Fails the Bechdel test
Erik the Viking
1989. Directed by Terry Jones, written by Terry Jones.
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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Erik the Viking and his men travel across the sea to find Valhalla to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.
- Released
- 22 Sep 1989
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Erik 289 lines, man
- Aud 79 lines, woman
- King Arnulf 68 lines, man
- Sven 61 lines, man
- Thorfinn 61 lines, man
- Keitel 57 lines, man
- Loki 44 lines, man
- Snorri 40 lines, man
- Harald 39 lines, man
- Sven'S Dad 35 lines, man
Full cast, 39 people
- Tim Robbins as Erik
- Mickey Rooney as Erik's Grandfather
- Eartha Kitt as Freya
- Terry Jones as King Arnulf
- Imogen Stubbs as Princess Aud
- John Cleese as Halfdan the Black
- Tsutomu Sekine as Slavemaster
- Antony Sher as Loki
- Gary Cady as Keitel Blacksmith
- Charles McKeown as Sven's Dad
- Tim McInnerny as Sven the Berserk
- John Gordon Sinclair as Ivar the Boneless
- Richard Ridings as Thorfinn Skullsplitter
- Freddie Jones as Harald the Missionary
- Samantha Bond as Helga
- Danny Schiller as Snorri the Miserable
- Jim Broadbent as Ernest the Viking (a Rapist)
- Jim Carter as Jennifer the Viking (Another Rapist)
- Matyelok Gibbs as Erik's Mum
- Jay Simpson as Leif the Lucky
- Sian Thomas as Thorhild the Sarcastic
- Sarah Crowden as Grimhild Housewife
- Bernard Padden as Mordfiddle the Cook
- Tilly Vosburgh as Unn-the-Thrown-At
- Dave Duffy as Horribly Slain Warrior
- John Scott Martin as Ingemund the Old
- Bernard Latham as Ulf the Unmemorable
- Julia McCarthy as Thorfinn's Mum
- Allan Surtees as Thorfinn's Dad
- Sandra Voe as Ivar's Mum
- Andrew MacLachlan as Ornulf/Chamberlain/Dog Soldier
- Tim Killick as Bjarni/Halfdan's Guard/Musician
- Graham McTavish as Thangbrand/Citizen/Dog Soldier
- Cyril Shaps as Gisli the Chiseller
- Peter Geeves as Eliif the Mongol Horde/Musician
- Paddy Joyce as Prisoner
- Barry McCarthy as Prisoner
- Neil Innes as Hy-Brasilian
- Garry Roost as Prisoner
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
156 lines from women, 822 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
9 women and 30 men in the cast. 10 women and 42 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,052.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 160 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (2,904), men 84% (14,807).
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Run the other way, for men, the film scores 0 out of 3.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
0
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 9 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Terry Jones (man)
- Written by
- Terry Jones (man)
- Produced by
- John Goldstone (man)
- Shot by
- Ian Wilson (man)
- Edited by
- George Akers (man)
- Music by
- Neil Innes (man)
- Production design by
- John Beard (man)
- Costumes by
- Pam Tait (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Irene Lamb (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 4 men
-
Production
1 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Imogen Stubbs 28, Eartha Kitt 62
Men
Gary Cady 29, Tim Robbins 30, Tsutomu Sekine 36, Antony Sher 40, Charles McKeown 43, Terry Jones 47, John Cleese 49, Mickey Rooney 68
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $1.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 1,052 lines of dialogue. How the test works
