Fails the Bechdel test
Highlander
1986. Directed by Russell Mulcahy, written by Gregory Widen and Peter Bellwood and Larry Ferguson.
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 2 out of 3.
The film
In New York City, the owner of a sophisticated antique shop Russell Edwin Nash is challenged to a sword fight in the parking lot of the Madison Square Garden by a man called Iman Fasil that is beheaded by Russell. He hides his sword and is arrested by the police while leaving the stadium. Russell recalls his life in the sixteenth century in Scotland, when he is Connor MacLeod, and is fatally wounded in a battle against another Clan. However, he surprisingly survives and his Clan believes he has a pact with the devil and expels him from their lands. Then he meets Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, who explains that he is immortal unless he is beheaded. Further, the immortals dispute a game killing each other and in the end only one survives receiving a prize with the power of the other immortals. Russell is released by the police, but the snoopy forensic agent Brenda J. Wyatt is attracted by the case since she found fragments of an ancient Katana and follows Russell. But the also immortal Kurgan is hunting down MacLeod, and Brenda is in the middle of their battle.
- Released
- 07 Mar 1986
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 24 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Taupin 181 lines, man
- Brenna 173 lines, woman
- Conor 93 lines, man
- Romirez 65 lines, man
- Knight 56 lines, man
- Moran 46 lines, man
- Dupont 33 lines, man
- Kahn 22 lines, man
- Mr. North 15 lines, man
- Mulet 15 lines, man
Full cast, 43 people
- Christopher Lambert as Connor 'The Highlander' MacLeod
- Roxanne Hart as Brenda J. Wyatt
- Clancy Brown as Victor 'The Kurgan' Kruger
- Sean Connery as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
- Beatie Edney as Heather MacLeod
- Alan North as Lieutenant Frank Moran
- Jon Polito as Det. Walter Bedsoe
- Sheila Gish as Rachel Ellenstein
- Hugh Quarshie as Sunda Kastagir
- Peter Diamond as Aman Fasil
- Billy Hartman as Dugal MacLeod
- James Cosmo as Angus MacLeod
- Celia Imrie as Kate MacLeod
- Christopher Malcolm as Kirk Matunas
- Ian Reddington as Bassett
- Alistair Findlay as Chief Murdoch
- Edward Wiley as Garfield
- John Cassady as Kenny
- Sion Tudor Owen as Hotchkiss
- Damien Leake as Tony
- Gordon Sterne as Dr Willis Kenderly
- Ron Berglas as Archivist
- Louis Guss as Newsvendor
- Peter Banks as Priest
- Ted Maynard as Newscaster
- Waldo Roeg as German Soldier
- Anthony Mannino as Boisterous Drunk
- Helena Stevens as Old Woman in Car
- Francis Dux as Old Man in Car
- Prince Howell as Drunk in Hotel
- Anthony Fusco as Barman
- Ian Tyler as Lab Technician
- Corinne Russell as Candy
- James McKenna as Father Rainey
- Buckley Norris as Derelict
- Lisa Dalton as Miranda Rights Officer (uncredited)
- Jim Brunzell as Himself (uncredited)
- Sam Douglas as NY Cop (uncredited)
- Michael Seitz as Michael PS Hayes (uncredited)
- Terry Gordy as Terry Gordy (uncredited)
- Dale Hey as Buddy Roberts (uncredited)
- Sam Fatu as Tonga Kid (uncredited)
- Harry Fielder as Hospital Guard (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 139
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 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 8 | 28 |
| 16 to 18 | 4 | 14 |
| 19 to 21 | 14 | 22 |
| 22 to 24 | 4 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 1 | 7 |
| 28 to 30 | 9 | 11 |
| 31 to 33 | 11 | 14 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 to 39 | 12 | 26 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 40 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 19 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 23 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 29 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 22 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 16 | 52 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 4 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 22 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 6 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 5 | 6 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 15 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 28 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 23 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 13 |
| 100 to 102 | 7 | 8 |
| 103 to 105 | 12 | 45 |
| 106 to 108 | 22 | 24 |
| 109 to 111 | 8 | 10 |
| 112 to 114 | 3 | 3 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 8 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 7 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 4 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 1 |
| 133 to 135 | 8 | 28 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 0 |
| 139 to 139 | 4 | 6 |
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, 24 are women's.
192 lines from women, 598 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
6 women and 32 men in the cast. 0 women and 3 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 918.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 102 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (1,450), men 78% (5,240). Women have 24% 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
28
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 6% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Russell Mulcahy (man)
- Written by
- Gregory Widen (man), Peter Bellwood (man), Larry Ferguson (man)
- Produced by
- Peter S. Davis (man), William N. Panzer (man)
- Shot by
- Gerry Fisher (man)
- Edited by
- Peter Honess (man)
- Music by
- Michael Kamen (man)
- Production design by
- Allan Cameron (man)
- Costumes by
- James Acheson (man)
- Cast by
- Diane Dimeo (gender not listed), Michael McLean (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Beatie Edney 23, Roxanne Hart 33, Sheila Gish 43
Men
Clancy Brown 27, Christopher Lambert 28, Hugh Quarshie 31, Jon Polito 35, Sean Connery 55, Peter Diamond 56, Alan North 65
Exhibit G: the money
It made 68% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $19 million
- Box office
- $12.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 139 scenes and 918 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
