Fails the Bechdel test

Blade

Name: Blade
Released: 1998

1998. Directed by Stephen Norrington, written by David S. Goyer.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 5 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 1 out of 3.

The film

In a world where vampires walk the earth, Blade has a goal. His goal is to rid the world of all vampire evil. When Blade witnesses a vampire bite Dr. Karen Jenson, he fights away the beast and takes Jenson back to his hideout. Here, alongside Abraham Whistler, Blade attempts to help heal Jenson. The vampire Quinn who was attacked by Blade, reports back to his master Deacon Frost, who is planning a huge surprise for the human population.

Released: 21 Aug 1998
Genres: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Blade 153 lines, man
Karen 123 lines, woman
Frost 94 lines, man
Whistler 56 lines, man
Quinn 16 lines, man
Miracia 14 lines, woman
Curtis 13 lines, man
Dragonetti 13 lines, man
Gideon 12 lines, man
Vanessa 12 lines, woman

Full cast, 60 people

Wesley Snipes as Blade
Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost
Kris Kristofferson as Whistler
N'Bushe Wright as Karen
Donal Logue as Quinn
Udo Kier as Dragonetti
Arly Jover as Mercury
Traci Lords as Racquel
Kevin Patrick Walls as Krieger
Tim Guinee as Curtis Webb
Sanaa Lathan as Vanessa
Eric Edwards as Pearl
Donna Wong as Nurse
Carmen Thomas as Senior Resident
Shannon Lee as Resident
Kenny Johnson as Heatseeking Dennis
Clint Curtis as Creepy Morgue Guy
Judson Scott as Pallantine
Sidney S. Liufau as Japanese Doorman
Keith Leon Williams as Kam
Andray Johnson as Paramedic
Stephen R. Peluso as Paramedic
Marcus Aurelius as Pragmatic Policeman
John Enos III as Blood Club Bouncer
Eboni 'Chrystal' Adams as Martial Arts Kid
Lyle Conway as Reichardt
Freeman White as Menacing Stud
D.V. DeVincentis as Vampire Underling
Marcus Salgado as Frost's Goon
Esau McKnight as Frost's Goon
Erl Van Douglas as Von Esper
Matt Schulze as Crease
Lennox Brown as Pleading Goon
Yvette Ocampo as Party Girl
Irena Stepić as Slavic Vampire Lord
Jenya Lano as Russian Woman
Levan Uchaneishvili as Russian Vampire
Chris Casamassa as Vampire (uncredited)
Ron Cobert as Vampire (uncredited)
Laura Cordova as Vampire (uncredited)
Nikki DiSanto as Vampire Victim (uncredited)
Ryan Glorioso as Blood Bath Vampire (uncredited)
Al Goto as Henchman (uncredited)
Mark Heenehan as Club Patron (uncredited)
Steven Ho as Frost's Goon (uncredited)
Jeff Imada as Henchman (uncredited)
Diana Lee Inosanto as Blood Bath Vampire (uncredited)
Steven D. Ito as Henchman (uncredited)
Elliott James as Blood Club (uncredited)
Ted King as Vampire at Rave (uncredited)
Henry Kingi as Bartender (uncredited)
Will Leong as Henchman (uncredited)
David Matthiessen as Vampire (uncredited)
Stephen Norrington as Vampire (uncredited)
Gerald Okamura as Vampire (uncredited)
Frankie Ray as Vampire Lord (uncredited)
Simon Rhee as Henchman (uncredited)
Michael Stumpf as Sword Thrower (uncredited)
Jen Taylor as Vampire (uncredited)
Brenda Song as Hostage Child (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 111

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	3	1
4 to 6	0	4
7 to 9	0	10
10 to 12	12	12
13 to 15	0	0
16 to 18	0	0
19 to 21	1	26
22 to 24	12	25
25 to 27	0	8
28 to 30	0	0
31 to 33	17	23
34 to 36	7	19
37 to 39	2	9
40 to 42	3	7
43 to 45	0	1
46 to 48	2	9
49 to 51	0	5
52 to 54	4	27
55 to 57	1	2
58 to 60	4	9
61 to 63	7	14
64 to 66	12	22
67 to 69	0	11
70 to 72	4	24
73 to 75	2	5
76 to 78	7	10
79 to 81	23	31
82 to 84	0	0
85 to 87	5	10
88 to 90	6	5
91 to 93	1	15
94 to 96	9	12
97 to 99	1	1
100 to 102	4	6
103 to 105	0	1
106 to 108	8	21
109 to 111	2	2

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, 29 are women's.

159 lines from women, 387 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

15 women and 40 men in the cast. 5 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 567. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 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 (1,412), men 76% (4,515). Women have 29% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Stephen Norrington (man)
Written by: David S. Goyer (man)
Produced by: Robert Engelman (man), Peter Frankfurt (gender not listed), Wesley Snipes (man)
Shot by: Theo van de Sande (man)
Edited by: Paul Rubell (man)
Music by: Mark Isham (man)
Production design by: Kirk M. Petruccelli (man)
Costumes by: Sanja Milkovic Hays (woman)
Cast by: Rachel Abroms (gender not listed), Jory Weitz (man)