The Deer Hunter Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robert De Niro

"The Deer Hunter" is a film released in 1978 about a group of friends whose lives are changed by their participation in the Vietnam War. The movie was directed by Michael Cimino, an American director of Italian descent. This film was Cimino's most successful production, earning him two Academy Awards in 1979 (one for Best Picture and the other for Best Director). The movie had a fantastic cast made of Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken.

By the time "The Deer Hunter" was released, Robert De Niro had already been a part of other important cinematographic projects, such as "The Godfather Part II" (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1975) and "Taxi Driver". His role in "The Deer Hunter" also earned him nominations in the Best Actor category in the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, but he did not win. De Niro's long career has been accompanied by many other distinctions: he won a Best Actor Academy Award in 1981 for his role as a boxer in "Raging Bull" and received a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2020.

Answer: WizardWorks

The "Deer Hunter" video game series began in 1997 when WizardWorks published the game "Deer Hunter: Interactive Hunting Experience". Most of the "Deer Hunter" games released between 1997 and 2003 were exclusively made available for gameplay on Windows devices, though the original game was later made available for Macintosh and Game Boy Color. After the 2000s, the game's many subsequent iterations (such as "Deer Hunter 2" and "Deer Hunter: African Safari" were released for other consoles such as the Playstation 2, and then exclusively for mobile devices.

The simulation game was originally developed by Sunstorm Interactive and published by the Minnesota-based company WizardWorks. The company was founded in 1980 and was bought by GT Interactive, which itself was later absorbed by Atari. In 2004, Atari shut down WizardWorks' operations and transferred them to their branch in Beverly, MA, which closed a year later.

Answer: Missouri

Deer poaching continues to be an issue of concern for conservationists and environmental activists. There are some federal laws in the U.S. aimed to combat poaching, such as the Endangered Species Act. However, much of the legislative framework regarding this issue varies depending on the state. Prior to 2018, Missouri classified poaching as a misdemeanor and fined offenders with relatively small amounts of money. Per an article in the local newspaper Columbia Missourian, penalties for poaching certain animals were significantly increased by a 2019 bill that was meant to discourage the illegal hunting of certain species.

One incident that may have helped these new laws was the arrest of David Berry Jr., a hunter in Missouri who allegedly killed hundreds of deer in the state. Judge Robert George sentenced the poacher to a year in prison and added a peculiar requirement: he had to watch the 1942 Disney movie "Bambi" at least once a month for the duration of his sentence. The classic film features a baby deer (Bambi) whose mother is killed by a deer hunter.

Missouri is nicknamed the "Show-Me State" and it is one of the southernmost states of the U.S. Midwest. Missouri was the 24th state to be admitted into the Union (in 1821) and is the birthplace of many famous authors like Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, and Kate Chopin. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City, though its largest city is Kansas City (not to be confused with Kansas, a neighboring state which has Topeka as its capital).

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

Though one normally expects to see books turned into movies, this work was one exception from this rule. The book was based on Michael Cimino's 1978 film "The Deer Hunter" and even kept the same character names and setting (Clairton, PA and Vietnam). The novelization of Cimino's movie was actually written by acclaimed author Jerrold Mundis, who used several pseudonyms (such as E.M. Corder) to publish books throughout his life. Mundis passed away from COVID-19 in 2020.

The novel's epigraph, which is a quote about "the hunting of man" (a reference to war), was written by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway created many works that are considered literary classics. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 for "The Old Man and the Sea" and a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Also a journalist, Hemingway covered important moments of history like the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Answer: Atlas Sound

Bradford Cox was born in Marietta, Georgia in 1982. Cox founded Deerhunter with Moses Archuleta in 2001 and also had Paul Harper (bassist) and Dan Walton (drummer) as the band's first members. Deerhunter has had multiple members come and go over the years, including guitarist Colin Mee and bassist Joshua Fauver. Bass guitarist Justin Bosworth joined the band in 2001 and passed away in a skateboarding accident in 2004. Deerhunter is a rock band (though they have experimented with other genres in the past) and has released albums like "Microcastle" and "Halcyon Digest". Cox has described the band as not quite being famous, but "indie famous".

In addition to the band, front man Bradford Cox also has a separate solo career under the name Atlas Sound. His first studio album, "Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel", was released in 2008. In Greek mythology, Atlas is one of the sons of Iapetus who was a Titan but revolted against Zeus. His punishment was to hold the weight of the sky, which is why he is commonly depicted holding a figure that resembles the Earth.

Deerhunter is not to be confused with The Dear Hunter, a completely different band founded by Casey Crescenzo in 2005.

Answer: Venison

Venison is the common name for meat that comes from deer (although, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the term was originally used to talk about any kind of game meat). Though eating venison is perhaps not as common as other types of meat, it is still a widely used cut in many parts of the world. New Zealand, for example, exports millions of dollars worth of venison meat each year. The Kiwi country has lighter regulations regarding deer hunting than other countries like the United States.

Venison should preferably not be eaten fresh to prevent illnesses. As a food, it is rich in vitamins and other fats and can be prepared in a variety of different ways (such as steaks, stews, and even burgers).

Answer: The Blacklist

"The Blacklist" is an action-filled series that first aired on NBC in 2013. The show follows the story of Raymond "Red" Reddington, a smart and manipulative criminal who has evaded the FBI for years. In the show's drama-filled pilot, Reddington enters an FBI office and calmly asks to see the Assistant Director. When agents recognize who he is, an alarm sounds and multiple officers draw their guns as Reddington surrenders. Reddington then explains that he has information about multiple fugitives that the FBI is pursuing and offers to give the FBI a list of the names of these criminals: "the blacklist". It is a thrilling opening scene that hooks the viewer from the very beginning!

On February 26, 2015, "The Deer Hunter" (episode 13 of season 2 of "The Blacklist") first aired. The episode saw the FBI try to catch a serial killer who was known as, you guessed it, "The Deer Hunter".

"Boston Legal", "The Practice", and "The Office" are all TV shows where James Spader also appeared.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born in 1858 in New York City. Roosevelt was homeschooled as a child and then attended Harvard University. He also started working towards a law degree at Columbia Law School but dropped out to become a New York state assemblyman in 1882. His political career only grew from there. Between 1883 and 1898, Roosevelt served in several official capacities (including as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for President McKinley) and then became Governor of New York in 1899.

Roosevelt was, among many other of his passions, an avid conservationist and hunter at the same time. Roosevelt kept many hunting trophies of elk, buffalo, and deer, among others. There is a very famous picture, dated 1885, where Roosevelt appears without his characteristic glasses, holding a rifle, and wearing a suit made of deerskin.

Answer: United Kingdom

The Deer Act 1980 was a law passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in an effort to prevent dear poaching and regulate the sale of venison. The Act also amended its predecessor, the Deer Act 1963. It was quickly repealed in 1991 and was replaced by the Deer Act 1991, which modified and clarified several provisions of the law. For example, the Act makes it illegal to "intentionally take, kill or injure, or attempt to take, kill or injure, any deer" without the permission of a landowner or another authority. The text of the act specifically says that Scotland and Northern Ireland are not covered by this law.

The United Kingdom is formed by England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Laws are passed by the Parliament (divided between the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and the Monarch). Even though the Monarch's role is largely ceremonial, they still have to approve every single law before it is made official.

Answer: Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens was an influential artist and diplomat in the 17th century and is credited with creating thousands of different artworks. Many of his works, such as "Descent from the Cross" (now displayed at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium) were inspired by religion. Rubens spent several years studying Greek and Roman art in Italy, which may be one of the reasons why he depicted several Greek and/or Roman figures in his paintings.

Several of Rubens' artworks depict Diana, a Roman goddess of hunting and wild animals (equivalent to the Greek goddess Artemis), hunting deer. Examples include "Diana and her Nymphs hunting" (ca. 1636-37) and "Diana and Nymphs Hunting Fallow Deer" (ca. 1639). His 1615 painting "Diana Returning from Hunt" also portrays the goddess.