This is a quiz based on movies in my favorite list. What you mainly need to do is to identify some movies from short video sequences or images. If you solve the puzzle, you will get a private giveaway link and an invite to a Steam group for more giveaways.

The game for the puzzle giveaway is Monkey Island: Special Edition Bundle, which includes two amazing adventure games (please don't enter the giveaway if you already played one of these games) created by Ron Gilbert, David Grossman, and Tim Shafer. The first group giveaway is a 30P game included in this list, the second group giveaway isn't chosen yet (I might open a poll within the group on a list of 5 or 6 games I can give away).

Videos provided in the quiz, except the first one, are from my personal video library. Audio is in Italian language only, this is made intentionally nevertheless speaking Italian language doesn't help you very much to solve the quiz. Every questions use the multi-answer feature of itstoohard.com, answers in a language other than English should be accepted (I used Wikipedia and IMDb as source), in case of problems use English. Answers aren't case sensitive, and if a movie title starts with a definite article, it should be included (The Big Whoop, not Big Whoop).

There are many well-known movies and actors/actress, so the quiz shouldn't be very hard, at least the most of it. You have a good chance of solving the puzzle even if you don't recognize any actor/actress. I designed this puzzle to be solved in more than one way.

No sharing of answers, hints, giveaway URL. Do it yourself, on your own. Please do not reply to anyone who asks for the link in the comments, it's their fault for not reading. Enter the giveaways only if you are interested to play the game, not redeeming the gift will result in a ban for you. /puzzle/V9GflxSC Please note also I have a blacklist of people who have spoiled or cheated in my puzzles, if one of them wins I'll request a reroll, don't waste time. I'll request a reroll even if the winner has abused giveaways with exploitable keys (recent exploited keys such as Darksiders and Saints Row 3 - Special Ops DLC included), don't matter this isn't a contributor giveaway.

If you wish to report any problem privately, you can get into the SteamGifts chat and PM me from there, or send a PM via Steam Forum. Don't add me, don't ask for hints via chat. I can give some hints in this thread or directly in video, if necessary. The questions have names for reference ("Q1", "Q2"...), pay attention to what you write if you post here, don't spoil the puzzle.

Quiz link

Hints scheduled time

12 years ago*

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General hint. You are Italian or not, audio might be useful.

Q11 Wikipedia lacks an article about that work, but it is mentioned in the article about the person portrayed (English verion at least).

12 years ago
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Made it to Q11... but 7 hours left to solve the puzzle, so not long enough to get the second video. Le sigh... I'll keep trying!

12 years ago
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These hint delays are killing it for me... I started solving this on Wednesday, and then got to go to work. Then the same happened for days, and the hint delays were always reset when I tried them again (Maybe because I have a dynamic IP... I dunno). It's unlikely I'll be able to solve it like this, seeing that some questions have timers for 12 hours for their hints, and seeing that they are actually useful. Still, it was a great quiz so far, would love to see some more like this in the future. Without the delays of course...

12 years ago
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You aren't the first person to report this problem. I investigated how it works. it doesn't seem IP based but cookie. Maybe I'll remove that 12 hours delay soon.

12 years ago
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Finally I reached the Q13, but it's hard as hell.

12 years ago
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Stuck on Q11 ;/

12 years ago
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More hints for Q4 (1:16 version and a new video).

Video #2 of Q11 visible without the 12 hours delay.

Refresh the page if you can't see the new links inside the video player.

About 2 hours left. Maybe later hint for the last question.

Edit: Audio of the new video is slightly edited by me for obvious reasons (2-3 seconds).

12 years ago
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I can't see new links inside the video player even after refresh. I have to wait with 12h delay. ;/

"Hints will appear in 0h 54m"

12 years ago
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I just made more visible. Refresh and retry.

12 years ago
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aaand, i failed entire quiz just because of one, last question.
i'm so happy.

12 years ago
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How frustrating is when you reach the last question and can't answer it.

12 years ago
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:(

Hey Bruto, can you post the answers?

12 years ago
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Well, I got to q4 and stuck :( Too bad I found this quiz today.

12 years ago
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Is this still going on? I thought it was over already but the timer is still ticking.

12 years ago
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It's over, the timer isn't a countdown. I am posting the solution.

12 years ago
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Thanks to all who participated. I hope it wasn't for you all just frustrating but you could get some fun. Please note, if I'll catch someone who has cheated or shared the private link with a friend to enter the giveaway, I won't send him the invite to the group, but I'd prefer to invite a non-solver instead. In case you don't receive the invite, contact me via Steam Forum. I need some time to prepare the group, so likely the group giveaways will begin on 1 September (I hope this isn't a problem for any of you, let me know).

SOLUTION

This is the solution to my movie based quiz #2, it contains the title of the movie (you can find a link with all the accepted answers after) and some hints on how to find the answers.

-- Question 1 --

Movie: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Google keywords: "You Get Nothing", "Clear as crystal"...

Actor: Gene Wilder

Wikipedia article

It's also a meme. Here a remix version.

Players: 265 - Solvers: 242 (91%)

-- Question 2 --

Movie: The Great Dictator

Actor: Charlie Chaplin

Wikipedia article

One of the solvers wrote: «Didn't realize I was watching Charlie Chaplin until I muted the dialogue». And it's actually true.

Toothbrush moustache, the armband should be very clear hints.

Players: 210 - Solvers: 181 (86%)

-- Question 3 --

Movie: Cyrano de Bergerac

Google keywords: long nose movie (2nd result for me)

Actor: Gérard Depardieu

Wikipedia article

He's famous for his long... sword.

Players: 175 - Solvers: 142 (81%)

-- Question 4 --

TV miniseries: The Odyssey

Book: Odyssey

I am disappointed by the results of this question, it wasn't so hard... The videos contain many elements which can lead you to the right way. The general idea you should have is a story set to ancient history. Weapons like the bow (not a modern bow at all), the bronze axes, the clothes... And you should be aware this is one of the early questions, and so the answer should be well known. Why don't guessing the main works of that period? I think to Iliad, Aeneid, and Odyssey...

The first video is the final part of the bow contest. If you don't recognize the popular character, it's still possible to solve the question using a search engine at least with the second video.

In the video with the old scar, especially in the updated versions, you can see what happen. The housekeeper, Eurycleia, is washing his feet and discovers the old scar Ulysses received during a boar hunt, she interrupts what she was doing, she recognizes him. It's a famous scene, see for example here.

How to found easily the answer if you don't know nothing and searching on Google with "knee" and "scar" doesn't work? One solution is to understand the scene and add a new search term (I tried to help you), another solution is trying a different search engine, Wikipedia for example. Wikipedia search function returns a very useful result after seven clearly discardable, see here.

Google keywords: recognizes scar (1st-5th results), recognizes knee scar (second result), recognizes old scar (first and second result), bow contest book (first result), famous bow contest (6th), axes bow contest (1st), axes archery contest (1st), test bow (1st result), axes archery (5th result for me), axes bow (8th)...

Actor/Actress: Bekim Fehmiu, Marcella Valeri, Irene Papas

Wikipedia article

This adaptation is quite faithful to the book, I want really recommend it. There is nothing comparable to this miniseries.

Players: 141 - Solvers: 83 (58%)

-- Question 5 --

Movie: North by Northwest

Google keywords: George Kaplan (1st result) (even "Capland" works)

Actor: Cary Grant

See also: IMDb Top 250 (rank #40)

Wikipedia article

Players: 82 - Solvers: 78 (95%)

-- Question 6 --

Movie: The Last of the Mohicans

Google keywords: movie north american (indigenous OR native) (first result)

Actors/Actresses: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe

There are some tips that suggest clearly a movie with a North-american native context, one of them is the scalping. Scalping is often associated with North American and Colonial wars.

Wikipedia article

Players: 78 - Solvers: 76 (97%)

-- Question 7 --

Movie 1: Once Upon a Time in the West

Actors/Actresses: Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda

Wikipedia article

Movie 2: Once Upon a Time in America

Actor: Brian Bloom

Wikipedia article

Same director, similar names. The first movie is a very popular Western movie (IMDb Top 250, rank #22). Once Upon a Time in America is the movie used in my previous movie based puzzle giveaway and is very popular as well (starring Robert De Niro, James Woods and others).

Players: 77 - Solvers: 69 (89%)

-- Question 8 --

Movie: 12 Angry Men (1957)

Google keywords: Movie jury (2nd result)

Actor: Henry Fonda

See also: IMDb Top 250 (rank #6)

Wikipedia article

Players: 69 - Solvers: 68 (98%)

-- Question 9 --

Movie: Strangers on a Train

Actors: Robert Walker, Farley Granger, Alfred Hitchcock (Cameo)

See also: IMDb

Wikipedia article

North by Northwest was a little hint to help you to notice the cameo.

Players: 68 - Solvers: 68 (100%)

-- Question 10 --

Movie: The Parent Trap

Google keywords: twin movie (2nd result)

Actresses: Hayley Mills, Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara

Wikipedia article

Players: 71 - Solvers: 65 (91%)

-- Question 11 --

Movie: Blaise Pascal

Google keywords: vacuum experiments air pressure torricelli

Actor: Pierre Arditi

You could read for example the Vacuum Wikipedia article to get some names of experimenters, and in Blaise Pascal Wikipedia article you can read:

«Roberto Rossellini directed a filmed biopic (entitled Blaise Pascal) which originally aired on Italian television in 1971».

IMDb article

Players: 67 - Solvers: 47 (70%)

-- Question 12 --

Play: Julius Caesar

It would have been easier to solve the question with a video of this Italian adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, unfortunately I only have a VHS version and probably not even working.

The main hints were that American actor who has played the part and you have seen in a previous video, as well as the actor who had a leading role in a Kubrick's movie.

Gene Wilder is American. Chaplin was British. Depardieu is French. Bekim Fehmiu was from Balkans. Cary Grant in a drama? Hmm... Daniel Day-Lewis is British. Jason Robards, Henry Fonda, Robert Walker and Farley Granger are Americans.

These are the movies:

Julius Caesar (1953), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring James Mason as Brutus (also know for Lolita directed by Stanley Kubrick), Marlon Brando as Mark Antony (video); this one is the movie I didn't like.

By the way, James Mason was even the antagonist in North by Northwest.

Julius Caesar (1970), directed by Stuart Burge, starring Jason Robards as Brutus (did you see him in handcuffs?). Well, here we have Charlton Heston as Antony but I think Brando is a more known Anthony than him, though Heston played Antony in three films (Google agrees with me: 1, 2). I guess this is another film as the previous one (Julius Ceaser & Antony > Brutus).

Wikipedia article. See "Protagonist debate" section for the debate between the critics about who is the real protagonist of this play.

Yes, a part of my Steam username is after this man. This was a hint.

Italian version I liked is Giulio Cesare starring Luigi Vannucchi as Brutus.

Players: 45 - Solvers: 35 (77%)

-- Question 13 --

TV mini-series: Marco Polo

It's the story of a famous Westerner traveled on the Silk Road, in the Thirteenth century. The first video contains the reconstruction of a medieval Venice, St Mark's Square, at the ending of the video you can see the Lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of this maritime republic. In the blurred video you may recognize the Great Wall of China, the Crusaders, the Chinese architecture, the Persian knights, the Mongols on horseback... This is the video without the blur effect and with Ennio Morricone's soundtrack.

Google keyword: winged lion, Venice China (14th result), Venice China movie journey (1st result), Venice China journey (1st and 2nd results), "famous traveler" china (4th result), famous asia traveller (2nd result), famous travellers (1st or 2nd result, "Marco Polo" is in the google search result summary; 3rd or 4th result as title), journey italy china (2nd result or so)

IMDb article - Wikipedia article

Players: 36 - Solvers: 26 (72%)

Multi-language answers

If you know the Italian language and have an Italian IP address, you can watch Marco Polo and L'Odissea for free on rai.tv.

12 years ago
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Oh, it was fun even though only 3 or 4 films were easy for me and the rest I had to google one way or another. Most important thing is that while it wasn't easy, you provided enough clues to make it solvable, enjoyable and interesting. Thanks!

12 years ago
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so, you're telling me that I could solve all those questions without reverse image search o_0

12 years ago
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Thanks for posting the solutions! I got hung up on 4 for a long while - which is especially embarrassing because I definitely had the requisite knowledge that should have allowed me to figure it out quickly - then after your last hint on 4 quickly made it to 11 before I got stumped and time ran out. I'm almost relieved that I didn't know the other answers well. ;)

Thank you very much for the fun hunt. I'm going to have to track down that Odyssey adaptation to watch at some point!

12 years ago
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I was stuck at Q4 until the end, through their clothes and some other things I know the story happened in BC, but unfortunately I'm bad at history and thought it's an Ancient Rome one.
When the puzzle was over, you told me an extra hint and I got the answer, then Q5Q10 are quite easy, famous movies I know or even if I don't know (like the twin movie) I can use Google Image.
But the Pascal one got me, I only know it's a french story because their clothes, but I don't know what they're doing in the lab since I don't know any Italian language.
After you post the solution, I continued and Q12
Q13 are easy for me. As I said before, I stuck at Q4 because I was on the totally wrong way, thanks to my effort on Q4, I know Q12 is about Caesar immediately. And Q13, although you add a blur layer on 2nd clip, I know it's the Great Wall, and an famous Italian went to there? He must be Marco Polo.
Thanks Bruto for this interesting movie quiz, if all the clips were in their original language, I'd still couldn't get it because I was mainly stopped by 2 Italian movies. I'll try to watch them later. Nice long journey. :-)

12 years ago
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Well Max, some your previous puzzles were with questions related to physics or so, it was time to pay the penalty. ;) Yes, in Italian language you can listen to a description of what Pascal is doing, but I think that is guessable without audio as well, or at least not enough to be clueless.

12 years ago
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Heh. I only got through #11 by combining various phrasings of the Torricelli experiment with the only line in Italian I could spell confidently enough: 'Mezza linea!' That's how I ended up here.

12 years ago
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Moar quiz please :) love movie based questions :)

12 years ago
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Honestly even after you have given the solution to number 11, I still cannot googlefu to make that work.

12 years ago
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You needed a good guess about the identity of that character, and then do a search on Wikipedia or IMDb looking for a movie about this character.

12 years ago
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I only got as far as Q11 when the giveaway was still open, but I really really enjoyed doing the giveaway, so thanks for the fun diversion! :-) Here's hoping there's another movie-themed giveaway soon... maybe I'll even save my pennies and create one myself in the next week or two. So much fun!

12 years ago
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Marco...

12 years ago
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Don't tell me you're going to wear that blindfold during a night operation?

12 years ago
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Closed 12 years ago by BrutoDetestsDT.