Fails the Bechdel test
Red Dawn
1984. Directed by John Milius, written by Kevin Reynolds and John Milius.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
From out of the sky, Soviet, Nicaraguan, and Cuban troops begin landing on the football field of a Colorado high school. In a few seconds, the paratroopers have attacked the school and sent a group of teenagers fleeing into the mountains. Armed only with hunting rifles, pistols, and bows and arrows, the teens struggle to survive the bitter winter and the Soviet K.G.B. patrols hunting for them. Eventually, trouble arises when they kill a group of Soviet soldiers on patrol in the highlands. Soon they will wage their own guerrilla warfare against the invading Soviet troops under the banner of "Wolverines!"
- Released
- 10 Aug 1984
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jed 203 lines, man
- Andy 100 lines, man
- Matt 56 lines, man
- Robert 56 lines, man
- Daryl 42 lines, man
- Sandy 42 lines
- Danny 39 lines, man
- Aardvark 33 lines, man
- Erica 32 lines, woman
- Mason 25 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Patrick Swayze as Jed
- Charlie Sheen as Matt
- C. Thomas Howell as Robert
- Lea Thompson as Erica
- Darren Dalton as Daryl
- Jennifer Grey as Toni
- Powers Boothe as Andy
- Brad Savage as Danny
- Ben Johnson as Mason
- Harry Dean Stanton as Mr. Eckert
- William Smith as Strelnikov
- Ron O'Neal as Bella
- Vladek Sheybal as Bratchenko
- Frank McRae as Mr. Teasdale
- Lane Smith as Mayor Bates
- Roy Jenson as Mr. Morris
- Pepe Serna as Aardvark's Father
- Radames Pera as Stepan Gorsky
- Judd Omen as The Nicaraguan Captain
- Zitto Kazann as Political Officer
- Doug Toby as Aardvark
- Michael D'Agosta as Boy in Classroom
- Johelen Carleton as Girl in Classroom
- George Ganchev as Soldier #1
- Waldemar Kalinowski as Soldier #2
- Sam Slovick as Yuri
- Lois Kimbrell as Mrs. Mason
- Elan Oberon as Alicia
- Harley Christensen as Man on Pole
- Tacy Norwood as Rat Girl
- Fred Rexer as Tank Survivor
- Michael Meisner as Russian Tanker #1
- Victor Meisner as Russian Tanker #2
- Raquel Provance as Rachel
- Vojislav Govedarica as Russian Sergeant
- Gene Scherer as KGB #1
- Tom Ireland as KGB #2
- Krzysztof Janczar as Soviet Soldier
- Phil Mead as Mr. Barnes
- Sam Dodge as Man at Drive-In
- Ben Zeller as Man #2 at Drive-In
- Dan Sparks as Man #3 at Drive-In
- Benjamin Schick as Russian Sergeant
- George Fisher as KGB Major
- Chuk Besher as Door Gunner
- J.D. Ruybal as Cuban Crew Chief
- Pacho Lane as Firing Squad Officer
- Julius L. Meyer as Latin Soldier
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 110
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 | 0 | 11 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 24 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 14 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 7 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 10 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 48 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 24 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 13 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 48 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 24 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 22 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 19 |
| 52 to 54 | 8 | 11 |
| 55 to 57 | 4 | 30 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 30 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 37 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 9 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 12 |
| 73 to 75 | 6 | 22 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 12 | 54 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 27 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 33 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 16 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 9 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 28 |
| 106 to 108 | 3 | 26 |
| 109 to 110 | 0 | 10 |
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.
47 lines from women, 650 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 41 men in the cast. 3 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 191 of 784.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 190 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 5% of the words (315), men 95% (5,913). Women have 7% 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
81
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 13% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John Milius (man)
- Written by
- John Milius (man), Kevin Reynolds (man)
- Story by
- Kevin Reynolds (man)
- Produced by
- Barry Beckerman (gender not listed), Buzz Feitshans (man)
- Shot by
- Ric Waite (man)
- Edited by
- Thom Noble (man)
- Music by
- Basil Poledouris (man)
- Production design by
- Jackson De Govia (man)
- Cast by
- Jane Jenkins (woman), Janet Hirshenson (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 22 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lea Thompson 23, Jennifer Grey 24
Men
C. Thomas Howell 17, Charlie Sheen 18, Brad Savage 18, Darren Dalton 19, Patrick Swayze 31, Powers Boothe 36, Harry Dean Stanton 58, Ben Johnson 66
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $17 million
- Box office
- $38.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 110 scenes and 784 lines of dialogue. How the test works
