Passes the Bechdel test
Big Trouble in Little China
1986. Directed by John Carpenter, written by Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein and W.D. Richter.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 180. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) gets dragged into Chinatown after a routine favor for Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) spirals into a kidnapping. Miao Yin (Suzee Pai) is taken by forces tied to David Lo Pan (James Hong), an ancient sorcerer seeking a bride to break his curse. Burton and Wang descend into layered gang warfare between rival tongs and supernatural enforcers known as the Storms. Allies form quickly and unevenly, including Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) and Egg Shen (Victor Wong), who reveal the mythic structure beneath the criminal surface. Every rescue attempt collapses deeper into Lo Pan's controlled domain.
- Released
- 02 Jul 1986
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jack Burton 293 lines, man
- Wang Chi 166 lines, man
- Gracie Law 86 lines, woman
- Egg Shen 58 lines, man
- David Lo Pan 38 lines, man
- Margo Litzenberger 33 lines, woman
- Eddie Lee 32 lines, man
- Uncle Chu 16 lines, man
- Thunder 10 lines, man
- American Girl 7 lines, woman
Full cast, 53 people
- Kurt Russell as Jack Burton
- Kim Cattrall as Gracie Law
- Dennis Dun as Wang Chi
- James Hong as David Lo Pan
- Victor Wong as Egg Shen
- Kate Burton as Margo
- Donald Li as Eddie Lee
- Carter Huang Chia-Ta as Thunder
- Peter Kwong as Rain
- James Pax as Lightning
- Suzee Pai as Miao Yin
- Chao Li Chi as Uncle Chu
- Jeff Imada as Needles
- Rummel Mor as Joe Lucky
- Craig Ng as One Ear
- June Kyoto Lu as White Tiger
- Noel Toy as Mrs. O'Toole
- Jade Go as Chinese Girl in White Tiger
- Jerry Hardin as Pinstripe Lawyer
- James Lew as Chang Sing #1
- Jim Lau as Chang Sing #2
- Kenny Endoso as Chang Sing #3
- Stuart Quan as Chang Sing #4
- Gary Toy as Chang Sing #5
- George Cheung as Chang Sing #6
- Jimmy Jue as Wounded Chang Sing
- Noble Craig as Sewer Monster
- Danny Kwan as Chinese Guard
- Min Luong as Tara
- Paul J.Q. Lee as Chinese Gambler
- Al Leong as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Gerald Okamura as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- William S. Wong as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Eric Lee as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Yukio G. Collins as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Bill M. Ryusaki as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Brian Imada as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Nathan Jung as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Dan Inosanto as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Vernon Rieta as Wing Kong Hatchet Man
- Daniel Wong as Wing Kong Security Guard
- Daniel Lee as Wing Kong Security Guard
- Lia Chang as Female Wing Kong Guard
- Diana Tanaka as Female Wing Kong Guard
- Donna L. Noguchi as Female Wing Kong Guard
- Shinko Isobe as Female Wing Kong Guard
- John Carpenter as Worker in Chinatown (uncredited)
- Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Wing Kong Man - Extra (uncredited)
- Conan Lee as Chang Sing Member (uncredited)
- Leo Lee as Chang Sing Fighter in Ally (uncredited)
- Bill Saito as Wing Kong Hatchet Man (uncredited)
- Phil Jordan as Chinatown Patron (uncredited)
- Dawna Lee Heising as Priestess (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 180
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 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 31 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 25 |
| 17 to 20 | 8 | 9 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 6 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 12 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 17 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 1 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 18 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 64 | 7 | 51 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 14 |
| 69 to 72 | 9 | 7 |
| 73 to 76 | 3 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 3 |
| 81 to 84 | 2 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 22 | 43 |
| 89 to 92 | 9 | 28 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 13 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 51 |
| 101 to 104 | 2 | 5 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 28 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 19 |
| 113 to 116 | 4 | 4 |
| 117 to 120 | 10 | 5 |
| 121 to 124 | 4 | 16 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 3 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 4 |
| 133 to 136 | 18 | 29 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 28 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 21 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 19 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 4 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 3 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 35 |
| 161 to 164 | 9 | 12 |
| 165 to 168 | 5 | 29 |
| 169 to 172 | 3 | 5 |
| 173 to 176 | 5 | 3 |
| 177 to 180 | 4 | 13 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MARGO LITZENBERGER: Oh, my God, this is like unreal. GRACIE LAW: Just write it all down, Hargo, get yourself a Pulitzer. Then we take 'em to the cleaners.
GRACIE LAW: Yes ••• no ••• MIAO YIN: Yes. GRACIE LAW: What is going on here ..• ? Is this some kind of •.•
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 18 are women's.
142 lines from women, 640 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 37 men in the cast. 7 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 69 of 789.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 104 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (1,404), men 82% (6,360).
Exhibit E: 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
8
Two men
74
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Written by
- David Z. Weinstein (gender not listed), Gary Goldman (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Franco (man)
- Shot by
- Dean Cundey (man)
- Edited by
- Steve Mirkovich (man), Edward A. Warschilka (man), Mark Warner (man)
- Music by
- John Carpenter (man), Alan Howarth (man)
- Production design by
- John J. Lloyd (man)
- Costumes by
- April Ferry (woman)
- Cast by
- Joanna Merlin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 24 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 11 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 6 men
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kate Burton 28, Kim Cattrall 29
Men
James Pax 24, Donald Li 25, Dennis Dun 34, Peter Kwong 34, Kurt Russell 35, Carter Huang Chia-Ta 39, James Hong 57, Victor Wong 58
Exhibit H: the money
It made 44% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $11.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 180 scenes and 789 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
