"That Movie Blows Up Well" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deep Impact

While "Armageddon" follows a very similar plotline and was released around the same time, the asteroids hurtling towards Earth don't land in the Atlantic. Many smaller asteroids crash into major cities, even going so far as to destroy Shanghai, but Bruce Willis and his crew of oil drillers and astronauts hop on the major asteroid and split it into two before the end of the film, missing Earth by a small bit. "Deep Impact" sees a comet heading directly towards Earth and while it's blown up early on, it simply splits into two chunks, the first of which lands in the Atlantic Ocean causing a tsunami that wipes out many people and the second of which is destroyed at the last moment in space. Very explosive movie...you'd wonder why Roland Emmerich didn't direct it. Mimi Leder directed "Deep Impact" (she's also known for "Pay It Forward") and the film starred Elijah Wood, Tea Leoni, Leelee Sobieski, Robert Duvall, and Morgan Freeman. it didn't earn as much as "Armageddon" in theaters (with over $550,000,000 in revenue), but it did quite well for itself, bringing in well over $300,000,000.

Answer: Transformers

Earning over $700,000,000, "Transformers" constructed itself as a huge box-office success. Directed by the 'explosion-friendly' Michael Bay, "Transformers" rejuvenated the 1980's cartoon series with a much more realistic adaptation. With a huge ensemble cast and a bunch of Autobot/Decepticon battles, the film had its fair share of destruction and chaos. In 2009, a sequel was released. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" grossed over $825,000,000 in the box office to become one of the highest-grossing films worldwide in its year. Most of the original cast returned for this one though it fared worse from a critical view.

Answer: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Based on Douglas Adams' absurdist book series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" stars Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and others, as Arthur Dent becomes one of the few survivors after Earth is destroyed (in a big boom) by the Vogons, in an attempt to clear space for an intergalactic superhighway.

This was a bad idea, as we later discover as Earth was integral to the determination of the question needed for the answer '42', the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The film grossed over $100,000,000 in the box office and received modest review scores.

It was quite the faithful adaptation of a novel in a series with such a high cult following.

Answer: Backdraft

Grossing around $150,000,000 during its theatrical run, "Backdraft" received three nominations at the Academy Awards for sound and effects. Starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, and others, the film is about a group of firefighters and the events which occur around a series of fires. Backdraft itself refers to an oxygen-starved fire.

When oxygen hits the compounds necessary to spur the flames, it combusts to create this reaction. It happens a fair bit in the film. The movie's effects were so popular that Universal Studios used it as a model in their Universal Studios theme park.

Answer: Volcano

Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, and Don Cheadle, "Volcano" was less popular in the box office than its counterpart, "Dante's Peak", which was released in the same year with the same basic 'volcano' premise. "Volcano", instead, was set in Los Angeles, where an inexplicable volcano emerged from the La Brea tar pits to slowly move down the streets of the city.

As it turns out, the magma and lava bombs causing destruction in this film were actually made of red and orange Jell-o. The film grossed around $125,000,000 in theaters before shuffling off the VHS (while "Dante's Peak earned another $50,000,000). "Volcano" was also nominated for a Razzie for 'Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property'.

It lost to "Con Air".

Answer: Independence Day

Breaking into mainstream movie success with "Stargate", Emmerich tried his hand at a number of other films, nearly all of which contained major explosions, catastrophes, and unnatural disasters. You may witness all of these realistic depictions in "The Day After Tomorrow", "2012", and "Godzilla". "Independence Day", for a long while, was one of the highest-grossing films ever released.

In the theaters, it earned well over $800,000,000 during its entire run and fared modestly with critics. After its release, sci-fi movies made a strong return in the box office. Perhaps the most famous shot of the film is the image of the White House being destroyed by a beam from the alien space ship.

This happens to a lot of major cities.

Answer: Quantum of Solace

Released in theaters in 2008, "Quantum of Solace" was the twenty-second James Bond film to be released and the second to star Daniel Craig in the main role. A direct sequel to "Casino Royale", "Quantum" follows Bond on the hunt for the man who killed Vesper Lynd in the previous film.

His hunt brings him to a big mystery involving an organization known as QUANTUM and their plans, involving Bolivia's water supply. He brings Camille Montes along for the ride against the bad guy, Dominic Greene. In the climax of the film, a rather large hotel razing takes place with the characters inside.

It's more than explosive than necessary. The film brought in nearly $600,000,000 in the box office, and while less popular critically than "Casino Royale", it still grossed almost the same amount.

Answer: Sunshine

Set in a future where the sun's energy has been depleted, a crew sets out to reignite the celestial body by striking it with a nuclear bomb, jump-starting its reactions. When the crew arrives, they find their failed predecessors and things get a bit complicated. Throughout the movie, the sun makes numerous appearances.

A giant ball of explosive gas, the sun may in fact be the largest explosion to be seen in this quiz. Directed by Danny Boyle (before he won 'Best Director' and 'Best Picture' for "Slumdog Millionaire"), the film earned $32,000,000 in the box office and became a high-ranking film on IMDB, frequently shifting in and out of their Top 250. Cillian Murphy also appeared in Boyle's "28 Days Later".

Answer: The Core

Though regarded as one of the most implausible science fiction films ever produced, "The Core's" cast included Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, and others, as a group of scientists travel to the center of the Earth to jump start the Earth's core as it has inexplicably stopped shifting.

As a result, the Earth will fry in the sunlight. Clever, no? The scientists hop into an indestructible ship (which can survive the molten temperatures of the core) and bring a series of bombs with them. large enough to get the planet back to its normal self. The film didn't make it big.

It lost millions in the box office and became a notorious failure. It had big explosions, though.

Answer: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

The first sequel to the original "Planet of the Apes" film in 1968 (which starred Charlton Heston), "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970) follows a different crash-landed astronaut, who discovers that he has come upon this 'strange planet'. As the story progresses, he finds an underground cult of telepathic humans who worship a divine bomb, actually a nuclear missile hidden in Grand Central Station.

In the end the protagonist brings everybody down with him in flames, hitting a button and destroying the planet in a single, big kaboom. Three apes survive though...that's how we got the next three films in the series.