Fails the Bechdel test
Escape from New York
1981. Directed by John Carpenter, written by John Carpenter and Nick Castle.
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
In the future, crime is out of control and New York City's Manhattan is a maximum security prison. Grabbing a bargaining chip right out of the air, convicts bring down the President's plane in bad old Gotham. Gruff Snake Plissken, a one-eyed lone warrior new to prison life, is coerced into bringing the President, and his cargo, out of this land of undesirables.
- Released
- 10 Jul 1981
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Snake 108 lines, man
- Hauk 78 lines, man
- Brain 68 lines, man
- Cabbie 38 lines, man
- Maggie 26 lines, woman
- President 24 lines
- Rehme 23 lines, man
- Duke 17 lines, man
- Weirdo 16 lines, man
- Voice 9 lines
Full cast, 45 people
- Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken
- Lee Van Cleef as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
- Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie
- Donald Pleasence as President of the United States
- Isaac Hayes as The Duke of New York
- Season Hubley as Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts
- Harry Dean Stanton as Harold 'Brain' Helman
- Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie
- Tom Atkins as Rehme
- Charles Cyphers as Secretary of State
- Frank Doubleday as Romero
- John Strobel as Cronenberg
- George Buck Flower as Drunk
- John Cothran as Gypsy #1
- Nancy Stephens as Stewardess
- Steven Ford as Secret Service #2
- John Carpenter as Secret Service #2 / Helicopter Pilot / Violin Player
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Narrator / Prison Recording Voice (uncredited)
- Nick Castle as Pianist
- Debra Hill as Computer (voice)
- Ox Baker as Slag
- Joe Unger as Taylor
- Garrett Bergfeld as Gypsy #2
- Wally Taylor as Controller
- Rodger Bumpass as Dancer
- John Diehl as Punk
- Ronald E. House as Dancer
- Richard Cosentino as Gypsy Guard
- Joel Bennett as Gypsy #4
- Tobar Mayo as Third Indian
- Steven M. Gagnon as Secret Service #1
- Michael Taylor as Secret Service #3
- Lonnie Wun as Red Bandana Gypsy
- Dale E. House as Helicopter Pilot #1
- Bob Minor as Duty Sergeant
- James O'Hagen as Computer Operator
- James Emery as Trooper
- Tom Lillard as Police Sergeant
- Borah Silver as Theatre manager
- Tony Papenfuss as Theatre Assistant
- Carmen Filpi as Bum
- Clay Wright as Helicopter Pilot #3
- Al Cerullo as Helicopter Pilot #4
- Alan Shearman as Dancer
- Ron Vernan as Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 149
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 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 14 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 4 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 60 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 3 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 6 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 11 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 6 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 3 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 14 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 3 |
| 81 to 84 | 14 | 53 |
| 85 to 88 | 7 | 20 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 27 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 9 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 1 | 7 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 25 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 1 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 7 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 21 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 14 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 9 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 6 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 8 |
| 149 to 149 | 0 | 0 |
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, 7 are women's.
28 lines from women, 370 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 33 men in the cast. 2 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 139 of 477.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 138 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 4% of the words (146), men 96% (3,370). Women have 7% 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
1 of the 12 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 8% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Carpenter (man)
- Written by
- Nick Castle (man), John Carpenter (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Franco (man), Debra Hill (woman)
- Shot by
- Dean Cundey (man)
- Edited by
- Todd C. Ramsay (man)
- Music by
- Alan Howarth (man), John Carpenter (man)
- Production design by
- Joe Alves (man)
- Costumes by
- Stephen Loomis (man)
- Cast by
- Pegi Brotman (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 31 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Season Hubley 30, Adrienne Barbeau 35
Men
Kurt Russell 30, Isaac Hayes 38, Charles Cyphers 41, Tom Atkins 45, Harry Dean Stanton 54, Lee Van Cleef 56, Donald Pleasence 61, Ernest Borgnine 64
Exhibit G: the money
It made 8.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $50.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 149 scenes and 477 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
