Does it pass? bechdel.io

Passes the Bechdel test

Ghostbusters II

1989. Directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    11 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 1 scene out of 157.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

Poster for Ghostbusters II

The film

Having lost their status and credibility five years after covering New York City with gooey roasted marshmallows in Ghostbusters (1984), the city's former heroes and once-popular spirit-hunters struggle to keep afloat, forced to work odd jobs. However, when Dana and her baby have yet another terrifying encounter with the paranormal, it is up to Peter Venkman and his fearless team of supernatural crime fighters to step up and save the day. Once more, humankind is in danger, as rivers of slimy psycho-reactive ectoplasm, paired with the dreadful manifestation of evil sixteenth-century tyrant Vigo the Carpathian, threaten to plunge the entire city into darkness. Is the world ready to believe? Can the Ghostbusters save us for the second time?

Released
16 Jun 1989
Genres
Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Rated
PG
IMDb
6.6 / 10
Metascore
56 / 100
Awards
2 wins & 1 nomination total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Venkman 209 lines, man
  2. Stantz 140 lines, man
  3. Dana 96 lines, woman
  4. Spengler 71 lines, man
  5. Louis 56 lines, man
  6. Winston 38 lines, man
  7. Janosz 37 lines, man
  8. Janine 17 lines, woman
  9. Judge 16 lines
  10. Hardemeyer 14 lines, man
Full cast, 68 people
  • Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
  • Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz
  • Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett
  • Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler
  • Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
  • Rick Moranis as Louis Tully
  • Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
  • Peter MacNicol as Janosz Poha
  • Harris Yulin as The Judge
  • David Margulies as The Mayor of NY
  • Kurt Fuller as Hardemeyer
  • Janet Margolin as The Prosecutor
  • Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo
  • William T. Deutschendorf as Baby Oscar
  • Henry J. Deutschendorf II as Baby Oscar
  • Michael P. Moran as Frank the Doorman
  • Olivia Ward as Meter Maid
  • Mordecai Lawner as Man with a Ticket
  • Susanna Boehm as Young Woman on Crutches
  • Mary Ellen Trainor as Brownstone Mother
  • Christopher Villaseñor as Brownstone Boy #1
  • Jason Reitman as Brownstone Boy #2
  • Aaron Lustig as Norman the Producer
  • Page Leong as Spengler's Assistant
  • Mark Schneider as Arguing Couple
  • Valery Pappas as Arguing Couple
  • Catherine Reitman as Girl with Puppy
  • Dave Florek as First Cop
  • Richard Foronjy as Con Ed Supervisor
  • George P. Wilbur as Bailiff
  • Sharon Kramer as Stenographer
  • Walter Flanagan as Rudy the Museum Guard
  • Bobby Brown as Mayor's Doorman
  • Christopher Neame as Maitre D'
  • Judy Ovitz as Slimed Restaurant Patron
  • Tom Dugan as Restaurant Cop #1
  • Angelo Dimascio as Restaurant Cop #2
  • Robert Alan Beuth as Store Manager
  • Ralph Monaco as Police Sergeant
  • Ron Cummins as Police Lieutenant
  • Cheech Marin as Dock Supervisor
  • Yvette Cruise as Maria, Dana's Maid
  • John Hammil as Detective #1
  • Ray Glanzmann as Detective #2
  • Alex Zimmerman as Detective #3
  • Brian Doyle-Murray as Psychiatrist
  • Louise Troy as Woman with Fur Coat
  • Douglas Seale as Plaza Hotel Man
  • Ben Stein as Public Works Official
  • Erik Holland as Fire Commissioner
  • Philip Baker Hall as Police Commissioner
  • Steve Baker as Telephone Man (uncredited)
  • Trish Cook as Nun at Statue of Liberty (uncredited)
  • Kevin Dunn as Milton Angland (uncredited)
  • Ryan Francis as Brownstone Boy #3 (uncredited)
  • Tyra Reneé Fuller as Driver (uncredited)
  • Jim Fyfe as Scoleri Brother / Ghost Jogger (uncredited)
  • George Gerard as Man in Cab (uncredited)
  • Donna Guidry as Art Restoration Student (uncredited)
  • Tim Lawrence as Scoleri Brother (uncredited)
  • Peter Papageorgio as Spectator (uncredited)
  • Kariim Ratcliff as Crowd Member (uncredited)
  • Ivan Reitman as Man Walking Outside Firehouse / Slimer (voice) (uncredited)
  • Ira S. Rosenstein as Stage Manager (uncredited)
  • Felix Silla as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
  • Max von Sydow as Vigo (voice) (uncredited)
  • Chloe Webb as Elaine (uncredited)
  • Justin Michael Woods as Baby on the Street (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 157

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 446
5 to 821
9 to 12214
13 to 16332
17 to 201820
21 to 241151
25 to 28417
29 to 32021
33 to 36011
37 to 4002
41 to 441322
45 to 48531
49 to 52216
53 to 5602
57 to 6004
61 to 64621
65 to 681154
69 to 72032
73 to 7606
77 to 80615
81 to 84716
85 to 881031
89 to 92727
93 to 96111
97 to 100311
101 to 10431
105 to 108416
109 to 11207
113 to 11621
117 to 120027
121 to 124216
125 to 12806
129 to 13238
133 to 13602
137 to 14006
141 to 14401
145 to 14809
149 to 152118
153 to 156222
157 to 15700

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
DANA: Well, we didn't part on very good terms and we sort of lost track of each other when I got married. ASSISTANT: We're ready for the affection test.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 18 are women's.

132 lines from women, 614 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 44 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 803. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 60 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 (1,478), men 84% (7,715). Women have 18% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Ivan Reitman (man)
Written by
Dan Aykroyd (man), Harold Ramis (man)
Produced by
Ivan Reitman (man)
Shot by
Michael Chapman (man)
Edited by
Donn Cambern (man), Sheldon Kahn (man)
Music by
Randy Edelman (man)
Production design by
Bo Welch (man)
Costumes by
Gloria Gresham (woman)
Cast by
Michael Chinich (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    8 women, 43 men, 9 not listed

  • Production

    6 women, 12 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 16 men

  • Sound

    1 women, 16 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 5 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 10 men, 2 not listed

  • Directing

    2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 7 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 38 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Annie Potts 36, Sigourney Weaver 39

Men

Peter MacNicol 35, Dan Aykroyd 36, Rick Moranis 36, Bill Murray 38, Ernie Hudson 43, Harold Ramis 44, Harris Yulin 51, David Margulies 52

Exhibit H: the money

It made 5.8 times what it cost.

Budget
$37 million
Box office
$215 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 157 scenes and 803 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

Related films

Back to the whole shelf