Fails the Bechdel test
Live Free or Die Hard
2007. Directed by Len Wiseman, written by John Carlin and Roderick Thorp and Mark Bomback.
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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
12 years after after John McClane stopped Simon Gruber, he's back with a problem which is going to be more difficult and personal than ever before. An organization of Internet-based terrorist led by Thomas Gabriel. They are taking control of everything in America from their computers and slowly taking over the country. Accompanied by Matthew Farrell, one of the hackers who accidentally assisted the villains in setting up the system, McClane must both find Gabriel and help prevent him from taking over America completely. Gabriel knows McClane's on his way, and will make it as personal as possible, which means involving McClane's daughter, Lucy.
- Released
- 27 Jun 2007
- Genres
- Action, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mcclane 82 lines, man
- Jack G 47 lines, man
- Rooney 19 lines
- Pope 18 lines, man
- Beebock 9 lines, man
- Deputy Wigand 8 lines
- Mr. Frank 8 lines, man
- Chief Thompson 5 lines
- Panzarella 4 lines
- Roosevelt 4 lines
Full cast, 71 people
- Bruce Willis as John McClane
- Timothy Olyphant as Thomas Gabriel
- Justin Long as Matt Farrell
- Cliff Curtis as Deputy Director Miguel Bowman
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane
- Jonathan Sadowski as Trey
- Maggie Q as Mai Linh
- Andrew Friedman as Casper
- Kevin Smith as Warlock - Frederick Kaludis
- Yorgo Constantine as Russo
- Cyril Raffaelli as Rand
- Chris Palermo as Del
- Sung Kang as Agent Raj
- Željko Ivanek as Asst. Deputy Director Molina
- Christina Chang as Agent Taylor
- Jake McDorman as Jim
- Rosemary Knower as Mrs. Kaludis
- Gerald Downey as Hoover Agent
- Allen Maldonado as Goatee
- Jim Cantafio as Deli Owner
- Chris Ellis as Capt. Jack Scalvino
- Regina McKee Redwing as Nearby Agent
- Tony Colitti as Chief Hazmat Agent
- Tim DeZarn as Police Sergeant
- Kurt David Anderson as Miller
- Matt O'Leary as Clay
- Nadine Ellis as Teller
- Ethan Flower as Trader
- Nick Jaine as Phone Guy
- Tim Russ as Agent Chuck Summer
- Joe Gerety as Jack Parry
- Edward James Gage as On Duty PP Operator
- David Walrod as Deli Customer
- Edoardo Costa as Emerson
- John Reha as Slacker Kid
- Yancey Arias as Agent Johnson
- Rick Cramer as MP Rodriguez
- Vito Pietanza as DC Cop
- Dennis Depew as DC Cop
- Howard Tyrone Ferguson as DC Cop
- John Lacy as EMT
- Diana Gettinger as FBI Dispatcher
- Melissa Knowles as Freeway Reporter
- Bryon Weiss as Robinson (uncredited)
- Elena Nikitina Bick as Newscaster (uncredited)
- Michael Papajohn as Gabriel's Henchman (uncredited)
- Charles Grisham as Gabriel's Main Terrorist (uncredited)
- Andy Dylan as Terrorist Blown Up by Fire Extinguisher (uncredited)
- Peter Epstein as Terrorist Truck Driver (uncredited)
- Chad Stahelski as Terrorist (uncredited)
- Brock Little as Terrorist (uncredited)
- Matt McColm as Terrorist (uncredited)
- Clay Cullen as Assassin (uncredited)
- Mark Falvo as FBI Special Agent (uncredited)
- Katherine Hoskins Mackey as FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Alexander Kanellakos as FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Jonathan Lane as FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Maciek Sokalski as FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Sydney Jay as Junior FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Michael Molthen as FBI Tech Analyst (uncredited)
- Carshénah Jefferson as FBI Tech Analyst (uncredited)
- Nicole Nogrady as FBI Tech Analyst (uncredited)
- Timothy 'TJ' James Driscoll as SWAT Member with Walkie (uncredited)
- Neal McNeil as DC Police Officer (uncredited)
- David Haverty as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Brian Smyj as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Tim W. Walker as DC Firefighter (uncredited)
- Skip Wright as EMT (uncredited)
- Tamieka Chavis as Concerned Citizen (uncredited)
- Joe Bucaro III as Driver (uncredited)
- Patrick Michael Strange as Protestor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 30% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 58
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 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 9 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 19 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 to 20 | 2 | 10 |
| 21 to 22 | 2 | 23 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 5 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 8 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 3 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 7 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 17 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 10 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 3 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 8 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 4 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 5 |
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, 2 are women's.
4 lines from women, 188 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
9 women and 41 men in the cast. 0 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 101 of 275.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 141 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 1% of the words (39), men 99% (2,764). Women have 2% 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
24
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Len Wiseman (man)
- Written by
- Mark Bomback (man)
- Story by
- David Marconi (man), Mark Bomback (man)
- Produced by
- Michael Fottrell (man)
- Shot by
- Simon Duggan (man)
- Edited by
- Nicolas De Toth (man)
- Music by
- Marco Beltrami (man)
- Production design by
- Patrick Tatopoulos (man)
- Cast by
- Deborah Aquila (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 131 men, 47 not listed
-
Sound
8 women, 25 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
12 women, 11 men, 18 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 16 men, 19 not listed
-
Camera
3 women, 20 men, 14 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 5 men, 15 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 4 men, 9 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mary Elizabeth Winstead 22, Maggie Q 28
Men
Jonathan Sadowski 27, Justin Long 29, Andrew Friedman 36, Kevin Smith 36, Cliff Curtis 38, Timothy Olyphant 39, Bruce Willis 52
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $110 million
- Box office
- $384 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 58 scenes and 275 lines of dialogue. How the test works
