Movie Trivia Questions & Answers: Classics, Oscars & More

Movie trivia is more fun when the questions mix famous films with the people and craft behind them. These rounds cover classic cinema, blockbusters, animation, the Academy Awards and a harder film-buff challenge.

For more entertainment rounds, try our TV trivia questions, music trivia questions and the Trivia hub.

How to Play

• Read the full question before anyone answers.
• Award 1 point for each correct answer.
• Use the final round as a tie-breaker if scores are close.
• Read the short explanation after each answer for extra context.

Classic Movie Trivia

Q1. Who played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz?

Answer: Judy Garland. Why: Garland starred as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film.

Q2. Which 1942 film features Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund?

Answer: Casablanca. Why: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman played the central characters.

Q3. What is the name of the newspaper publisher at the center of Citizen Kane?

Answer: Charles Foster Kane. Why: Orson Welles played Kane and directed the film.

Q4. Who directed Psycho?

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock. Why: Hitchcock directed the 1960 thriller starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins.

Q5. Which 1975 film about a great white shark was directed by Steven Spielberg?

Answer: Jaws. Why: The film became a landmark summer blockbuster.

Q6. Who directed 2001: A Space Odyssey?

Answer: Stanley Kubrick. Why: Kubrick directed the 1968 science-fiction film.

Q7. Which actor played Rocky Balboa in the original Rocky?

Answer: Sylvester Stallone. Why: Stallone also wrote the screenplay.

Q8. What car is used as the time machine in Back to the Future?

Answer: A DeLorean DMC-12. Why: The modified DeLorean became one of the film’s most recognizable props.

Blockbusters & Franchises

Q9. Who played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Answer: Harrison Ford. Why: Ford introduced the character on film in 1981.

Q10. Who directed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?

Answer: Steven Spielberg. Why: The film was released in 1982.

Q11. Who directed Titanic?

Answer: James Cameron. Why: Cameron wrote and directed the 1997 film.

Q12. Which actor played Neo in The Matrix?

Answer: Keanu Reeves. Why: Reeves starred as computer programmer Thomas Anderson, known as Neo.

Q13. Who directed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy released from 2001 to 2003?

Answer: Peter Jackson. Why: Jackson directed all three films.

Q14. Who played Harry Potter in the eight main Harry Potter films?

Answer: Daniel Radcliffe. Why: Radcliffe played Harry from 2001 through 2011.

Q15. Who directed Avatar?

Answer: James Cameron. Why: The 2009 science-fiction film was written and directed by Cameron.

Q16. Which city is the main setting of Ghostbusters?

Answer: New York City. Why: The original 1984 film follows a paranormal-investigation team based in New York.

Animation & Family Movies

Q17. Which 1995 film was the first feature-length movie made entirely with computer animation?

Answer: Toy Story. Why: Pixar’s Toy Story was the first fully computer-animated feature film.

Q18. What kind of fish is Nemo in Finding Nemo?

Answer: A clownfish. Why: Nemo and his father Marlin are clownfish.

Q19. What are the names of the royal sisters in Frozen?

Answer: Anna and Elsa. Why: The sisters are at the center of Disney’s 2013 animated film.

Q20. What kind of creature is Shrek?

Answer: An ogre. Why: Shrek is the title character of DreamWorks’ 2001 film.

Q21. Who is Simba’s father in The Lion King?

Answer: Mufasa. Why: Mufasa is the king of the Pride Lands and Simba’s father.

Q22. Who directed Spirited Away?

Answer: Hayao Miyazaki. Why: Miyazaki wrote and directed the Studio Ghibli film.

Q23. Which Mexican celebration plays a major role in Coco?

Answer: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Why: The story connects family memory with the traditions surrounding the holiday.

Q24. How does Carl Fredricksen lift his house in Up?

Answer: With thousands of balloons. Why: The flying house is the central visual idea of Pixar’s 2009 film.

Oscars & Filmmaking

Q25. In what year was the first Academy Awards ceremony held?

Answer: 1929. Why: The first ceremony honored films released in the late 1920s.

Q26. Which film won the first Academy Award for Outstanding Picture, the category that evolved into Best Picture?

Answer: Wings. Why: The 1927 silent film received the top award at the first ceremony.

Q27. What nickname is commonly used for the Academy Awards statuette?

Answer: Oscar. Why: The Academy Awards are widely known as the Oscars.

Q28. What does a cinematographer primarily oversee?

Answer: The camera and visual photography of a film. Why: Cinematography includes choices about lighting, lenses, framing and camera movement.

Q29. What is a screenplay?

Answer: The written script for a film. Why: A screenplay contains dialogue, scene directions and story action.

Q30. What does a film editor do?

Answer: Selects and assembles shots into the finished sequence. Why: Editing shapes pacing, continuity and storytelling.

Q31. What does a film composer create?

Answer: Original music for the movie. Why: The score supports mood, character and story.

Q32. What U.S. program selects films for preservation because of cultural, historical or aesthetic significance?

Answer: The National Film Registry. Why: The Library of Congress maintains the registry.

Movie Challenge Round

Q33. Which 1972 crime film follows the Corleone family?

Answer: The Godfather. Why: Francis Ford Coppola directed the film based on Mario Puzo’s novel.

Q34. Which film became the first non-English-language movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?

Answer: Parasite. Why: Bong Joon Ho’s South Korean film won Best Picture at the 2020 Oscars.

Q35. Which 1957 drama takes place largely inside a jury deliberation room?

Answer: 12 Angry Men. Why: The film focuses on jurors debating a murder verdict.

Q36. Which 1991 thriller won Best Picture and also won acting Oscars for both of its leads?

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs. Why: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins won the lead acting awards.

Q37. Which 1975 film also won the five major Oscars: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay?

Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Why: It became one of the few films to sweep those five major categories.

Q38. Which director made Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull?

Answer: Martin Scorsese. Why: Scorsese directed all three films.

Q39. Which filmmaker directed Seven Samurai?

Answer: Akira Kurosawa. Why: The 1954 Japanese film became highly influential worldwide.

Q40. What is the fictional African nation in Black Panther?

Answer: Wakanda. Why: Wakanda is the technologically advanced homeland of the Black Panther.

Reliable Sources

Important facts were checked against established science, film, museum or music-industry references:

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — Oscars
• Library of Congress — National Film Registry
• American Film Institute
• Pixar — Feature Films

FAQ

What makes a good movie trivia question? A good movie question has one clear answer and does not depend on opinion, fan theories or a fast-changing box-office ranking.

Is this movie trivia only about Hollywood? No. The set includes international filmmakers and animation alongside major U.S. films.