Fails the Bechdel test

Rambo III

Name: Rambo III
Released: 1988

1988. Directed by Peter MacDonald, written by David Morrell and Sylvester Stallone and Sheldon Lettich.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
The film has at least 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 0 out of 3.

The film

Weary of the horrors of war, the expert in guerrilla tactics, John Rambo, has settled in exotic Thailand since the suicide rescue mission in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). However, John will return to action, when his grizzled mentor, Colonel Sam Trautman, gets trapped behind the enemy lines in Soviet-infested Afghanistan, after a botched attempt to aid the remaining rebel pockets. Now, there's no turning back--and as each minute counts--John must act fast before it's too late. Once more, the government will deny John's existence if the men of the ruthless Soviet Colonel, Zaysen, capture him. But, John shows no mercy, and, this time, he fights for his friend. Can Rambo save the only man who ever stood by him?

Released: 25 May 1988
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.8 / 10
Metascore: 36 / 100
Awards: 4 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Rambo 91 lines, man
Mousa 63 lines, man
Zaysan 36 lines, man
Trautman 32 lines, man
Griggs 30 lines, man
Michel 23 lines, woman
Mosaad 19 lines, man
Azov 13 lines, man
Khalid 9 lines, man
Andre 7 lines, man

Full cast, 28 people

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo
Richard Crenna as Trautman
Marc de Jonge as Coronel Zaysen
Kurtwood Smith as Griggs
Spiros Focás as Masoud
Sasson Gabai as Mousa
Doudi Shoua as Hamid
Randy Raney as Kourov
Marcus Gilbert as Tomask
Alon Aboutboul as Nissem
Mahmoud Assadollahi as Rahim
Yosef Shiloach as Khalid
Harold Diamond as Stick Fighter
Mati Seri as Gun Dealer
Hany Said El Deen as Gun Dealer
Shaby Ben-Aroya as Uri
Marciano Shoshi as Afghan Girl
Sadiq Tawfik as Helicopter Person
Julian Patrice as Helicopter Person
Tal Kastoriano as Helicopter Person
Benny Bruchim as Helicopter Person
Tikva Aziz as Helicopter Person
Milo Rafi as Helicopter Person
Clark Acton as Afghani Freedom Fighter (uncredited)
R.T. Freeman as Afghan Warrior (uncredited)
Iyad Hajjaj as Arabic Shop Assistant (uncredited)
Paul Dion Monte as Russian Gunner (uncredited)
Mic Rodgers as Russian Soldier (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 214

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 5	0	4
6 to 10	0	27
11 to 15	0	3
16 to 20	0	9
21 to 25	0	8
26 to 30	0	18
31 to 35	0	4
36 to 40	0	0
41 to 45	0	0
46 to 50	0	0
51 to 55	0	1
56 to 60	0	1
61 to 65	0	7
66 to 70	1	3
71 to 75	4	40
76 to 80	0	0
81 to 85	0	1
86 to 90	0	4
91 to 95	4	1
96 to 100	2	32
101 to 105	0	6
106 to 110	0	0
111 to 115	0	0
116 to 120	0	1
121 to 125	0	0
126 to 130	0	1
131 to 135	0	10
136 to 140	2	25
141 to 145	0	0
146 to 150	0	2
151 to 155	0	4
156 to 160	0	6
161 to 165	0	2
166 to 170	0	5
171 to 175	0	2
176 to 180	0	3
181 to 185	0	4
186 to 190	0	5
191 to 195	0	0
196 to 200	3	11
201 to 205	0	15
206 to 210	1	27
211 to 214	7	28

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, 7 are women's.

24 lines from women, 320 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

1 women and 18 men in the cast. 0 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 85 of 354. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 84 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 8% of the words (408), men 92% (5,016). Women have 7% 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

1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Peter MacDonald (man)
Written by: Sylvester Stallone (man), Sheldon Lettich (man)
Produced by: Buzz Feitshans (man)
Shot by: John Stanier (man)
Edited by: O. Nicholas Brown (man), Andrew London (man), James R. Symons (man), Edward Warschilka (man)
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith (man)
Production design by: Bill Kenney (man)
Costumes by: Richard La Motte (man)
Cast by: Joy Todd (woman)