This action movie trivia quiz has 170 free questions with answers and runs from the 1980s golden age (Die Hard, First Blood, Commando, Predator, RoboCop, Lethal Weapon, Escape from New York, Enter the Dragon and Police Story) through the 1990s blockbusters (T2, Speed, Point Break, The Rock, Face/Off, Con Air, Heat, The Fugitive, Independence Day, Air Force One, Cliffhanger, The Matrix) to the modern era of John Wick, Fury Road, Ghost Protocol, Taken, The Raid, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Gladiator, 300 and Kill Bill. The easy questions ask which pill Neo takes, what speed the bus can't drop below and why John Wick comes out of retirement. The medium ones cover directors, novels and the real stunts behind the scenes. The hard ones want the original casting of the Predator, the price of the costliest aerial stunt ever performed, the number of people Rambo actually kills in First Blood and which Bond film had a Texas hold 'em game in Montenegro. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 170 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Die Hard (1988) is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp. What is it called?
Nothing Lasts Forever
The Detective was Thorp's earlier book, filmed with Frank Sinatra; 58 Minutes became Die Hard 2. Alan Rickman made his screen debut as Hans Gruber in his early forties.
Q 02Which actor made his screen debut, in his early forties, as Die Hard's villain Hans Gruber?
Alan Rickman
He was a stage actor known for Les Liaisons Dangereuses; the building, Nakatomi Plaza, is really Fox Plaza in Century City.
Q 03In Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), who plays the shape-shifting, liquid-metal T-1000?
Robert Patrick
At $94-102 million it was the most expensive film ever made at the time and won four Oscars, including visual effects and makeup.
Q 04Which martial-arts star was originally cast as the creature in Predator (1987)?
Jean-Claude Van Damme
The plan was an agile, ninja-like hunter; the suit was unworkable, and Hall, fresh from playing the sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons, took over.
Q 05How many people does John Rambo kill in First Blood (1982)?
One, by accident
The film reworked David Morrell's far bloodier novel so that Deputy Galt's death, a fall from a helicopter, is the only fatality; the sequels made up for it.
Q 06In Speed (1994), the bus is rigged to explode if its speed drops below what?
50 mph
Dennis Hopper's ex-cop bomber sets the trap; the film was cinematographer Jan de Bont's directorial debut and made Sandra Bullock a star.
Q 07In Point Break (1991), the bank-robbing surfers wear rubber masks of what?
Ex-presidents
Reagan, Carter, Nixon and LBJ; Kathryn Bigelow directed, with Patrick Swayze as Bodhi and Keanu Reeves as FBI agent Johnny Utah.
Q 08In The Rock (1996), Connery and Cage break into which former prison to stop rogue Marines with VX gas?
Alcatraz
Michael Bay directed; Connery's character is the only man ever to have escaped the island, which is why the FBI needs him.
Q 09In Face/Off (1997), an FBI agent and a terrorist swap faces. Who directed it?
John Woo
John Travolta and Nicolas Cage each play both men; it was the Hong Kong director's biggest Hollywood hit.
Q 10In Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Tom Cruise scales the outside of which building?
Burj Khalifa
He was attached by cables that ILM erased digitally; the film was Pixar veteran Brad Bird's live-action debut.
Q 11Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) was shot mainly in which country's desert?
Namibia
Rain had greened the Australian outback, so George Miller moved production; the film won six Oscars, more than any other that year.
Q 12How many Academy Awards did Mad Max: Fury Road win?
Six
Editing, production design, costume, makeup, sound editing and sound mixing; Charlize Theron's Furiosa was the breakout.
Q 13What is the name of the beagle puppy whose killing brings John Wick out of retirement in the 2014 film?
Daisy
She was a final gift from his late wife; director Chad Stahelski had been Keanu Reeves's stunt double on The Matrix.
Q 21Heat (1995) was promoted around the first on-screen scenes together of which two actors?
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro
Both were in The Godfather Part II but never shared a frame; Michael Mann shot their diner scene with minimal rehearsal.
Q 22Enter the Dragon premiered in Hong Kong on 26 July 1973, how long after Bruce Lee's death?
Six days
He died on 20 July at 32; the film was added to the US National Film Registry in 2004.
Q 23In Taken (2008), Liam Neeson's ex-CIA officer Bryan Mills hunts kidnappers in which city?
Paris
Luc Besson co-wrote it and Pierre Morel directed; the phone speech to the kidnappers became an internet meme.
Q 14The Matrix (1999) popularised which slow-motion visual effect?
Bullet time
The camera appears to move at normal speed through a frozen scene; the film won four Oscars including visual effects and editing.
Q 15In The Matrix, Morpheus offers Neo a choice of two colours. Which does he take?
Red
Red uncovers the truth, blue returns him to his ordinary life; the Wachowskis wrote and directed.
Q 16George Lucas named Indiana Jones after what?
His Alaskan Malamute dog
The character was originally 'Indiana Smith'; Tom Selleck was the first choice but CBS would not release him from Magnum, P.I.
Q 17Which TV star was first choice for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark but was tied to his series contract?
Tom Selleck
CBS refused to release him from Magnum, P.I.; a writers' strike then delayed the show, so he could have done both after all.
Q 18The Bourne Identity (2002) opens with Jason Bourne being pulled from which sea by fishermen?
The Mediterranean
He has two bullets in his back and no memory; Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel and Doug Liman's film gave us the CIA's Treadstone programme.
Q 19RoboCop (1987) is set in a crime-ridden near-future version of which city?
Detroit
Paul Verhoeven's satire pits Peter Weller's cyborg cop against the megacorporation OCP and its malfunctioning ED-209 robot.
Q 20In Aliens (1986), how long has Ripley been drifting in stasis when she is found?
57 years
James Cameron wrote and directed; Sigourney Weaver's Best Actress nomination was rare recognition for a science-fiction performance.
Q 24In Casino Royale (2006), what game does Bond play against Le Chiffre?
Texas hold 'em
Fleming's novel used baccarat; the switch reflected the poker boom. Mads Mikkelsen played Le Chiffre and Eva Green Vesper Lynd.
Q 25Which actor died of a heart attack during the making of Gladiator (2000)?
Oliver Reed
He played the trainer Proximo; his remaining scenes were completed with a body double and digital effects. The film won Best Picture and Best Actor.
Q 26Who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing US Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive (1993)?
Tommy Lee Jones
The film, based on the 1960s TV series, was nominated for Best Picture; Ford's Dr. Kimble jumps from a dam spillway to escape him.
Q 27Top Gun (1986), the year's highest-grossing film worldwide, won an Academy Award for which song?
Take My Breath Away
Berlin's ballad won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe; a popular claim held that Navy aviator recruitment jumped 500 percent.
Q 28Who wrote Lethal Weapon (1987)?
Shane Black
Black sold the script at 23 and became the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood; Richard Donner directed all four films.
Q 29In Independence Day (1996), how do the humans finally defeat the alien mothership?
A computer virus
Jeff Goldblum uploads it from a refurbished alien fighter; the film was 1996's highest grosser and won the visual-effects Oscar.
Q 30In John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981), Manhattan has become what?
A maximum-security prison
Set in the far-off year of 1997, it gives Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken 24 hours to rescue the President.