Fails the Bechdel test
Rocky Balboa
2006. Directed by Sylvester Stallone, written by Sylvester Stallone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 2 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 1 out of 3.
The film
When he loses a highly publicized virtual boxing match to ex-champ Rocky Balboa, reigning heavyweight titleholder Mason Dixon retaliates by challenging the Itallian Stallion to a nationally televised, 10-round exhibition bout. To the surprise of his son and friends, Rocky agrees to come out of retirement and face an opponent who's faster, stronger and thirty years his junior. With the odds stacked firmly against him, Rocky takes on Dixon in what will become the greatest fight in boxing history, a hard-hitting, action-packed battle of the ages.
- Released
- 20 Dec 2006
- Genres
- Drama, Sport
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rocky 268 lines, man
- Paulie 99 lines, man
- Robert Jr 50 lines, man
- Marie 45 lines, woman
- Commentator Jim 38 lines, man
- Mason 30 lines, man
- Duke 27 lines, man
- Steps 26 lines, man
- Andy 19 lines, man
- Clubber 19 lines
Full cast, 60 people
- Sylvester Stallone as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa
- Burt Young as Paulie Pennino
- Antonio Tarver as Mason 'The Line' Dixon
- Geraldine Hughes as Marie
- Milo Ventimiglia as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa Jr.
- Tony Burton as Tony 'Duke' Evers
- A.J. Benza as L.C.
- James Francis Kelly III as Steps
- Lou DiBella as Lou DiBella
- Mike Tyson as Mike Tyson
- Henry G. Sanders as Martin
- Pedro Lovell as Spider Rico
- Ana Gerena as Isabel
- Louis Giansante as Bar Thug
- Maureen Schilling as Lucky's Bartender
- Lahmard J. Tate as X-Cell
- Woody Paige as ESPN Commentator
- Skip Bayless as ESPN Commentator
- Jay Crawford as ESPN Commentator
- Brian Kenny as ESPN Host
- Dana Jacobson as ESPN Host
- Charles Johnson as ESPN Host
- James Binns as Commissioner
- Johnnie Hobbs Jr. as Commissioner
- Barney Fitzpatrick as Commissioner
- Jim Lampley as HBO Commentator
- Larry Merchant as HBO Commentator
- Max Kellerman as HBO Commentator
- LeRoy Neiman as LeRoy Neiman
- Bert Sugar as Ring Magazine Reporter
- Bernardo Fernández as Boxing Association of America Writer
- Gunnar Peterson as Weightlifting Trainer
- Yahya as Dixon's Opponent
- Marc Ratner as Weigh-In Official
- Anthony Lato Jr. as Rocky's Inspector
- Jack Lazzarado as Dixon's Inspector
- Michael Buffer as Ring Announcer
- Joe Cortez as Referee
- Carter Mitchell as Shamrock Foreman
- Vinod Kumar as Ravi
- Fran Pultro as Father at Restaurant
- Frank Stallone Jr. as Dinner Patron
- Jody Giambelluca as Dinner Patron
- Tobias Segal as Robert's Friend
- Tim Carr as Robert's Friend
- Matt Frack as Robert's Friend #3
- Paul Dion Monte as Robert's Friend
- Kevin King Templeton as Robert's Friend
- Robert Michael Kelly as Mr. Tomilson
- Rick Buchborn as Rocky Fan
- Nick Baker as Irish Pub Bartender
- Don Sherman as Andy
- Stu Nahan as Computer Fight Commentator (voice)
- Gary Compton as Security Guard
- David Gere as Patron at Adrian's (uncredited)
- Jacob 'Stitch' Duran as Stitch (uncredited)
- Talia Shire as Adrianna "Adrian" Balboa (Archive Footage) (uncredited)
- Burgess Meredith as Micky Goldmill (Archive Footage) (uncredited)
- Angelyna Martinez-Boyd as Angie
- Jeffrey Mowery as Neighbor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 106
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 | 5 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 10 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 30 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 25 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 to 33 | 15 | 43 |
| 34 to 36 | 9 | 14 |
| 37 to 39 | 11 | 14 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 15 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 17 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 5 | 9 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 9 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 26 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 51 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 66 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 1 | 40 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 21 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 35 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 15 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 10 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 10 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 67 |
| 106 to 106 | 0 | 43 |
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, 8 are women's.
57 lines from women, 644 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 36 men in the cast. 2 women and 28 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 21 of 772.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 259 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 (356), men 95% (7,229). Women have 8% 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
58
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sylvester Stallone (man)
- Written by
- Sylvester Stallone (man)
- Produced by
- Charles Winkler (man), William Chartoff (man), David Winkler (man), Kevin King Templeton (man)
- Shot by
- Clark Mathis (man)
- Edited by
- Sean Albertson (man)
- Music by
- Bill Conti (man)
- Production design by
- Franco-Giacomo Carbone (man)
- Cast by
- Sheila Jaffe (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 6 men, 29 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 20 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 9 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 14 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Geraldine Hughes 36
Men
James Francis Kelly III 17, Milo Ventimiglia 29, Antonio Tarver 38, Mike Tyson 40, A.J. Benza 44, Lou DiBella 46, Sylvester Stallone 60, Burt Young 66, Tony Burton 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $24 million
- Box office
- $156 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 772 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
