Fails the Bechdel test

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Name: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Released: 1989

1989. Directed by Stephen Herek, written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 3 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

Poster for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

The film

In the small town of San Dimas, a few miles away from Los Angeles, there are two nearly brain dead teenage boys going by the names of Bill S, Preston ESQ. and Ted Theodore Logan, they have a dream together of starting their own rock and roll band called the "Wyld Stallyns". Unfortunately, they are still in high school and on the verge of failing out of their school as well, and if they do not pass their upcoming history report, they will be separated as a result of Ted's father sending him to military school. But, what Bill and Ted do not know is that they must stay together to save the future. So, a man from the future named Rufus came to help them pass their report. So, both Bill and Ted decided to gather up historical figures which they need for their report. They are hoping that this will help them pass their report so they can stay together.

Released: 17 Feb 1989
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Music
Rated: PG
IMDb: 6.9 / 10
Metascore: 50 / 100
Awards: 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Ted 226 lines, man
Bill 205 lines, man
Rufus 37 lines, man
Bill/Ted 18 lines, man
Billy The Kid 15 lines, man
Captain Williams 12 lines, man
Missy 10 lines, woman
Lincoln 8 lines, man
Williams 8 lines, man
Freud 7 lines, man

Full cast, 55 people

Keanu Reeves as Ted 'Theodore' Logan
Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston
George Carlin as Rufus
Terry Camilleri as Napoleon
Dan Shor as Billy the Kid
Tony Steedman as Socrates
Rod Loomis as Freud
Al Leong as Genghis Khan
Jane Wiedlin as Joan of Arc
Robert V. Barron as Abraham Lincoln
Clifford David as Beethoven
Hal Landon Jr. as Captain Logan
Bernie Casey as Mr. Ryan
Amy Stoch as Missy / Mom
J. Patrick McNamara as Mr. Preston
Frazier Bain as Deacon
Diane Franklin as Princess Joanna
Kimberley Kates as Princess Elizabeth
William Robbins as Ox
Steve Shepherd as Randolf
Anne Machette as Buffy
Traci Dawn Davis as Jody
Duncan McLeod as Bartender
John Clure as Tattooed Cowboy
Jim Cody Williams as Bearded Cowboy
Dusty O'Dee as Old West Ugly Dude
Heather Pittman as Kerry
Ruth Pittman as Daphne
Richard Alexander as Bowling Alley Manager
James Bowbitch as John the Serf
John Karlsen as Evil Duke
Jeanne Hermine Herek as Mother at Waterslides
Jonathan Bond as Waterslide Attendant
Jeff S. Goodrich as Music Store Salesman
Lisa Rubin as Girl at Mall
Marjean Holden as Student Speaker
Claudia Templeton as Aerobic Saleswoman
Carol Gossler as Aerobic Instructor
James D. Nelson as Mall Photographer
Marcia Darroch as Store Clerk
Steven Rotblatt as Police Psychiatrist
Ed Solomon as Stupid Waiter
Chris Matheson as Ugly Waiter
Mark Ogden as Neanderthal #1
Tom Dugan as Neanderthal #2
Ron Althoff as Security Guard
Martha Davis as The Three Most Important People In The World
Fee Waybill as The Three Most Important People In The World
Clarence Clemons as The Three Most Important People In The World
Phillip V. Caruso as Dance Photographer (uncredited)
Lee Hollingsworth as Student (uncredited)
Greg Lutz as Deputy (uncredited)
Michael S. Murphey as Mr. Ward (uncredited)
Golan Ramraz as Kid at Waterslides (uncredited)
Darrell Redleaf-Fielder as Mall Goer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 66

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	0	9
5 to 6	0	6
7 to 8	0	14
9 to 10	1	20
11 to 12	0	2
13 to 14	0	5
15 to 16	0	6
17 to 18	4	57
19 to 20	0	13
21 to 22	0	31
23 to 24	0	10
25 to 26	0	3
27 to 28	0	10
29 to 30	0	48
31 to 32	0	11
33 to 34	0	12
35 to 36	0	11
37 to 38	2	54
39 to 40	0	4
41 to 42	1	30
43 to 44	0	21
45 to 46	0	1
47 to 48	0	37
49 to 50	8	14
51 to 52	0	6
53 to 54	4	14
55 to 56	0	5
57 to 58	0	6
59 to 60	0	76
61 to 62	0	12
63 to 64	1	43
65 to 66	0	3

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, 3 are women's.

21 lines from women, 594 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

8 women and 31 men in the cast. 3 women and 24 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 56 of 670. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 210 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 3% of the words (162), men 97% (5,915).

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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Stephen Herek (man)
Written by: Chris Matheson (man), Ed Solomon (man)
Produced by: Scott Kroopf (man), Michael S. Murphey (man), Joel Soisson (man)
Shot by: Tim Suhrstedt (man)
Edited by: Larry Bock (man), Patrick Rand (gender not listed)
Music by: David Newman (man)
Production design by: Roy Forge Smith (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Jill M. Ohanneson (woman)
Cast by: Stanzi Stokes (gender not listed)