Question 1

True or false: Kubrick directed a secret documentary about the Apollo 11 moon landing that was classified for decades.

Accepted Answer

False. False. This is a persistent conspiracy myth. Kubrick had no involvement with NASA's moon footage; he simply used similar lenses for 'Barry Lyndon'.

Question 2

True or false: Kubrick was a professional chess player who used chess strategies to plan his film blocking.

Accepted Answer

False. False. Kubrick was a skilled amateur chess player and even played at chess clubs, but he was never a professional; his films do show chess-like precision.

Question 3

True or false: Stanley Kubrick storyboarded the iconic door-chopping scene in 'The Shining'.

Accepted Answer

True. Kubrick was known for exhaustive storyboarding; the scene was carefully pre-visualized by him.

Question 4

True or false: Kubrick was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for every feature film he made after 1960.

Accepted Answer

False. False. He was only nominated for Best Director four times total: 'Dr. Strangelove', '2001', 'A Clockwork Orange', and 'Barry Lyndon', missing several films.

Question 5

True or false: Stanley Kubrick had a fear of flying, which is why he shot 'Full Metal Jacket' entirely in England.

Accepted Answer

True. Kubrick was a known aviophobe who avoided air travel. For 'Full Metal Jacket', he recreated Vietnamese locales at a disused gasworks in Beckton, East London, allowing him to film without leaving England.

Question 6

True or false: Kubrick filmed '2001: A Space Odyssey' almost entirely in a studio, using no visible wires for zero-gravity effects.

Accepted Answer

True. True. He built massive sets at MGM-British Studios and used rotating sets and hidden harnesses to create weightlessness without visible wires, a huge technical feat.

Question 7

True or false: Kubrick insisted on using a real, unmodified NASA lens to film the candlelight scenes in 'Barry Lyndon'.

Accepted Answer

True. He used a Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 lens originally built for NASA lunar missions, allowing him to shoot by natural candlelight with no artificial lighting.

Question 8

True or false: Kubrick burned the only surviving negatives of 'Eyes Wide Shut' just before his death.

Accepted Answer

False. The statement is false. Kubrick did not destroy the master negative; Warner Bros. held it and released the film after his death. He reportedly destroyed outtakes, but the completed negative survived.

Stanley Kubrick Trivia Questions