Vietnam War Movies, Vol. 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Good Morning, Vietnam

"Good Morning, Vietnam" is based on the career of real life Armed Forces Radio Service DJ Air Force Airman Adrian Cronauer. Robin Williams earned an Academy Award Nomination for the role. Most of the radio broadcasts in the film were improvised by Williams.

The movie follows the story of Cronauer and his interactions with the local Vietnamese. He ends up befriending a man who later saves his life twice but ends up being Vietcong.

Answer: Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox stars in the "Back to the Future" trilogy and as Alex P. Keaton on "Family Ties", both highly successful comedic roles. "Casualties of War" was his third stab at more dramatic roles. The movie is based on true events that took place in Vietnam in 1966.

It tells the story of a squad of American soldiers who kidnap and rape a Vietnamese girl but Fox's character doesn't go along with it and turns the squad in. Sean Penn plays his sergeant and antagonist.

Answer: Bat*21

"Bat*21" is based on the true story of the rescue of Lt. Colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton, played by Gene Hackman, in 1972. In the film Hambleton and Captain Bartholomew Clark, played by Danny Glover, communicate by using golf course hole lengths and placements to describe Hambleton's route, since the North Vietnamese are listening to their radio communications. Hambleton was on the ground for eleven days before being rescued. Because the movie was made while much of the action was still classified, it does not mention the fact that Hambleton was eventually rescued by US Navy SEAL Thomas R. Norris and ARVN soldier Nguyen Van Kiet. Norris won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.

Answer: Christian Bale

Christian Bale stars in "American Psycho" and "Batman Begins" (a bat is an insect eating flying mammal). The movie is based on the documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" that tells the story of Dieter Dingler, an US Navy pilot shot down over Laos in 1966.

He was captured by the Pathet Lao then turned over to the North Vietnamese. After being imprisoned in a bamboo cage and tortured, he finally escaped and was rescued.

Answer: The Hanoi Hilton

The Hoa Lo Prison was sarcastically called "The Hanoi Hilton" by the POWs interred there and is the basis for the movie. The film focuses on the treatment of POWs during the war and their resistance to their captors but is a fictional account, not the story of actual prisoners.

Although it did not perform well at the box office, it has gained a cult following among Vietnam veterans. After the 2008 election, a DVD was released with a new interview with former POW John McCain.

Answer: Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris lost a brother in Vietnam in 1970 and he dedicated his three "Missing In Action" movies to his memory. The first movie tells the story of Colonel Braddock, a retired US Army officer who was a POW in Vietnam. Ten years after the war, he goes back to Vietnam looking for proof of POWs still being held and, once he has it, leads a rescue mission to bring them out.

The second movie goes back and tells the story of Braddock's time as a POW. The third and final movie tells the story of Braddock going back into Vietnam to rescue his Vietnamese wife and son and takes place after the first movie.

Answer: Flight of the Intruder

"Flight of the Intruder" tells the story of Navy pilots, towards the end of the war, flying missions over North Vietnam. It explains the crazy rules of engagement these men flew under and the resulting frustration these rules brought about. The book spent 28 weeks on the "New York Times" bestseller list before it was made into the movie. Coonts accumulated 1600 hours of combat flying time over Vietnam and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Answer: Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone stars as John Rambo in "First Blood". Rambo is a Congressional Medal of Honor winning Green Beret, trying to find a war buddy in rural America. When the paranoid local sheriff, played by Brian Dennehy, crosses the line in his treatment of Rambo, he snaps (after flashing back on his experiences in Vietnam) and the war is on. Richard Crenna plays Rambo's old commanding officer and he warns the sheriff not to go after Rambo but the sheriff won't listen. "First Blood" led to three sequels: "Rambo: First Blood Part II", "Rambo III" and 2008's "Rambo".

Answer: Born on the Fourth of July

"Born on the Fourth of July" is the second in Stone's Vietnam trilogy. The movie follows Kovic, played by Cruise, from his last days in high school, through his second tour in Vietnam, to his time convalescing in a VA hospital, and finally to the aftermath of being a paralyzed vet. By the end of the movie Kovic has become an anti-war activist.

Answer: William Devane

The movie "Rolling Thunder" should not be confused with the bombing operation during the war, from 1965 to 1968, or with the veterans' organization dedicated to the POW/MIA cause that was named after that air campaign. The movie follows Major Charles Rane as he returns home to a small Texas town, after spending seven years as a POW. Things go from bad to worse for the returning hero, ultimately ending in the death of his wife and son at the hands of thugs. Rane sets out to get revenge and does not stop until all of the perpetrators are dead.

The movie is one of Quentin Tarrantino's top ten and he named a now defunct company, Rolling Thunder Pictures, after it that reissued cult classics.