Fails the Bechdel test
Dragonslayer
1981. Directed by Matthew Robbins, written by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
3 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
A King has made a pact with a dragon where he sacrifices virgins to it, and the dragon leaves his kingdom alone. An old wizard, and his keen young apprentice volunteer to kill the dragon and attempt to save the next virgin in line, the King's own daughter.
- Released
- 26 Jun 1981
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Galen 152 lines, man
- Valerian 105 lines, woman
- Ulrich 60 lines, man
- Greil 31 lines, man
- Tyrian 31 lines, man
- King 29 lines, man
- Hodge 28 lines, man
- Simon 26 lines, man
- Elspeth 21 lines, woman
- Horsrik 13 lines, man
Full cast, 16 people
- Peter MacNicol as Galen
- Caitlin Clarke as Valerian
- Ralph Richardson as Ulrich
- John Hallam as Tyrian
- Peter Eyre as Casiodorus Rex
- Albert Salmi as Greil
- Sydney Bromley as Hodge
- Chloe Salaman as Princess Elspeth
- Emrys James as Valerian's Father
- Ian McDiarmid as Brother Jacopus
- Roger Kemp as Horsrik
- Ken Shorter as Henchman
- Yolande Palfrey as Victim
- Douglas Cooper as Urlander
- Jason White as Henchman
- James Payne as Urlander
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 39
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 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 16 |
| 4 to 4 | 9 | 21 |
| 5 to 5 | 3 | 32 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 to 10 | 7 | 17 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 to 12 | 12 | 39 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 to 14 | 7 | 9 |
| 15 to 15 | 5 | 13 |
| 16 to 16 | 6 | 22 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 20 |
| 18 to 18 | 17 | 27 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 5 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 21 | 9 | 9 |
| 22 to 22 | 6 | 18 |
| 23 to 23 | 3 | 3 |
| 24 to 24 | 5 | 16 |
| 25 to 25 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 27 | 8 | 11 |
| 28 to 28 | 2 | 13 |
| 29 to 29 | 3 | 2 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 to 32 | 7 | 5 |
| 33 to 33 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 to 34 | 7 | 6 |
| 35 to 35 | 1 | 25 |
| 36 to 36 | 2 | 6 |
| 37 to 37 | 0 | 3 |
| 38 to 38 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 to 39 | 8 | 7 |
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, 25 are women's.
127 lines from women, 384 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 12 men in the cast. 2 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 36 of 530.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 35 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 (1,365), men 76% (4,428). Women have 25% 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
37
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Matthew Robbins (man)
- Written by
- Hal Barwood (man), Matthew Robbins (man)
- Produced by
- Hal Barwood (man)
- Shot by
- Derek Vanlint (man)
- Edited by
- Tony Lawson (man)
- Music by
- Alex North (man)
- Production design by
- Elliot Scott (man)
- Costumes by
- Anthony Mendleson (man)
- Cast by
- Deborah Brown (woman), Debbie McWilliams (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Caitlin Clarke 29
Men
Peter MacNicol 27, Ian McDiarmid 36, John Hallam 39, Peter Eyre 39, Emrys James 52, Albert Salmi 53, Sydney Bromley 71, Ralph Richardson 78
Exhibit G: the money
It made 78% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $18 million
- Box office
- $14.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 39 scenes and 530 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
