Ye Olde Space Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Star Wars

Which movie-goer doesn't know of "Star Wars"? George Lucas created the epic saga of the Skywalker family back in 1977 and the world of film has not been the same since. The original trilogy, consisting of "A New Hope" (1977), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983) are some of the most memorable movies ever. They spawned a multi-billion dollar empire of merchandise, spin offs, adaptations and theme parks, especially after it was bought by Disney.

The movie starred Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader. It introduced us to battles with starfighters and light sabers, The Force, alien planets, and droids.

If you haven't seen these movies, I highly recommend them.

Answer: Armageddon

A rock hurtling through space on a collision course with Earth. NASA has the technology, Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), a deep-sea drill expert, has the know-how. Stamper and his crew of misfits join forces with the clean-cut types in NASA to create two teams to land on the rock and drill into it, setting a bomb to blow it into two pieces to save the Earth. Stamper leads one team of drillers, his second-in-command, AJ, leads the second crew. AJ is in love with Stamper's daughter, much to Stamper's dismay. In the end, Harry Stamper makes the difficult decision to sacrifice his own life to save AJ's and save the world.

This epic film was liked by audiences but not so much by the critics. It received four Academy Award nominations in minor categories but didn't win any. It also received seven Razzie award nominations, 'winning' one.

Answer: Independence Day

When "Independence Day" was released in 1996, it was more than just a feel-good American supremacy film. It brought in a new wave of science fiction as well as epic world-destruction themes in film. It also gave us aliens as hostile destructive beings that could not be trusted.

When a huge alien mothership arrives and sends out smaller ships all over the Earth, humans try to reach out to talk with these newcomers to the planet. However, when their arrival turns out to be a coordinated attack on the major cities around the world, only the quick-thinking David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), a technician, can warn the President of the US (Bill Pullman). At the same time, Capt. Steven Hiller (Will Smith), a fighter pilot, is able to down an alien craft and capture an alien. Together, the three join forces with the rest of the world to bring down the aliens on July 4th, US-style...

Answer: The Martian

Similar to the movie "Cast Away", in "The Martian" an astronaut, Mark Watney, finds himself alone on Mars. A hostile environment, limited resources, infinite ingenuity, Watney manages to survive. But unlike Tom Hank's character in "Cast Away", Watney, played by Matt Damon, is not alone in finding a way to get home. Watney is aided by mission control back on Earth as well as the team that left him behind. Through many trials, Watney is reunited with the rest of the crew and they reach Earth.

Despite winning Best Picture in its category at the Golden Globes, "The Martian" didn't do as well at the Academy Awards. It was nominated seven times but didn't win a single award. Nevertheless, it was one of the best films of 2015.

Answer: WALL-E

Though there was not a lot of dialogue in the movie "WALL-E", it was a huge success and very well received. The film speaks of the 29th century what might be if we don't stop making so much waste. Earth is abandoned and all that remains is a robot, WALL-E, who tirelessly works to clean up the planet. When a probe from the human ship returns to seek out green vegetative life, EVE, WALL-E 'falls' for her and gives her a seedling that he found. EVE takes it back to the human ship, but the pilot protocol does everything in its power to prevent the humans from going back to Earth.

The film tackles themes like environmentalism and how there is a lot of waste being produced at an unsustainable rate. It talks of the importance of physical activity. It also speaks to the use of technology and how it can aid or thwart our end goals.

Answer: Apollo 13

When you combine Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris in one movie, how can it not be awesome? "Apollo 13" was the sensationalized account of the true events that occurred to the Apollo 13 mission that was supposed to land on the moon, but didn't. It won two Academy Awards out of nine nominations, but it was a very powerful movie of true events.

Apollo 13 was supposed to have been the third mission to land on the moon. However, when a liquid oxygen tank explodes, the entire mission is scrapped and even the astronauts' return to Earth is in jeopardy. Somehow, the team manages to work out a way to survive, through human ingenuity and improvisation with the limited resources that they have.

Answer: Guardians of the Galaxy

In 2014, the Marvel Cinematic Universe released its tenth film in the franchise, "Guardians of the Galaxy". While departing from the omnipotent superheroes theme, this movie was still a major success. It followed the story of 'Star Lord', a human called Peter Quill taken from Earth when he was still a child. He became a smuggler and stole an orb of immense power. While he tried to sell it, he realized that many people were after it. Captured and thrown in jail, he assembles a motley crew of misfits to help him save the orb from falling into the wrong hands - a genetically altered raccoon, a sentient tree, an emotional, literal, and very strong alien called Drax, and the daughter of a very powerful alien, with green skin, called Gamora.

The film, while very amusing and with a great '80s soundtrack, makes you realize that even regular people can be influential in saving the universe.

Answer: The Fifth Element

"The Fifth Element" was a brainchild of director Luc Besson since he had been 16 years old. It was released in 1997 and was positively received by most people. It followed the story of a retired army officer, Korben Dallas, played by Bruce Willis, who was struggling to make a living as a cab driver.

It also followed Leeloo, a survivor of a spacecraft crash that was being sent to Earth to help save humanity from a mysterious dark orb in space that was devouring everything in its path. Leeloo joins forces with Dallas and together they fly off to save Earth, only, Leeloo refuses to do the job at the end when she sees how corrupt mankind has become.

It takes an act of love by Dallas to make her realize that humanity is worth saving.

Answer: Avatar

"Avatar" was written, produced, edited, and directed by James Cameron and used new technologies to make this a truly epic visual experience, especially if you saw the film in IMAX. It won three Academy Awards and was nominated for six more.

The film starred Sam Worthington as crippled marine Jake Sully, who has to take over the Avatar program for his deceased identical twin brother. They are on a planet called Pandora which has riches, a room-temperature semiconductor called Unobtanium, and a hostile local population called the Na'vi. The humans interact with the Na'vi using life replicants called avatars. An accident causes Jake to stay for longer than intended with the Na'vi and he learns about them, falls in love with one of them (the leader's daughter, Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana), and eventually fights for them against the humans.

The film is about making the right choice, and understanding wrong and right.

Answer: Gravity

The 2013 movie "Gravity" was written, produced and directed by Alfonso Cuarón and received many accolades. He won the Academy Award for Best Director and the film won six more awards and three other nominations. Sandra Bullock played the lead role, Dr. Ryan Stone, a mission specialist on her first mission when everything goes awry. She and the mission commander Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, are stranded in space and try to find a way back. When Kowalski makes the decision to save Stone by sacrificing himself, Stone must deal with the helplessness and guilt and find a way to keep going. She does this by conjuring an image of Kowalski helping her, but ultimately finds it within herself to keep going.

This was an epic movie that showed the resilience of the human mind.