Passes the Bechdel test
Blast from the Past
1999. Directed by Hugh Wilson, written by Bill Kelly and Hugh Wilson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 14 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 197. -
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
Adam Weber is the child of an eccentric inventor and his wife. Following a bomb scare in the 1960s that locked the Webers in their bomb shelter for 35 years, Adam Weber must venture out into Los Angeles and obtain food and supplies for his family. He meets Eve, who reluctantly agrees to help him out.
- Released
- 12 Feb 1999
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Adam 383 lines, man
- Eve 291 lines, woman
- Calvin 148 lines, man
- Troy 127 lines, man
- Helen 120 lines, woman
- Soda Jerk 25 lines, man
- Cliff 20 lines, man
- Aron 19 lines, woman
- Miss Sweet 12 lines, woman
- Jerry 11 lines, man
Full cast, 59 people
- Brendan Fraser as Adam
- Alicia Silverstone as Eve
- Christopher Walken as Calvin
- Sissy Spacek as Helen
- Dave Foley as Troy
- Joey Slotnick as Soda Jerk
- Dale Raoul as Mom
- Hayden Tank as Adam Age 3 1/2
- Douglas Smith as Adam Age 11
- Ryan Sparks as Adam Age 8
- Don Yesso as Jerry
- Scott Thomson as Young Psycho
- Ted Kairys as Navy Pilot
- Rex Linn as Dave
- Cynthia Mace as Betty
- Harry S. Murphy as Bob
- Wendel Meldrum as Ruth
- Richard Gilbert-Hill as Guest
- Steve Bean as Harold
- Ann Ryerson as Woman Guest #1
- Donovan Scott as Ron
- Hugh Wilson as Levy
- John Roselius as Atkinson
- Bill Gratton as Boss
- William Duffy as Workman #1
- Bill Stevenson as Workman #2
- J. Bruce Eckert as Realtor
- Karen Geraghty as Woman Buyer
- Christopher Holloway as Man Buyer
- Harrison Young as Bum
- Jazzmun as Streetwalker
- Hannah Kozak as Drunken Hag
- Dori Mizrahi as Pakistani
- Fred Pierce as Bystander #1
- Annie O'Donnell as Woman
- Caroline Wilson as Child
- Julie Zelman as Mother
- Monty Ash as Old Jewish Man
- Sheila Shaw as Bakery Clerk
- Michael Hagiwara as Japanese Produce Clerk
- Todd Susman as Butcher
- Rosalee Mayeux as Hotel Registration Clerk
- Danny Zorn as Bellboy
- Rod Britt as Hotel Desk Clerk
- Robb Skyler as Marine Manager
- Nathan Fillion as Cliff
- Todd Robert Anderson as Jason
- Michael Gallagher as Jonathan
- Carmen More as Sophie
- Deborah Kellner as Miss Sweet
- Mary Ann Hermansen as Heather
- Jenifer Lewis as Dr. Aron
- Jonathan Stockwell Baker as Broker
- Brian Blondell as Mr. Brown
- Sonya Eddy as Postal Worker
- Mary Portser as Woman Guest #2
- Hubert Hodgin as Bystander #2
- Gary Cruz as Low Rider
- Robert Sacchi as Bogart DJ
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 197
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 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 to 10 | 15 | 13 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 20 | 12 | 12 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 to 30 | 13 | 12 |
| 31 to 35 | 9 | 22 |
| 36 to 40 | 13 | 20 |
| 41 to 45 | 3 | 9 |
| 46 to 50 | 2 | 1 |
| 51 to 55 | 3 | 24 |
| 56 to 60 | 16 | 32 |
| 61 to 65 | 1 | 3 |
| 66 to 70 | 4 | 20 |
| 71 to 75 | 6 | 17 |
| 76 to 80 | 18 | 25 |
| 81 to 85 | 9 | 43 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 95 | 35 | 62 |
| 96 to 100 | 10 | 8 |
| 101 to 105 | 2 | 25 |
| 106 to 110 | 3 | 2 |
| 111 to 115 | 26 | 21 |
| 116 to 120 | 10 | 9 |
| 121 to 125 | 31 | 31 |
| 126 to 130 | 23 | 68 |
| 131 to 135 | 16 | 34 |
| 136 to 140 | 2 | 5 |
| 141 to 145 | 6 | 11 |
| 146 to 150 | 57 | 87 |
| 151 to 155 | 28 | 26 |
| 156 to 160 | 12 | 17 |
| 161 to 165 | 30 | 33 |
| 166 to 170 | 7 | 19 |
| 171 to 175 | 11 | 14 |
| 176 to 180 | 15 | 15 |
| 181 to 185 | 9 | 2 |
| 186 to 190 | 5 | 6 |
| 191 to 195 | 8 | 21 |
| 196 to 197 | 1 | 0 |
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.
MISS SWEET: When was the last time you saw manners like that? HEATHER: Yeah. It's like meeting a foreigner or something. EVE: Go to the bathroom.
EVE: Uh-huh. I've heard so many wonderful things about you. HELEN: Well, please excuse us! We...we haven't entertained a guest in...um...
HELEN: Of course. EVE: They are wonderful parents.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 38 are women's.
473 lines from women, 780 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
17 women and 32 men in the cast. 14 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 44 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 38% of the words (4,098), men 62% (6,602).
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
14
Two men
71
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Hugh Wilson (man)
- Written by
- Hugh Wilson (man), Bill Kelly (man)
- Story by
- Bill Kelly (man)
- Produced by
- Renny Harlin (man), Hugh Wilson (man)
- Shot by
- José Luis Alcaine (man)
- Edited by
- Don Brochu (man)
- Music by
- Steve Dorff (man)
- Production design by
- Bob Ziembicki (man)
- Costumes by
- Mark Bridges (man)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 19 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 6 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 7 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alicia Silverstone 22, Dale Raoul 42, Sissy Spacek 49
Men
Douglas Smith 13, Brendan Fraser 30, Joey Slotnick 30, Dave Foley 36, Christopher Walken 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $40.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 197 scenes and 1,291 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
