Spaced Out Cinema Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spaceballs (1987)

This fun Mel Brooks satire didn't spoof only the "Star Wars" trilogy with this film, but also "Planet of the Apes", "Alien", "Star Trek" and "The Wizard of Oz".

The premise of the story is that the planet Spaceball is running out of fresh air and their president Skroob (Mel Brooks) hatches a plot to steal the air from nearby Druidia, sending the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to carry out his plan. They are opposed by Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) and the allies she finds to help: Lone Star (Bill Pullman) and Barf (John Candy).

Answer: Office Space (1999)

"Office Space" was written by Mike Judge (creator of "Beavis and Butt-Head" and "King of the Hill") and is based on his comic "Milton".

The three main characters Peter (Ron Livingston), Michael (David Herman) and Samir (Ajay Naidu) create a virus designed to divert fractions of pennies from the company into a separate bank account, but a bug in their programming changes the decimal, and all of a sudden they find they have stolen more than $300,000 in just a few days.

Answer: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Written, produced and directed by Ed Wood, "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is a combination of science fiction, Atompunk, and gothic horror.

When their efforts at contacting humanity are unheard, the aliens come up with their plan to get people's attention, or destroy Earth if that doesn't work. Why? Because humans are on a path to developing 'Solaronite', a substance that can cause 'sunlight molecules' to explode. This would set off an uncontrollable chain reaction that would destroy the entire universe.

Answer: Crawlspace (1986)

Karl Gunther (Klaus Kinski) comes by his psychosis honestly, it seems, being the son of a Nazi concentration camp doctor. After spying on them from the crawlspaces in the building, he abducts his female tenants and locks them in attic cages, cutting out their tongues so that he has someone to talk to. Of course, new tenants keep on coming to the building, as vacancies come through non-paying renters who have disappeared.

The film had another type of theatrics as writer and director David Schmoeller had conflicts with Kinski and there were claims that producer Roberto Bessi attempted to have Kinski murdered due to hostility towards the crew. (source: Wikipedia)

Answer: Lost in Space (1998)

There have been multiple screen iterations of "Lost in Space," beginning with the 1960's television series, this 1998 film, a pilot for a 2004 series that was not produced, and a series begun in 2018.

In the 1998 film, William Hurt plays the father of the family, with Gary Oldman taking on the role of Dr. Zachary Smith, the villain.

Answer: Innerspace (1987)

A science fiction action/adventure with some comedy thrown into the mix, this film was inspired by the 1966 film "Fantastic Voyage", which also dealt with miniaturization and injection into the human body. Although where that one dealt with having to save a life, "Innerspace" deals with industrial espionage.

Dennis Quaid played the part of Lt. Pendleton with his future wife Meg Ryan playing love interest Lydia Maxwell. It was their first of three films together.

Answer: The Space Between Us (2017)

Mars-born Gardner Elliot was played by Asa Butterfield and his Earthly love interest Tulsa was portrayed by Britt Robertson.

"The Space Between Us" was a failure at the box office, earning back less than half of its $30 million budget, and Rotten Tomatoes described it as such: ""The Space Between Us" strands its star-crossed young lovers in a mind-numbingly vast expanse of shameless cheese that will send all but the most forgiving viewers eye-rolling for the exits".

Answer: Space Cowboys (2000)

(In my opinion) "Space Cowboys" is art imitating life as it seems to be a film attempting to rejuvenate the careers of four actors, namely Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner. It not only starred Clint Eastwood, but was also produced and directed by him.

It's a seemingly simple mission, needing Eastwood's character to lead it because he created the malfunctioning (and obsolete) code causing the satellite's orbit to degrade. But there is more than meets the eye as the satellite is discovered to house nuclear missiles, and is not just a simple communications satellite.

Answer: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Based on the novel of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke, the 'action' in the film is prompted by the discovery of a mysterious monolith buried on the moon that emits a powerful radio signal upon exposure to sunlight. Proof of intelligent life outside of our planet?

The incident leads to a mission to Jupiter, where the radio signal was sent and where another monolith is found orbiting the planet. But when their ship's sentient computer (HAL 9000) malfunctions and starts killing crew members, the mission is put into jeopardy.

In 1991, "2001: A Space Odyssey" was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Answer: Spaced Invaders (1990)

The crew of the small Civilian Asteroid Patrol land in Big Bean, Illinois on Hallowe'en, so they are naturally camouflaged and everybody who sees them thinks that they are just kids in costume. Not wanting to miss out on the action, the ship's Captain Bipto (Jimmy Briscoe) and his motley crew join the 'invasion'.

Not many people realize what is going on, but the Sheriff (Douglas Barr) and his daughter (Ariana Richards) are among the few.