Fails the Bechdel test
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
1997. Directed by Jay Roach, written by Mike Myers.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
30 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Austin Powers is a 60's spy who is cryogenically frozen and released in the 1990's. The world is a very different place for Powers. Unfortunately for Austin, everyone is no longer sex-mad. Although he may be in a different decade, his mission is still the same. He has teamed up with Vanessa Kensington to stop the evil Dr. Evil, who was also frozen in the past. Dr. Evil stole a nuclear weapon and is demanding a payment of (when he realizes its the 90's) 100 billion dollars. Can Austin Powers stop this madman or will he catch up with Evil's baddies, with names like Alotta Fagina and Random Task? Only time will tell.
- Released
- 02 May 1997
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Austin 243 lines, man
- Vanessa 108 lines, woman
- Dr. Evil 101 lines, man
- Basil Exposition 55 lines, man
- Scott Evil 26 lines, man
- Alotta 21 lines, woman
- Number Two 19 lines, man
- Mrs. Kensington 18 lines, woman
- Commander Gilmour 15 lines, man
- Music 15 lines
Full cast, 73 people
- Mike Myers as Austin Powers / Dr. Evil
- Elizabeth Hurley as Vanessa Kensington
- Michael York as Basil Exposition
- Mimi Rogers as Mrs. Kensington
- Robert Wagner as Number Two
- Seth Green as Scott Evil
- Fabiana Udenio as Alotta Fagina
- Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissina
- Will Ferrell as Mustafa
- Paul Dillon as Patty O'Brien
- Charles Napier as Commander Gilmour
- Joann Richter as '60s Model
- Anastasia Sakelaris as '60s Model
- Afifi Alaouie as '60s Model
- Monet Mazur as Mod Girl
- Mark Bringelson as Andy Warhol
- Clint Howard as Radar Operator
- Elya Baskin as General Borschevsky
- Carlton Lee Russell as Gary Coleman
- Daniel Weaver as Vanilla Ice
- Neil Mullarkey as Quartermaster Clerk
- Lea Sullivan as Go Go Dancer
- Chekesha Van Putten as Go Go Dancer
- Heather Marie Marsden as Go Go Dancer
- Sarah Christine Smith as Go Go Dancer
- Laura Payne-Gabriel as Go Go Dancer
- Joe Son as Random Task
- Tyde Kierney as Las Vegas Tourist
- Larry Thomas as Casino Dealer
- Cheryl Bartel as Fembot
- Cindy Margolis as Fembot
- Donna W. Scott as Fembot
- Barbara Moore as Fembot
- Cynthia Lamontagne as Fembot
- Brian George as UN Secretary
- Kaye Wade as Mrs. Exposition
- Steve Monroe as Son
- Vince Melocchi as Dad
- Patrick Bristow as Bolton, Virtucon Tour Guide
- Jim McMullan as American UN Representative
- Robin Gammell as British UN Representative
- Ted Kairys as Eastern European Technician
- Burt Bacharach as Himself
- Douglas Aarniokoski as Voice on Dr. Evil's Telephone (voice) (uncredited)
- Lana Antonova as Go-Go Dancer (uncredited)
- Tom Arnold as Cowboy (uncredited)
- Johnathan Brownlee as Sixties Groupie (uncredited)
- Lois Chiles as Steamrolled Henchman's Wife (uncredited)
- Lisa Danielle as Skater (uncredited)
- Carrie Fisher as Therapist (uncredited)
- Joe Grisaffi as Gunman (uncredited)
- Susanna Hoffs as Ming Tea (uncredited)
- Richard Joel as Forrest Gump (uncredited)
- Stuart D. Johnson as Ming Tea (uncredited)
- Mike Judge as Beavis / Butthead (voice) (uncredited)
- Sergio Kato as Security Guard (uncredited)
- Hannah Kozak as Rita (uncredited)
- Erik Liberman as Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club Dancer (uncredited)
- Rob Lowe as Decapitated Henchman's Friend (uncredited)
- Michael McDonald as Henchman Flattened by Steamroller (uncredited)
- Ayesha Orange as Dancer (uncredited)
- Cheri Oteri as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
- Gwenda Perez as Gambler (uncredited)
- Ben Scott as Jurgen (uncredited)
- John-Clay Scott as Don Luigi (uncredited)
- Christian Slater as Easily Fooled Security Guard (uncredited)
- Matthew Sweet as Ming Tea (uncredited)
- Patricia Tallman as Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club Waitress
- Andreanna Veith as Go-Go Dancer (uncredited)
- Isabella Vosmikova as Mod Girl (uncredited)
- Sterling Wolfe as Frozen Celebrity (uncredited)
- SGC Belfry Ted Nude-Gent as Mr Bigglesworth
- Mike Hagerty as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 132
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 13 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 14 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 24 |
| 25 to 27 | 5 | 42 |
| 28 to 30 | 14 | 16 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 50 |
| 37 to 39 | 5 | 9 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 27 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 26 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 2 | 3 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 13 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 37 |
| 67 to 69 | 16 | 17 |
| 70 to 72 | 14 | 48 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 17 | 28 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 16 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 8 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 4 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 10 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 39 |
| 100 to 102 | 8 | 21 |
| 103 to 105 | 5 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 6 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 5 |
| 112 to 114 | 3 | 7 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 3 |
| 118 to 120 | 3 | 16 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 2 |
| 124 to 126 | 7 | 17 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 0 |
| 130 to 132 | 5 | 22 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
189 lines from women, 550 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
30 women and 39 men in the cast. 8 women and 30 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 18 of 825.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 56 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (1,948), men 76% (6,206). Women have 26% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
2
Two men
49
Exhibit E: behind the camera
7 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jay Roach (man)
- Written by
- Mike Myers (man), Michael McCullers (man)
- Produced by
- Demi Moore (woman), Jennifer Todd (woman), Suzanne Todd (woman), Mike Myers (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Deming (man)
- Edited by
- Dawn Hoggatt (woman), Debra Neil-Fisher (woman)
- Music by
- George S. Clinton (man)
- Production design by
- Cynthia Kay Charette (woman)
- Costumes by
- Deena Appel (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
6 women, 19 men, 12 not listed
-
Other crew
6 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Hurley 31, Fabiana Udenio 32, Mimi Rogers 41, Mindy Sterling 43
Men
Seth Green 23, Will Ferrell 29, Mike Myers 33, Paul Dillon 36, Michael York 55, Robert Wagner 67
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $16.5 million
- Box office
- $67.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 132 scenes and 825 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
