Fails the Bechdel test

Heavy Metal

Name: Heavy Metal
Released: 1981

1981. Directed by John Bruno and John Halas and Julian Harris, written by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum and Dan O'Bannon.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 4 of them speak.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

As Loc-Nar, a pulsating green orb from deep space, finds its way into the Earth, a multifaceted story of cosmic malice that transcends the strict boundaries of our universe unfolds. No one knows the origin of the floating crystalline sphere; however, all those who have encountered mystical Loc-Nar--men and women across galaxies and dimensions--have fallen prey to the corrosive power of the ancient, green-hued entity. As the tentacles of the parasitic intergalactic force spread across time and space, the question remains. Who can stand in the way of pure evil? Will a noble defender answer humankind's urgent call for help?

Released: 07 Aug 1981
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.6 / 10
Metascore: 51 / 100
Awards: 4 wins & 2 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Pilot 23 lines, man
Den 15 lines, man
Sternn 14 lines, man
Ard 12 lines, man
Fiste 12 lines, man
Zeke 12 lines, man
Queen 8 lines, woman
Robot 8 lines, man
Bombardier 7 lines, man
Gloria 7 lines, woman

Full cast, 21 people

Rodger Bumpass as Hanover Fiste / Dr. Anrak (voice)
John Candy as Desk Sergeant / Dan / Den / Robot (voice)
Jackie Burroughs as Katherine (voice)
Joe Flaherty as Lawyer / General (voice)
Don Francks as Grimaldi / Co-Pilot / Barbarian (voice)
Marilyn Lightstone as Whore / Queen (voice)
Eugene Levy as Sternn / Male Reporter / Edsel (voice)
Harold Ramis as Zeke (voice)
Caroline Semple as Girl (voice)
Richard Romanus as Harry Canyon (voice)
Susan Roman as Girl / Satellite (voice)
Al Waxman as Rudnick (voice)
Harvey Atkin as Alien / Henchman (voice)
Glenis Wootton Gross as Whore (voice)
John Vernon as Prosecutor (voice)
George Touliatos as Pilot / Barbarian (voice)
August Schellenberg as Norl / Taarak (voice)
Vlasta Vrana as Barbarian Leader (voice)
Alice Playten as Gloria (voice)
Percy Rodriguez as Loc-Nar (voice / uncredited)
Martin Lavut as Ard (voice)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 19% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 12

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 1	0	3
2 to 2	0	14
3 to 3	4	30
4 to 4	0	0
5 to 5	3	17
6 to 6	0	3
7 to 7	6	50
8 to 8	12	29
9 to 9	0	5
10 to 10	0	0
11 to 11	0	0
12 to 12	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, 14 are women's.

25 lines from women, 151 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 15 men in the cast. 4 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 62 of 217. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 61 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (383), men 76% (1,216). Women have 14% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

None of the 21 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Gerald Potterton (man), John Bruno (man), John Halas (man), Julian Harris (gender not listed), Jimmy T. Murakami (man), Barrie Nelson (man) and 4 more
Written by: Daniel Goldberg (man), Len Blum (man)
Story by: Dan O'Bannon (man), Len Blum (man), Daniel Goldberg (man)
Produced by: Ivan Reitman (man)
Edited by: Mick Manning (gender not listed), Ian Llande (man), Gerald Tripp (man)
Music by: Elmer Bernstein (man)
Production design by: Michael C. Gross (man)