Passes the Bechdel test
Flash Gordon
1980. Directed by Mike Hodges, written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and Michael Allin and Alex Raymond.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 149. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
American footballer Flash Gordon is thrust into the journey of a lifetime: joined with Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov, the three earthbound space travellers will soon become the first humans to encounter alien life, and try to stop the tyrannical alien warlord Emperor Ming the Merciless from destroying the Earth.
- Released
- 05 Dec 1980
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards. 2 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Flash 118 lines, man
- Dale 70 lines, woman
- Zarkov 60 lines, man
- Aura 54 lines, woman
- Ming 43 lines, man
- Barin 37 lines, man
- Vultan 25 lines, man
- Klytus 15 lines, man
- Tiger Man 11 lines, man
- Hedonia 7 lines, woman
Full cast, 73 people
- Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon
- Melody Anderson as Dale Arden
- Max von Sydow as The Emperor Ming
- Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov
- Ornella Muti as Princess Aura
- Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin
- Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan
- Peter Wyngarde as Klytus
- Mariangela Melato as Kala
- John Osborne as Arborian Priest
- Richard O'Brien as Fico
- John Hallam as Luro
- Philip Stone as Zogi, the High Priest
- Suzanne Danielle as Serving Girl
- William Hootkins as Munson
- Bobbie Brown as Hedonia
- Ted Carroll as Biro
- Adrienne Kronenberg as Vultan's Daughter
- Stanley Lebor as Mongon Doctor
- John Morton as Airline Pilot
- Burnell Tucker as Airline Co-Pilot
- Robbie Coltrane as Man at Airfield
- Peter Duncan as Young Treeman
- Ken Sicklen as A Treeman
- Tessa Hewitt as Hawk Woman
- Venetia Spicer as Hawk Woman
- Francis Mughan as Wounded Hawkman
- Oliver MacGreevy as Klytus Observer No. 1
- John Hollis as Klytus Observer No. 2
- Paul Bentall as Klytus' Pilot
- Leon Greene as Colonel of Battle Control
- Graeme Crowther as Battle Room Controller
- Tony Scannell as Ming's Officer
- David Neal as Captain of Ming's Air Force
- Bogdan Kominowski as Lieutenant of Ming's Air Force
- George Harris as Prince of Ardentia
- Colin Taylor as King of Frigia
- Doretta Dunkley as Queen of Frigia
- Sally Nicholson as Queen of Azuria
- Deep Roy as Princess Aura's Pet
- Michelle Mildwater as Special Movement
- Marie Green as Special Movement
- Imogen Claire as Special Movement
- Kay Zimmerman as Special Movement
- Frederick Warder as Special Movement
- Stephen Brigden as Special Movement
- Lionel Guyett as Special Movement
- Ken Robertson as Special Movement
- Andy Bradford as Hawkman
- Bertram Adams as Hawkman
- Terry Forrestal as Hawkman
- Mike Potter as Hawkman
- John Sullivan as Hawkman
- Eddie Stacey as Hawkman
- John Lees as Hawkman
- Roy Scammell as Hawkman
- Kathy Marquis as Sandmoon Girl
- Sophie as Sandmoon Girl
- Kathy September as Sandmoon Girl
- Glenna Forster-Jones as Sandmoon Girl
- Roseanne Romine as Cytherian Girl
- Snehal Patel as Cytherian Girl
- Magda as Cytherian Girl
- Shaka as Cytherian Girl
- Lindy as Cytherian Girl
- Viva as Cytherian Girl
- Beverly Andrews as Cytherian Girl
- Frances Ward as Cytherian Girl
- Kerry-Lou Baylis as Cytherian Girl
- Camella as Cytherian Girl
- Eddie Powell as Ming's Brute
- Jill Goldston as Flashback Friend of Dr. Hans Zarkov (uncredited)
- Karen Johnson as Serving Girl in Ming's Chair
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% 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 | 5 | 12 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 17 |
| 13 to 16 | 3 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 5 | 18 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 3 | 9 |
| 33 to 36 | 13 | 32 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 8 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 6 |
| 45 to 48 | 13 | 16 |
| 49 to 52 | 9 | 7 |
| 53 to 56 | 6 | 5 |
| 57 to 60 | 10 | 5 |
| 61 to 64 | 6 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 2 | 2 |
| 69 to 72 | 1 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 10 | 14 |
| 77 to 80 | 4 | 33 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 3 |
| 85 to 88 | 5 | 14 |
| 89 to 92 | 4 | 17 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 15 |
| 97 to 100 | 4 | 22 |
| 101 to 104 | 6 | 6 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 19 |
| 109 to 112 | 9 | 4 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 4 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 6 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 6 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 12 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 2 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 17 |
| 145 to 148 | 4 | 6 |
| 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: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
CU DALE: She blinks, befuddled, pauses in her oiling of herself. HEDONIA: What's the matter? DALE: I'm dreaming.
CU DALE: Reacting to something, pointing upward: DALE: Look -- Earth! DALE: Oh it's so beautiful!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
138 lines from women, 363 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 41 men in the cast. 6 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 9 of 532.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 53 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (1,375), men 74% (3,956). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: 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
9
Two men
64
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 7 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mike Hodges (man)
- Written by
- Lorenzo Semple Jr. (man)
- Produced by
- Dino De Laurentiis (man)
- Shot by
- Gilbert Taylor (man)
- Edited by
- Malcolm Cooke (man)
- Music by
- Howard Blake (man)
- Costumes by
- Danilo Donati (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
0 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 10 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Melody Anderson 25, Ornella Muti 25, Mariangela Melato 39
Men
Sam J. Jones 26, Timothy Dalton 34, Brian Blessed 44, Chaim Topol 45, John Osborne 50, Max von Sydow 51, Peter Wyngarde 53
Exhibit H: the money
It made 77% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $27.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 149 scenes and 532 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
