About This Quiz
When most people think of film, they immediately envision Hollywood, but that's not a fair picture of the cinematic world. Great movies come from all over the world, like Bong Joon Ho's work out of South Korea, Akira Kurosawa's amazing films from Japan, David Cronenberg in Canada, Lucio Fulci from Italy, Alfonso Cuaron from Mexico and so many more. Of course, the work of British filmmakers has been going strong for the better part of a century as well.
British films really take on a life of their own, separate from the Hollywood world. A British gangster film like "Snatch" or a fantasy film like "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" can bring to life a world in a way that few American films can. There's an aesthetic to Britsh films, a sense of what a British film truly is that you can see in something like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" that you'll never see in an American movie. It's more than just the accents — it's a way of telling stories. Just look at the work of legendary British directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Â
If you're a fan of cinema, then you must be a fan of British cinema as well; and if that's the case, then surely you can ID some of these movies!
Few films are as beloved as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which has been selected more than once as one of the ten best comedies of all time. In 2011, an ABC special ranked it as the second-best, Total Film magazine readers ranked it fifth, and Channel 4 in the U.K. placed it sixth.
"Slumdog Millionaire" was one of those sleeper hits that proved to be immensely popular back in 2008. Despite its popularity, the film was rather controversial as well, due to its portrayal of poverty in India and also concerns for the welfare of actors working on the film and how much money they were paid.
"Skyfall" came out in 2012, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise. It was the first James Bond movie to hit $1 billion at the box office. It also received a lot of critical praise and even pulled in two Academy Awards for Original Song and Sound Editing.
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Everyone knows "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," but if you saw it outside of the United States, what you saw was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." The name was changed due to concerns that American audiences wouldn't know what the Philosopher's Stone was and they'd be put off the movie, thinking it was about philosophy.
Helen Mirren won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, for this role. Her portrayal of the queen went over so well that the actual queen invited her to Buckingham Palace to watch the film with her. Sadly, Mirren had to decline due to a prior commitment.
"Casino Royale" is a reboot of the James Bond franchise. After Pierce Brosnan's run as Bond, the franchise was left to cool for a few years before coming back with Daniel Craig on board as Bond. The series was presented in a much more serious and gritty light than the previous iterations.
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"The King's Speech" managed to pull in 12 Oscar nominations in 2010, more than any other film that year. It won four of them, including Best Picture, and made about $400 million at the box office worldwide.
Considered to be one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, "2001: A Space Odyssey" came out in 1968. In 2010, the Moving Arts Film Journal called it the greatest film of all time. That's quite an achievement. Kubrick was born in the U.S. but spent much of his adult life across the pond and made most of his movies in the U.K.
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" was a pretty successful film overall, featuring a remarkable cast of actors who have been in comic book movies. Gary Oldman was in several Batman films; Tom Hardy was also in one Batman and "Venom"; Benedict Cumberbatch was in "Doctor Strange"; Mark Strong was in "Shazam."
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"The Bridge on the River Kwai" was a massive critical success, earning seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The Brtish Film Institute also voted "The Bridge on the River Kwai" as the 11th greatest British film of the 20th century.
The 2001 rom-com "Bridget Jones' Diary" proved to be a huge hit and raked in over $280 million at the box office. It spawned two sequels that also starred Renee Zellwegger, including "Bridget Jones's Baby," which came out 15 years after the original.
Based on the Charles Dickens novel "Oliver Twist," "Oliver!" was made in 1968 and was a massive critical success. It took Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards and even an honorary award for choreography.
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Colin Firth was originally cast as the voice of Paddington Bear in the movie "Paddington," but over time it became apparent that he sounded too mature for such a young, fluffy bear. He stepped aside, and Ben Wishaw got the role instead.
"Les Miserables" has been adapted to both stage and screen numerous times. The 2012 film version was a massive undertaking with an all-star cast, including Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Sacha Baron Cohen, among others. Its budget was $61 million, but it pulled in about $441 million worldwide.
"Lawrence of Arabia" was nominated for a staggering 10 Academy Awards and claimed seven of them, including Best Picture and Best Director. Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor and Omar Sharif for Best Supporting Actor.
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"Johnny English" is a parody of the James Bond films and the entire spy genre, featuring Atkinson in the lead role as a bumbling spy. There have been three Johnny English movies so far, which have pulled in over $400 million in total at the box office.
"Dracula," from 1958, features Christopher Lee in the lead role. He played Dracula in 10 horror films over the years, but he also played Dr. Fu Manchu five times and Sherlock Holmes three times.
"Night and the City" debuted in 1950 and was groundbreaking, thanks to its portrayal of abhorrent characters. There was no clear cut protagonist in the film, which rankled critics at the time. In later years it gained praise for being a trendsetter in the noir genre, though.
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In 1972, Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" was met with a lot of backlash for its violent and sexual content. In fact, when the movie was first released in the United States, it was given an X rating, something usually reserved for pornography.
Cillian Murphy starred in "28 Days Later" as the survivor of a mysterious pandemic. It played out like a typical zombie movie, except the monsters in this film were victims of a virus that transformed them into homicidal maniacs almost instantly and gave rise to the popular trend of "fast zombies."
In 1962, Sean Connery became James Bond in "Dr. No" and made movie history. The James Bond franchise is reportedly worth over $5 billion, and it's been estimated that 20% of the entire world's population has seen a James Bond movie.
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Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" is an action comedy heist movie that features an incredible ensemble cast and also a large dog that eats a diamond at some point in time. Brad Pitt's role required him to speak a nearly unintelligible dialect, referred to as "pikey."
"The Wicker Man" is a 1973 horror film that stars Edward Woodward. When it was remade in 2006, it featured Nic Cage in the lead role, in what is widely considered one of the worst films ever made.
"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" came out in 1998. It was the feature film debut of future action star Jason Statham. In the movie, Statham plays a character named Bacon. Ritchie had met Statham when the actor was working as a model.
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"Monty Python's Life of Brian" almost didn't get made at all, since the studio cut funding only days before production was set to begin. Lucky for the Python crew, former Beatle George Harrison was a huge fan and actually arranged funding for the movie.
Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" is the first part of his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, which also includes "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End." All three feature Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, although the stories and characters are totally unrelated. A cornetto, incidentally, is what in North America you'd called a drumstick. It's an ice cream cone.
"Attack the Block" is a 2011 sci-fi movie that introduced most of the world to future Stormtrooper John Boyega. Despite having a very limited theatrical run in the U.S., the movie did fairly well and was also critically acclaimed.
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"Great Expectations," the novel by Charles Dickens, has been made into a film several times, but the 1946 version starring Alec Guinness is clearly the standout. It's not the full retelling of Dickens' story, but rather an abridged version.
"In Bruges" features Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson. It was the debut film of director Martin McDonagh, who went on to direct the critically acclaimed "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."
"Eastern Promises" was a particularly violent gangster film from 2007. Viggo Mortensen extensively studied Russian mafia tattoos, which his character was covered in, to prepare for the role. Word is that his tattoos were so accurate he once walked into a Russian restaurant and silenced all the customers because they thought he was a real gangster.
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Nine Christmases intersect in this epic 2003 romantic comedy. From sweet romances to utter heartbreak and everything in between, this holiday movie has something for everyone. And its all-star cast takes it to the next level — Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Keira Knightley, to name just a few.
"Get Carter" is an adaptation of the novel "Jack's Return Home." It was remade in the year 2000, with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role. Michael Caine had a small role in the remake as well.
The movie "Children of Men" takes place in a dystopian society in which decades-long infertility has caused society to begin to collapse. In 2016, 117 film critics from around the world made a list of the 100 best films of the 21st century, and "Children of Men" ranked as No. 13.
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Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" was critically acclaimed and gained some notoriety for being a horror film with a female antagonist. It's the first part of what is known as the Apartment Trilogy, which also includes "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant."
"Dead of Night" is an anthology horror film from 1945. It features five short stories of terror, the most well-remembered of which is called "The Ventriloquist's Dummy" — one of the earliest instances of a film about a creepy doll.
"Hunger," starring Michael Fassbender and "Game of Thrones'" Liam Cunningham, is about the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. The strike was the culmination of a five-year protest that saw the death of 10 prisoners from starvation.
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"Blackmail" was not just Alfred Hitchcock's first film to feature sound; it was the first British film to feature sound. The movie actually began production as a silent film but then was adapted midway through to embrace new technology.
Alfred Hitchcock directed "Sabotage" back in 1936, based on a Joseph Conrad novel, "The Secret Agent." The movie is considered a classic of the spy thriller genre and holds a flawless 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Four Weddings and a Funeral" seemed to kick off the international fame of star Hugh Grant, who, for a time, was one of the most well-known actors in the world. The movie grossed $245.7 million at the box office, which is exceptional for a romantic comedy.
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"Witchfinder General" is one of those rare horror films that is based in part on actual events. The intense level of violence in the movie was virtually unheard of in 1968 and caused a lot of controversy upon the film's release.