Films of the 1990s #5 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Terminator 2: Judgment Day

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" is the rare sequel that really was all that and more. James Cameron was back as director, and the clunky stop-motion animation of the original movie was just a memory.

"T2", as the cool kids called it, introduced the Terminator Model T-1000, a liquid-metal shapeshifting assassin robot brought to life beautifully with early CGI courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic.

Linda Hamilton came back as Sarah Connor, now tougher and sporting a more practical hairstyle. Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the cyborg assassin turned good guy this time around. If anyone was born to play a robot with an Austrian accent, it was definitely Arnold.

And if you're familiar with the line "Hasta la vista, baby," you can thank this movie.

Answer: Dances with Wolves

"Dances with Wolves" was a phenomenon from the moment it hit screens in 1990. Kevin Costner directed and starred in the film as Lt. John Dunbar, a Union Army officer who eventually forms a tight bond with a Lakota community while stationed on the Western frontier.

The movie was praised for treating Native American characters with far more depth than your typical Hollywood Western, even featuring significant dialogue in the Lakota language. Audiences loved it, critics pledged their firstborns, and the film went on to win seven Oscars, among them Best Picture and Best Director.

Answer: Dumb and Dumber

"Dumb and Dumber" was directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly and tells the story of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two spectacularly imbecilic friends who set out on a cross-country road trip to Aspen, Colorado.

Along the way there is general chaos, the typical comic misunderstandings, and the toilet scene that will sadly and forever be Jeff Daniels's lasting legacy. On the bright side, he was mostly known for dramatic roles before this movie, which made his commitment to the absurd even funnier.

Answer: Titanic

"Titanic" was a sensation when it was released in 1997. It still is. Personally, I never saw the appeal, but I have horrible taste. The story of the unsinkable ship was directed by James Cameron and mixed a fictional romance with the very real 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Leonardo DiCaprio played the dreamy artist Jack Dawson, while Kate Winslet portrayed Rose DeWitt Bukater. Rose was an upper-class young woman trapped in an unhappy engagement who just wanted to feel the wind in her hair and be drawn with her clothes off.

The film became the highest-grossing movie ever at that time. It won 11 Academy Awards, tying the long-standing record set by "Ben-Hur".

He totally could have fit on that door.

Answer: Goodfellas

"Goodfellas" is widely considered one of the greatest gangster films ever made, and with good reason. Directed by Martin Scorsese and based on Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book "Wiseguy", the movie is about mob associate Henry Hill, following him from his teenage years to the complete and total collapse of his criminal life.

The infamous Lufthansa heist at New York's JFK Airport was a real robbery that took place in 1978 and, at the time, became the largest cash theft in American history. Joe Pesci's performance as Tommy DeVito earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I went to a theater with two co-workers to watch "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace". It was George Lucas's big return to the world of "Star Wars" after a 16-year absence. Was it worth the price of admission? Well... it's complicated.

Released in 1999, the movie introduced audiences to Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), a young version of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman), who would one day marry the child she was babysitting.

It also introduced Jar Jar Binks.

The film became a massive box office hit despite plenty of debate over trade disputes, midichlorians, and the aforementioned Gungan. The lightsaber duel with Darth Maul, backed by John Williams's larger-than-life "Duel of the Fates" might have made it worth the price of admission... maybe.

Answer: Saving Private Ryan

"Saving Private Ryan" opened with one of the most intense battle scenes ever to hit the screen, and audiences in 1998 were blown away by it. Steven Spielberg's recreation of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach was praised for its absolutely brutal realism. The whole scene was manic, with shaky handheld cameras, deafening sounds, and chaotic combat that makes you feel trapped on the shoreline with the soldiers.

And that's just the first twenty minutes.

Tom Hanks starred as Captain John Miller leading a small squad deep into occupied France to locate Private James Ryan, whose three brothers had all been killed in action. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Director. Veterans were quoted as saying it came closer than any previous movie to capturing the terror and confusion of real combat.

Answer: Gettysburg

"Gettysburg" was an extremely ambitious Civil War epic for the early 1990s. Running about four and a half hours, the film tackled the Battle of Gettysburg, fought in July 1863, which was one of the major turning points of the American Civil War.

It was based on Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Killer Angels", which I recommend. The movie featured a massive cast, including Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Sam Elliott, and Sam Elliott's mustache.

In addition, thousands of Civil War reenactors were recruited to help recreate the sprawling battlefield scenes. A major standout performance came from Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, whose desperate defense of Little Round Top became one of the most memorable scenes of both the movie and the battle.

Answer: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Somehow Trey Parker and Matt Stone managed to turn a crude animated television show into a critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated musical. Go figure.

It's so crude and vulgar that there's not much I can say about "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" without being banned from FunTrivia (or perhaps arrested). It was filled with nonstop profanity, over-the-top satire, and songs that were way catchier than anyone had any right to expect.

The plot spirals from a tiny local panic into an absurd international war between the United States and Canada. The song "Blame Canada" earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, leading to the unusual sight of Robin Williams performing the song with a full line of female Mounties precision-dancing at the Academy Awards.

Answer: 12 Monkeys

"12 Monkeys" is a delightfully tangled-up science-fiction movie that becomes even more interesting the second (and third) time you watch it. That is, if you can get past all the drool.

Directed by Terry Gilliam and inspired by the 1962 French short film 'La Jetée', the movie follows James Cole (Bruce Willis), a prisoner sent back through time to gather information about a deadly plague. Brad Pitt is wild as Jeffrey Goines, a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination.

The film itself featured Gilliam's weird off-kilter style and darkly dystopian storytelling. The movie plays on memory, fate, and paranoia, and then it leaves you to figure out what you just watched.