Passes the Bechdel test
Hard to Kill
1990. Directed by Bruce Malmuth, written by Steven McKay.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 165. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
1983. Having rock-solid evidence of political corruption, LAPD Detective Mason Storm has caught unwanted attention from the mob and its political supporters. With corrupt officers monitoring his every step, Storm soon invites violence into his home when hired assassins decimate his family and leave him for dead. But in 1990, seven years after the life-changing incident, resilient Storm miraculously recovers from a deep coma. However, blood demands justice, and Storm still has loose ends to tie up. As Mason picks up where he left off, not even an army of thugs can deny him the opportunity to get even. After all, who fears death when they are already dead?
- Released
- 09 Feb 1990
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 41 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Storm 128 lines, man
- Andy 75 lines, woman
- O'Malley 34 lines, man
- Trent 27 lines, man
- Sonny 22 lines, man
- Felicia 11 lines, woman
- Holland 11 lines, man
- Martha 10 lines, woman
- Karl 8 lines, man
- Nolan 8 lines, man
Full cast, 51 people
- Steven Seagal as Mason Storm
- Kelly LeBrock as Andy Stewart
- William Sadler as Senator Vernon Trent
- Frederick Coffin as Lt. Kevin O'Malley
- Bonnie Burroughs as Felicia Storm
- Andrew Bloch as Capt. Dan Hulland
- Branscombe Richmond as Max Quentero
- Charles Boswell as Jack Axel
- Zachary Rosencrantz as Sonny Storm
- Lou Beatty Jr. as Carl Becker
- Nick DeMauro as Calabrese
- Nick Corello as James Valero
- Justin De Rosa as Mikey
- Stanley Brock as Counterman
- Evan James Malmuth as Danny
- Tomas Trujillo as Shotgun Punk
- Robert LaSardo as Punk
- Haruo Matsuoka as Punk
- Craig E. Dunn as Punk
- Tony Perez as Detective #1
- Steve Jones as E.R. Doctor
- Francesca P. Roberts as Martha Coe
- James DiStefano as Nolan
- Dean Norris as Det. Sgt. Goodhart
- Michael Fosberg as Team Leader Doctor
- Buddy Joe Hooker as Russ
- Jerry Dunphy as Newscaster
- Barbara Townsend as Henrietta Wade
- Carlos Gómez as Neighbor
- Andrea Stein as Housewife
- Eddie Frias as Youth
- Michael Adler as Desk Clerk
- Janet Zappala as Newscaster
- Frank Conn as Van Driver
- Ernie Lively as Commander
- Philip Weyland as Dr. Weyland
- Linda Klein as Nurse
- Gary McLarty as Shotgun Man
- James Thompson as Bad Guy #2
- Tom Muzila as Muzila
- Catherine Quinn as Amtrak Lady
- Richard Kwong as Man #2
- Al Goto as Clever Chinese Man
- Julia Stormson as Girl in Hot Tub
- Jack Eiseman as Cop #1
- Mickey McMeel as Cop #2
- Jim Kindelon as SWAT Cop
- Ruben Avitia as Punk (uncredited)
- Kenny Endoso as Vernon Trent Man (uncredited)
- Liam Ferguson as Deli Owner (uncredited)
- Jeff Imada as Vernon Trent Man (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 165
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 | 3 | 14 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 21 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 34 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 to 20 | 8 | 18 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 5 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 22 |
| 29 to 32 | 6 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 9 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 to 44 | 8 | 10 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 1 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 1 |
| 57 to 60 | 2 | 2 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 11 |
| 69 to 72 | 8 | 10 |
| 73 to 76 | 1 | 4 |
| 77 to 80 | 5 | 2 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 4 | 2 |
| 89 to 92 | 15 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 6 | 11 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 4 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 26 |
| 109 to 112 | 3 | 10 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 2 |
| 121 to 124 | 3 | 2 |
| 125 to 128 | 5 | 5 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 4 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 25 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 2 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 5 |
| 149 to 152 | 1 | 1 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 17 |
| 157 to 160 | 2 | 3 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 17 |
| 165 to 165 | 2 | 9 |
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.
MARTHA: You're early again. ANDY: You won't report me, will you? ANDY: Inquiring minds want to know --
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 25 are women's.
105 lines from women, 307 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 37 men in the cast. 4 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 424.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (1,325), men 73% (3,553). Women have 25% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
3
Two men
19
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 3% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Bruce Malmuth (man)
- Written by
- Steven McKay (man)
- Produced by
- Gary Adelson (man), Joel Simon (man), Bill Todman Jr. (man)
- Shot by
- Matthew F. Leonetti (man)
- Edited by
- John F. Link (man)
- Music by
- David Michael Frank (man)
- Production design by
- Robb Wilson King (man)
- Cast by
- Glenn Daniels (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
0 women, 9 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 3 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kelly LeBrock 29, Bonnie Burroughs 29
Men
Zachary Rosencrantz 14, Branscombe Richmond 34, Steven Seagal 37, Andrew Bloch 38, William Sadler 39, Charles Boswell 44, Lou Beatty Jr. 44, Frederick Coffin 47
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $47.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 165 scenes and 424 lines of dialogue. How the test works
