X Marks the Shot Trivia Quiz

Answer: God

"Navy SEALs" (1990) stars Charlie Sheen (b. 1965) as part of a Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, Land) special operations team as they go on multiple missions to track down stolen Stinger missiles.

As the sniper, Dane operates from a vantage point away from the team, and during a mission is just a voice on the radio killing enemies from a distance, so the God code name is a pretty good choice. It also leads to some amusing moments: when his teammates are in trouble and ask God for help, the enemy soldiers think they are praying for divine assistance when they are really communicating with their teammate.

William "Bill" Paxton (b. 1955) not only appeared in three of the biggest sci-fi action franchises, "The Terminator" (1984), "Aliens" (1986), "Predator 2" (1990), but as of 2015 he was the only actor to have played characters killed by the titular enemies of those movies (a Terminator robot, a Xenomorph alien, and a Predator alien).

Answer: Sniper: Reloaded

Tom Berenger (b. 1949) was the lead actor for the first three films, hunting villains in Panama ("Sniper", 1993), Serbia ("Sniper 2", 2002) and Vietnam ("Sniper 3", 2004) as Thomas Beckett.

In "Sniper: Reloaded" (2011), the focus shifted to Beckett's son, Brandon, played by Chad Michael Collins (b. 1979), who hunts villains in the Congo.

For "Sniper: Legacy" (2014), Brandon hunts down an assassin that he thinks killed his father, but he's been tricked. His father is still alive and Berenger reprises the role.

Answer: a minivan

Bruce Willis (b. 1955) plays the titular assassin in "The Jackal" (1997), who has set up a remote machine gun in a minivan in order to kill the First Lady of the United States.

The film is a very loose remake of the 1973 film "The Day of the Jackal", in which the assassin, code-named the Jackal, tries to kill the French president.

The 1973 movie was based on the 1971 book of the same name by Frederick Forsyth (b. 1938). Forsyth did not approve of the 1997 remake, and his book is not mentioned in the credits. Instead, the 1997 film is based off the screenplay of the 1973 film by Kenneth Ross.

Answer: World War II

The 2001 film "Enemy at the Gates" is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Stalingrad. Although the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev (1915-1991) (played by Jude Law) and some other characters were real, many changes were made for the movie.

The film was not liked in either Russia or Germany. In fact, some Soviet veterans of the battle attempted to have the film banned.

With an estimated 2 million casualties, the Battle of Stalingrad was the single deadliest conflict in history. It also marked a decisive turn in the war: Germany was handed a significant setback, stalling on this eastern front and withdrawing troops from the western front to replenish their losses.

Answer: phone booth

"Phone Booth" (2002) features Colin Farrell (b. 1976) as Stu Shepard, a publicist cheating on his wife. After he answers the phone, an unknown sniper forces him to admit his duplicity to both women.

Screenwriter Larry Cohen (b. 1941) came up with the idea of a film set inside a phone booth in the 1960s. He worked with Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), but was unable to develop the idea into a film at that time.

Answer: an archbishop

In "Shooter" (2007), Swagger is framed as part of a conspiracy to cover up the massacre of an African village. When Swagger catches up to the real assassin, he finds out that the archbishop was going to reveal the involvement of the US in the massacre.

The movie is based on the 1993 novel "Point of Impact" by Stephen Hunter (b. 1946). One of the differences between the book and film is Swagger's age. Wahlberg is too young to play Swagger as the Vietnam veteran he is in the book.

Answer: butterfly

In "The American" (2010), Clooney (b. 1961) plays Jack, an assassin and gunmaker whose deadly past is catching up to him. Jack's butterfly tattoo can be seen clearly when Jack exercises without a shirt.

The film is based on the 1990 novel "A Very Private Gentleman" by Martin Booth (1944-2004). In 2010 the book was reissued with the title "The American" and cover art to promote the ties between the book and film.

Butterflies are an important theme in the book and movie, as the character transitions away from his former life as a killer. At the end of the movie, a butterfly flies away.

Answer: Fox

"Wanted" (2008) is generally based on the 2003 comic series of the same name by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. In the comic, Wesley Gibson is recruited to replace his father in the Fraternity, a group of super villains that have eliminated the superheroes and now secretly run the world.

In the movie, much of the super villain plot is removed. The film focuses on the organization of assassins, which is corrupt and Gibson has to bring it down.

While neither the comic or the movie explains the name Fox, there is a visual connection in the comic, where the character wears a hairband with fox ears as part of her costume. The character in the movie has no such costume. In the movie, Fox is an assassin who believes that she is eliminating bad people to preserve the greater good. When that belief is shattered, she becomes even more dangerous.

Answer: Tom Cruise

"Jack Reacher" (2012) adapts the book "One Shot" (2005) by Lee Child, the ninth novel in his Jack Reacher series. In it, Reacher investigates the case of a man framed for killing six people with a sniper rifle.

Jack Reacher is a military veteran who roams the United States, usually getting involved in deadly situations.

Actor Tom Cruise (b. 1962) appeared in "Risky Business" (1983) and in the "Mission: Impossible" series of films, beginning in 1996. While his casting as Jack Reacher may be unconventional, it is not unsurprising. After all, his company bought the movie rights and produced the film.

Answer: Clint Eastwood

Based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle (1974-2013), the film is the story of Kyle's military career and difficulties adjusting to civilian life.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

A strange problem with the film is the use of a (distractingly obvious) fake baby doll in one of the scenes, a result of the two real babies hired for the movie not being available (one due to a fever, the other never showed up).

Clint Eastwood (b. 1930) got his start as an actor in westerns in the 1960s (specifically the "Dollars" trilogy) and as the title character in the "Dirty Harry" series of films in the 1970s and 1980s. Eastwood started his directing career in 1971 with "Play Misty for Me".

Eastwood won the Academy award for Best Director for both "Unforgiven" (1992) and "Million Dollar Baby" (2004). Both films also won the Academy award for Best Picture. Eastwood starred in both films and was nominated for Best Actor in each, but did not win the acting award either time.