Fails the Bechdel test
Cliffhanger
1993. Directed by Renny Harlin, written by John Long and Michael France and Sylvester Stallone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 2 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 1 out of 3.
The film
Whilst crossing a ledge, 4000 feet above the earth, Gabe's friend's equipment fails to work and she slips out of his hand, falling to the ground. Almost a year later, Gabe is asked to go back to the same mountain range and rescue a group of 'stranded' people. The only catch is that these so called 'stranded' people are in fact looking for three boxes filled with $100,000,000 and they need a mountain ranger to lead them to them!!
- Released
- 28 May 1993
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 59 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 1 win & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Gabe 144 lines, man
- Travers 90 lines, man
- Hal 73 lines, man
- Maggie 60 lines, woman
- Qualen 33 lines, man
- Kristel 24 lines, woman
- Wright 23 lines, man
- Frank 20 lines, man
- Matheson 14 lines, man
- Davis 13 lines, man
Full cast, 29 people
- Sylvester Stallone as Gabe Walker
- John Lithgow as Qualen
- Michael Rooker as Hal Tucker
- Janine Turner as Jessie Deighan
- Rex Linn as Travers
- Caroline Goodall as Kristel
- Leon as Kynette
- Craig Fairbrass as Delmar
- Gregory Scott Cummins as Ryan
- Denis Forest as Heldon
- Michelle Joyner as Sarah
- Max Perlich as Evan
- Paul Winfield as Walter Wright
- Ralph Waite as Frank
- Trey Brownell as Brett
- Zach Grenier as Davis
- Vyto Ruginis as Matheson
- Don S. Davis as Stuart
- Scott Hoxby as Agent Hayes
- John Finn as Agent Michaels
- Bruce McGill as Treasury Agent
- Rosemary Dunsmore as Treasury Secretary
- Kim Robillard as Treasury Jet Pilot
- Jeff McCarthy as Pilot
- Michael Weis as Co-Pilot
- Duncan Prentice as Treasury Helicopter Pilot
- Kevin Donald as Ray
- Jeff Blynn as Marvin
- Billy D. Lucas as Treasury Agent (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 104
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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 19 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 16 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 25 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 14 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 2 | 4 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 33 | 10 | 34 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 51 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 12 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 13 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 10 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 28 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 7 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 10 |
| 61 to 63 | 3 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 3 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 4 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 11 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 15 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 16 |
| 82 to 84 | 8 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 3 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 9 | 29 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 22 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 35 |
| 103 to 104 | 1 | 9 |
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, 16 are women's.
86 lines from women, 460 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 25 men in the cast. 2 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 558.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 82 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (820), men 88% (5,743). Women have 16% 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
0
Two men
49
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Renny Harlin (man)
- Written by
- Sylvester Stallone (man), Michael France (man)
- Produced by
- Alan Marshall (man), Renny Harlin (man)
- Shot by
- Alex Thomson (man)
- Edited by
- Frank J. Urioste (man)
- Music by
- Trevor Jones (man)
- Production design by
- John Vallone (man)
- Costumes by
- Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
- Cast by
- Mindy Marin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 37 men, 25 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 35 men, 18 not listed
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 7 men, 31 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 16 men, 21 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 13 men, 14 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 8 men, 13 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 7 men, 10 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Janine Turner 30, Caroline Goodall 33
Men
Craig Fairbrass 29, Leon 31, Denis Forest 32, Rex Linn 36, Gregory Scott Cummins 37, Michael Rooker 38, Sylvester Stallone 46, John Lithgow 47
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $70 million
- Box office
- $255 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 558 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
