Fails the Bechdel test
National Treasure
2004. Directed by Jon Turteltaub, written by Jim Kouf and Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 3 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 2 out of 3.
The film
Benjamin Franklin Gates, a descendant of the treasure hunter family who learns about a national treasure from his grandfather. The treasure is stashed somewhere in the country and the clue leading to the treasure chest is cyphered and scattered all over the country. Benjamin's father abhors treasure hunting, as he himself lost 20 years in chasing the treasure without success. Plot takes a twist when Ben's accomplice Ian decides to steal 'Declaration of Independence' for the next clue. Ben refuses to Ian's plan and they become hostile. When Ben tips FBI about the possible theft, they refused to believe him. Ben determines to steal the 'Declaration of Independence' in order to protect it from Ian. Ben meets 'Abigail Chase' the curator of the archives when he steals the document. Rest of the story is about how Ben, his partner Riley and Abigail decrypts the clues and rescues the national treasure without getting to the hands of Ian.
- Released
- 19 Nov 2004
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Mystery
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ben 304 lines, man
- Riley 184 lines, man
- Abigail 130 lines, woman
- Ian 85 lines, man
- Sadusky 68 lines, man
- Patrick 35 lines, man
- Woodruff 18 lines, man
- Dr. Herbert 17 lines, man
- Man 17 lines, man
- Agent Dawes 15 lines, woman
Full cast, 39 people
- Nicolas Cage as Ben Gates
- Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase
- Justin Bartha as Riley Poole
- Sean Bean as Ian Howe
- Jon Voight as Patrick Gates
- Harvey Keitel as Sadusky
- Christopher Plummer as John Adams Gates
- David Dayan Fisher as Shaw
- Stewart Finlay-McLennan as Powell
- Oleg Taktarov as Shippen
- Stephen A. Pope as Phil
- Annie Parisse as Agent Dawes
- Mark Pellegrino as Agent Johnson
- Armando Riesco as Agent Hendricks
- Erik King as Agent Colfax
- Don McManus as Dr. Stan Herbert
- Ron Canada as Guard Woodruff
- Hunter Gomez as Young Ben Gates
- Deborah Yates as Rebecca
- Arabella Field as Abigail's Secretary
- Sharon Wilkins as Butcher Lady
- Alexandra Balahoutis as Clothing Store Clerk
- Dior Raye as Gift Store Clerk
- Yves Beneche as Museum Kid
- Jason Earles as Thomas Gates
- Terrence Currier as Charles Carroll
- Rod McLachlan as Independence Hall Guide
- Elizabeth Greenberg as Liberty Bell Guide
- Jody Halse as Franklin Institute Guard
- Liam Noble as Franklin Institute Security
- Joshua Bitton as Technician
- Michael Russo as Popcorn Vendor
- Fern D. Baguidy Jr. as Gala Guard
- Thomas Q. Morris as Janitor
- Antony Alda as Guard Ferguson
- John Travis as Guard Mike
- Adriana Alveario as Shopper at Market (uncredited)
- Frank Anello as FBI Agent (uncredited)
- Tony Sagastizado I as Tourist (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 7 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 297
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 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 8 to 14 | 0 | 7 |
| 15 to 21 | 0 | 36 |
| 22 to 28 | 0 | 33 |
| 29 to 35 | 0 | 7 |
| 36 to 42 | 0 | 72 |
| 43 to 49 | 0 | 5 |
| 50 to 56 | 0 | 19 |
| 57 to 63 | 17 | 70 |
| 64 to 70 | 6 | 6 |
| 71 to 77 | 0 | 10 |
| 78 to 84 | 6 | 24 |
| 85 to 91 | 0 | 9 |
| 92 to 98 | 0 | 13 |
| 99 to 105 | 0 | 12 |
| 106 to 112 | 0 | 6 |
| 113 to 119 | 0 | 8 |
| 120 to 126 | 4 | 6 |
| 127 to 133 | 8 | 14 |
| 134 to 140 | 1 | 1 |
| 141 to 147 | 2 | 4 |
| 148 to 154 | 2 | 1 |
| 155 to 161 | 1 | 3 |
| 162 to 168 | 0 | 0 |
| 169 to 175 | 19 | 32 |
| 176 to 182 | 9 | 39 |
| 183 to 189 | 8 | 31 |
| 190 to 196 | 19 | 73 |
| 197 to 203 | 5 | 13 |
| 204 to 210 | 1 | 16 |
| 211 to 217 | 9 | 30 |
| 218 to 224 | 1 | 1 |
| 225 to 231 | 2 | 3 |
| 232 to 238 | 1 | 3 |
| 239 to 245 | 0 | 3 |
| 246 to 252 | 3 | 43 |
| 253 to 259 | 0 | 5 |
| 260 to 266 | 2 | 8 |
| 267 to 273 | 0 | 31 |
| 274 to 280 | 6 | 32 |
| 281 to 287 | 10 | 33 |
| 288 to 294 | 5 | 27 |
| 295 to 297 | 2 | 17 |
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, 15 are women's.
149 lines from women, 818 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 29 men in the cast. 3 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 241 of 992.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 240 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 14% of the words (1,219), men 86% (7,554). Women have 15% 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
102
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jon Turteltaub (man)
- Written by
- Cormac Wibberley (man), Jim Kouf (man), Marianne Wibberley (woman)
- Story by
- Jim Kouf (man), Charles Segars (man), Oren Aviv (man)
- Produced by
- Jon Turteltaub (man), Jerry Bruckheimer (man)
- Shot by
- Caleb Deschanel (man)
- Edited by
- William Goldenberg (man)
- Music by
- Trevor Rabin (man)
- Production design by
- Norris Spencer (man)
- Costumes by
- Judianna Makovsky (woman)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 38 men, 16 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 14 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 19 men, 10 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 11 men, 16 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Diane Kruger 28
Men
Justin Bartha 26, David Dayan Fisher 37, Oleg Taktarov 37, Nicolas Cage 40, Sean Bean 45, Stewart Finlay-McLennan 47, Jon Voight 65, Harvey Keitel 65, Christopher Plummer 74
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $100 million
- Box office
- $348 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 297 scenes and 992 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
