Can You Guess the Movie Based on Its Tagline?

By: William J. Wright
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
Can You Guess the Movie Based on Its Tagline?
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd./ 20th Century-Fox

About This Quiz

Cinema has always resided at the intersection of art and commerce. Cinephiles like to wax romantic about the function of film in the context of society and study every frame of their favorite films for meaning and metaphor. Make no mistake, these are worthy and valid endeavors, but the fact of the matter remains that movies are products. And products exist to be sold (that's why they call it the movie business). An integral part of selling anything, be it a car, cat food or a film is advertising. No doubt, a memorable ad campaign can outlive even a great product.

One of the most effective components of film advertising is the tagline - a short phrase that hooks an audience and pulls them into the theater. A tagline can be a line of dialogue, a literal summation or a vague phrase, a pithy pun or a single word that captures the spirit of a movie and packages it as a tiny mimetic unit. Composing great taglines is an art, and the line between a good one and bad one is razor thin. One part ballyhoo and one part poetry, taglines are the movie poster equivalent of haiku.

Be afraid, be very afraid because this time, it's personal! Just when you thought it was safe to take a film quiz, we've assembled a collection of some of the most memorable movies in Hollywood history. Can you match them to their famous taglines? Go ahead. Make our day!


Question 1 - theater
andresr/ E+/ Getty Images
"In space no one can hear you scream" is the tagline from which film?
"Invaders from Mars"
"Xtro"
"Alien"
"Lifeforce"
Question 2 -  theater
Klaus Vedfelt/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
The advertising for this blockbuster '80s comedy asked "Who you gonna call?" Can you name the film with this famous tag line?
"Ghostbusters"
"The Blues Brothers"
"Caddyshack"
"Stripes"
Question 3 -  theater
izusek/ E+/ Getty Images
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . ." is the tagline for what 1970s sci-fi film?
"West World"
"The Andromeda Strain"
"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes"
"Star Wars"

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Question 4 -  theater
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Can you name the classic movie musical that promised "The happiest sound in the world"?
"Singin' in the Rain"
"Meet Me in St, Louis"
"The Sound of Music"
"West Side Story"
Question 5 -  theater
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"A man went looking for America and couldn't find it anywhere" is the tagline for which counterculture favorite?
"Hair"
"The Trip"
"Easy Rider"
"Billy Jack"
Question 6 -  theater
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The poster for this notorious horror movie asked "Who will survive and what will be left of them?" Can you name this film?
"The Last House on the Left"
"Friday the 13th"
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
"Motel Hell"

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Question 7 -  theater
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Can you name the 1940s noir film that told us "From the moment they met it was murder"?
"The Maltese Falcon"
"Double Indemnity"
"The Big Sleep"
"Out of the Past"
Question 8 -  theater
izusek/ E+/ Getty Images
Do you remember which historical epic had the tagline "Every man dies, not every man really lives"?
"Spartacus"
"Ben Hur"
"Rob Roy"
"Braveheart"
Question 9 -  theater
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This 1990s comedy used the blunt truism "Work sucks" as a tagline. Can you name it?
"Office Space"
"Dirty Work"
"Tommy Boy"
"Wayne's World?

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Question 10 -  theater
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Which movie's tagline asks "Where do you go when the record is over"?
"Grease"
"Staying Alive"
"Saturday Night Fever"
"Thank God It's Friday"
Question 11 -  theater
moodboard/ Cultura/ Getty Images
Which 1968 film promised "The ultimate trip"?
"Barbarella"
"Planet of the Apes"
"Wild in the Streets"
"2001: A Space Odyssey"
Question 12 -  theater
kali9/ E+/ Getty Images
"Mischief. Mayhem. Soap." is the tagline of which film?
"Fight Club"
"Donnie Darko"
"The Machinist"
"Choke"

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Question 13 -  theater
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Which Disney classic reminds us "Midnight never strikes when you're in love"?
"Beauty and the Beast"
"Snow White"
"Sleeping Beauty"
"Cinderella"
Question 14 -  theater
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Can you name the blockbuster sports film with the tagline "His whole life was a million to one shot"?
"Rocky"
"The Main Event"
"Raging Bull"
"The Champ"
Question 15 -  theater
Klaus Vedfelt/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
"Family isn't a word, it's a sentence" in this quirky comedy. Can you ID this film?
"Parenthood"
"The Royal Tenenbaums"
"Meet the Fockers"
"Postcards from the Edge"

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Question 16 -  theater
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"Nothing on Earth could come between them" is the tagline of which epic disaster movie?
"The Towering Inferno"
"The Poseidon Adventure"
"Titanic"
"It Happened One Night"
Question 17 -  theater
kali9/ E+/ Getty Images
Which iconic comedy chronicles "One man's struggle to take it easy"?
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
"The Big Lebowski"
"Slacker"
"Employee of the Month"
Question 18 -  theater
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This modern horror classic is the story of "The Night HE came home." Can you name this frightening flick?
"Friday the 13th"
"The Burning"
"Black Christmas"
"Halloween"

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Question 19 -  theater
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This nostalgic film asks the question "Where were you in '62?" Can you name this movie?
"Losin' It"
"That Thing You Do"
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
"American Graffiti"
Question 20 -  theater
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"Reality is a thing of the past" in this action-packed cyberpunk thriller. Can you name this film?
"Johnny Mnemonic"
"Blade Runner"
"The Matrix"
"Ready Player One"
Question 21 -  theater
John Eder/ Stone/ Getty Images
Can you name the crime picture with the tagline "They're young, they're in love and they kill people"?
"Natural Born Killers"
"Bonnie and Clyde"
"Kalifornia"
"Starkweather"

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Question 22 -  theater
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Which '90s indie comedy had this tagline: "Just because they serve you . . . Doesn't mean they like you"?
"Swingers"
"Empire Records"
"In the Soup"
"Clerks"
Question 23 -  theater
andresr/ E+/ Getty Images
Can you remember which film had the poignant tagline "The first casualty of war is innocence"?
"Platoon"
"Full Metal Jacket"
"Apocalypse Now"
"Casualties of War"
Question 24 -  theater
kali9/ E+/ Getty Images
Which sci-fi movie based on a popular TV show used the inspiring tagline "The human adventure is just beginning" on its posters?
"Lost in Space"
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture"
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"
"The Planet of the Apes"

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Question 25 -  theater
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Which two-fisted action flick advertised with the tagline "The dancing's over. Now it gets dirty"?
"Cobra"
"Lethal Weapon"
"Road House"
"Next of Kin"
Question 26 -  theater
Klaus Vedfelt/ DigitalVision/ Getty Images
"Good girls want him bad. Bad girls want him worse" is the tagline from which comedy set in the 1950s?
"Cry-Baby"
"Grease"
"The Delinquents"
"Mischief"
Question 27 -  theater
kali9/ E+/ Getty Images
"Love means never having to say you're sorry" in this tearjerker. Can you ID this movie from its tagline?
"Brian's Song"
"Oliver's Story"
"Love Story"
"Mahogany"

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Question 28 -  theater
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This sci-fi horror film warned us "Be afraid. Be very afraid." Can you name it?
"The Thing"
"Invasion f the Body Snatchers"
"Aliens"
"The Fly"
Question 29 -  theater
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Which movie's poster warned us "They won't stay dead"?
"Plague of the Zombies"
"White Zombie"
"I Walked with a Zombie"
"Night of the Living Dead"
Question 35 -  theater
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The knucklehead hero of this horror fantasy cult hit is "Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on Gas." Based on this tagline, can you name the movie?
"Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"
"Time After Time"
"Army of Darkness"
"A Kid in King Arthur's Court"

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Question 30 -  theater
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"He's out to prove he's got nothing to prove" is the tagline from which 2004 comedy?
"Anchorman"
"Napoleon Dynamite"
"Garfield: The Movie"
"Mr. 3000"
Question 31 -  theater
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Which film's tagline is "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . . "?
"Orca"
"The Deep"
"Jaws: The Revenge"
"Jaws 2"
Question 32 -  theater
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"You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction" is the tagline from which '90s hit film?
"Get Shorty"
"Jackie Brown"
"Reservoir Dogs"
"Pulp Fiction"

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Question 33 -  theater
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Can you name the superhero movie that promised "You'll believe a man can fly"?
"Superman: The Movie"
"Iron Man"
"Batman"
"Watchmen"
Question 34 -  theater
Adam Hester/ Photodisc/ Getty Images
Can you name the science fiction blockbuster with the tagline that told us "We are not alone"?
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
"Starship Invasions"
"The Man Who Fell to Earth"
"Chariots of the Gods"