Fails the Bechdel test
Dark Star
1975. Directed by John Carpenter, written by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
A low budget, sci-fi satire that focuses on a group of scientists whose mission is to destroy unstable planets. 20 years into their mission, they have battle their alien mascot, that resembles a beach ball, as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
- Released
- 17 Jan 1975
- Genres
- Comedy, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- G
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Doolittle 126 lines, man
- Pinback 72 lines, man
- Talby 39 lines, man
- Boiler 37 lines, man
- Bomb #20 36 lines, man
- Powell 19 lines
- Recorded Voice 7 lines
- Bomb #19 6 lines, man
- Bomb #2 2 lines, man
- Mission Controller 2 lines, man
Full cast, 11 people
- Brian Narelle as Lt. Doolittle
- Cal Kuniholm as Boiler
- Dan O'Bannon as Sgt. Pinback alias Bill Fruge
- Dre Pahich as Talby
- Adam Beckenbaugh as Bomb #20 (voice)
- Nick Castle as Alien
- Joe Saunders as Commander Powell (voice)
- Cookie Knapp as Muttercomputer (voice)
- Alan Sheretz as Bomb #19 (voice)
- John Carpenter as Talby Voice
- Miles Watkins as Watkins - Mission Control
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 98
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 | 27 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 35 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 30 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 13 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 9 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 5 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 15 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 16 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 6 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 6 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 12 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 29 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 16 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 3 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 11 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 98 | 0 | 25 |
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, 0 are women's.
0 lines from women, 320 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 8 men in the cast. 0 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
No woman speaks.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 352 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 0% of the words (0), men 100% (3,148).
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
27
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Written by
- Dan O'Bannon (man), John Carpenter (man)
- Produced by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Shot by
- Douglas Knapp (man)
- Edited by
- Dan O'Bannon (man)
- Music by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Production design by
- Dan O'Bannon (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 26 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Brian Narelle 25, Cal Kuniholm 25, Nick Castle 26, John Carpenter 26, Dan O'Bannon 27
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $60,000
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 98 scenes and 352 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
