Fails the Bechdel test
Gladiator
2000. Directed by Ridley Scott, written by David Franzoni and John Logan and William Nicholson.
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
Maximus is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus, and a power struggle leaves Maximus and his family condemned to death. The powerful general is captured and put into the Gladiator games until he dies. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge.
- Released
- 05 May 2000
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- Won 5 Oscars. 61 wins & 105 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Maximus 160 lines, man
- Commodus 114 lines, man
- Lucilla 94 lines, woman
- Proximo 77 lines, man
- Marcus 41 lines, man
- Gracchus 33 lines, man
- Juba 28 lines, man
- Gaius 18 lines, man
- Quintus 14 lines, man
- Vibius 13 lines, man
Full cast, 44 people
- Russell Crowe as Maximus
- Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus
- Connie Nielsen as Lucilla
- Oliver Reed as Proximo
- Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius
- Derek Jacobi as Gracchus
- Djimon Hounsou as Juba
- David Schofield as Falco
- John Shrapnel as Gaius
- Tomas Arana as Quintus
- Ralf Moeller as Hagen
- Spencer Treat Clark as Lucius
- David Hemmings as Cassius
- Tommy Flanagan as Cicero
- Sven-Ole Thorsen as Tiger
- Omid Djalili as Slave Trader
- Nicholas McGaughey as Praetorian Officer
- Chris Kell as Scribe
- Tony Curran as Assassin #1
- Mark Lewis as Assassin #2
- John Quinn as Valerius
- Alun Raglan as Praetorian Guard #1
- David Bailie as Engineer
- Chick Allan as German Leader
- David J. Nicholls as Giant Man
- Al Hunter Ashton as Rome Trainer #1
- Billy Dowd as Narrator
- Ray Calleja as Lucius' Attendant
- Giannina Facio as Maximus' Wife
- Giorgio Cantarini as Maximus' Son
- Malcolm Ellul as Centurion (uncredited)
- Ray Mangion as Centurion (uncredited)
- João Costa Menezes as Roman Soldier (uncredited)
- Mike Mitchell as Fighter (uncredited)
- Antone Pagán as Fighter (uncredited)
- Norman Campbell Rees as Sedan Chair Carrier (uncredited)
- Neil Roche as Roman Soldier (uncredited)
- Paul Sacks as Catapult Commander Shouts "Loose" (uncredited)
- Steve Saunders as German Barbarian (uncredited)
- Brian Smyj as Coliseum Gladiator (uncredited)
- Richard Stride as Swordsman (uncredited)
- Tony Tomlinson as Man (uncredited)
- Paul Woodadge as Germanian Barbarian (uncredited)
- Michael Yale as Rome Citizen (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 122
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 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 15 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 37 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 62 |
| 19 to 21 | 14 | 37 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 13 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 20 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 27 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 12 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 20 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 32 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 25 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 15 | 21 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 15 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 18 |
| 70 to 72 | 6 | 24 |
| 73 to 75 | 14 | 18 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 12 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 8 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 12 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 8 | 24 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 13 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 39 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 9 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 6 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 5 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 17 |
| 121 to 122 | 0 | 1 |
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, 14 are women's.
94 lines from women, 587 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
2 women and 41 men in the cast. 1 women and 32 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 702.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 121 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 13% of the words (1,172), men 87% (7,601). Women have 14% 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
50
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ridley Scott (man)
- Written by
- David Franzoni (man), William Nicholson (man), John Logan (man)
- Story by
- David Franzoni (man)
- Produced by
- Branko Lustig (man), David Franzoni (man), Douglas Wick (man)
- Shot by
- John Mathieson (man)
- Edited by
- Pietro Scalia (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man), Lisa Gerrard (woman)
- Production design by
- Arthur Max (man)
- Costumes by
- Janty Yates (woman)
- Cast by
- Louis DiGiaimo (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 40 men, 51 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 19 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 15 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 11 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 9 men, 5 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Connie Nielsen 34
Men
Joaquin Phoenix 25, Russell Crowe 36, Djimon Hounsou 36, Tomas Arana 45, David Schofield 48, John Shrapnel 58, Derek Jacobi 61, Oliver Reed 62, Richard Harris 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $103 million
- Box office
- $466 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 122 scenes and 702 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
