's idol Zeke 'Big Z' Topanga, who he saw surf years earlier. To his surprise, Cody discovers Big Z (who disappeared 10 years ago) alive and well and living incognito, so naturally he asks for help to get ready for the competition.