Nicolas Cage Characters and Movies Quiz

Answer: Face/Off

Directed by John Woo, "Face/Off" was one of those 1990s action movies with a ludicrous premise that worked perfectly with modest suspension of disbelief. John Travolta played FBI agent Sean Archer; Nicolas Cage played criminal Castor Troy. In a twisted turn of events, both experienced an experimental face transplant that allowed Archer to virtually become Troy and prevent a bombing in Los Angeles.

The movie was one of the most successful releases of 1997.

Answer: Con Air

Cage was perhaps the least criminal of the convicts taking to the sky in "Con Air" (if there was any degree to it). Playing Cameron Poe, he was the anti-hero who partnered with U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin (played by John Cusack) to prevent a plane full of criminals from hijacking the aircraft and flying everyone to another country.

"Con Air" was director Simon West's first movie and, despite middling reviews, it was a blockbuster film upon release in 1997.

Answer: National Treasure

This Disney-backed, action-packed "Da Vinci Code" adventure film starred Cage and released to theatres (to great box office numbers) in 2004. Featuring Cage as a cryptographer on the hunt for treasure, the movie combined the then-popularity of cryptexes, complex puzzles, and American history with the intrigue of a treasure hunt. It helped, at least a little bit, that Cage was also up against people on the hunt for immense wealth hidden by the American founding fathers.

A sequel, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets", was released in late 2007 with Cage reprising his role.

Answer: Gone in 60 Seconds

Jerry Bruckheimer sure seemed to like Cage seeing as this was one of a handful produced by the Hollywood figure and starring Cage in the lead role. "Gone in 60 Seconds" was one of a number of car heist movies released at the turn of the century (it came out in 2000).

This one starred Cage as Memphis Raines who, in an attempt to save his brother's life, needed to steal fifty cars. Giovanni Ribisi played his brother, Kip, while Angelina Jolie played his love interest in this high-octane thriller based, loosely, on a 1974 action movie.

Answer: The Rock

Acting alongside Sean Connery, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, and William Forsythe in this early Michael Bay action film, Cage took the role of Stanley Goodspeed, an FBI agent put together with a handful of special services to stop a terrorist attack taking place on Alcatraz Island. Cage ended up taking the role after Arnold Schwarzenegger turned it down.

Despite this, it was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1996, allowing Michael Bay to secure funding for "Armageddon" the following year.

Answer: Mandy

In this hyper-violent 2018 Panos Cosmatos film, Nicolas Cage played Red, who set out to exact revenge when his girlfriend, Mandy, was killed by cultists known as the Children of the New Dawn. What resulted was a psychedelic bloodbath led by rage, cocaine, and LSD through the California mountains in 1983.

The movie was critically lauded, and a surprise hit at Sundance and subsequent festivals though it failed to recoup its budget.

Answer: The Wicker Man

In one of Cage's worst-reviewed outings, he played Edward Malus in the 2006 remake of "The Wicker Man", a film that saw a detective head to an all-women neo-Pagan island on the search for his daughter, Rowan. What he found there was a mystery that had him at the center of all the weird goings-on there. Critics panned the film heavily and it turned out to be a box office bomb. Cage, as featured in several scenes, would become widespread as internet memes, especially the deleted scene in which he was attacked by bees.

Answer: Moonstruck

Though Cage already found mainstream success in "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Raising Arizona", the 1987 film "Moonstruck" was another hit for the actor as he rose in popularity. Playing opposite Cher in her Oscar-winning role, Cage was Ronny Cammareri, the estranged brother of her fiance, Johnny. The movie followed the difficult relationship the two shared over a couple of weeks in New York City, complicating everything Loretta thought she wanted and getting her family mixed up in the whole ordeal.

"Moonstruck" was a massive hit, and Cage's first time acting in a Best Picture-nominated film.

Answer: Ghost Rider

A Marvel superhero movie even preceding "Iron Man", "Ghost Rider" featured Cage as Johnny Blaze who, after engaging in a deal with Mephistopheles, would become his bounty hunter, Ghost Rider, to do his bidding. It took five years of negotiations to bring Cage to the big screen for this one, but that said, it was a success when he made it. Director Mark Steven Johnson, who also directed Ben Affleck in "Daredevil", managed to make a box office hit and it led to Cage starring in the 2012 sequel, "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance".

Answer: Willy's Wonderland

Taking no official name in this movie, "Willy's Wonderland" was one of those weird, niche horror titles with a near-silent protagonist that filled a comedic cult niche upon its release in early 2021. Also produced by Cage, "Willy's Wonderland" took a plot similar to the "Five Nights at Freddy's" video game series in which workers/visitors were terrorized by haunting animatronic creatures on the loose in a Chuck E. Cheese-esque fun centre. Released on VOD due to COVID-19, it turned out to be a bit of a bust in the box office if only because of the awkward circumstances.