Fails the Bechdel test
Rocky III
1982. Directed by Sylvester Stallone, written by Sylvester Stallone.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
3 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 0 out of 3.
The film
Sylvester Stallone returns to the character which made him famous in this wildly successful sequel. Rocky III starts with the Italian Stallion so famous that his likeness is everywhere, including pinball machines. Fame and complacency soon cause Balboa to lose his title to young thug Clubber Lang ( Mr. T ), who inadvertently causes the death of Rocky's beloved trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), before their first championship bout. After sinking into a depression, Balboa must regain the love and support of his family, as well as the elusive "eye of the tiger," the hungry need to beat the opponent which former foe Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) teaches him during this film's training sequence. In the end, Balboa faces off against Lang for a second time.
- Released
- 28 May 1982
- Genres
- Drama, Sport
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 57 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rocky 237 lines, man
- Paulie 132 lines, man
- Apollo 113 lines, man
- Mickey 104 lines, man
- Adrian 55 lines, woman
- Clubber 49 lines, man
- Duke 15 lines, man
- Thunderlips 12 lines, man
- Manager 10 lines, man
- Clobber 7 lines
Full cast, 58 people
- Sylvester Stallone as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa
- Talia Shire as Adrianna 'Adrian' Balboa
- Burt Young as Paulie Pennino
- Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed
- Mr. T as Clubber Lang
- Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill
- Tony Burton as Tony 'Duke' Evers
- Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips
- Ina Fried as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa Jr.
- Al Silvani as Al
- Wally Taylor as Clubber Lang's Manager
- Jim Hill as Sportscaster
- Don Sherman as Andy
- Dennis James as Wrestling commentator 1
- Jim Healy as Wrestling commentator 2
- Ray Gedeon as Wrestling Referee
- Gene Crane as Mayor
- Stu Nahan as Title Rematch Commentator
- Bill Baldwin as Title Rematch Commentator
- Jimmy Lennon Sr. as Title Announcer
- Marty Denkin as Title Referee
- John David Morris as Doctor
- Lou Fillipo as Rematch Referee
- Jeff Temkin as Rematch Ring Announcer
- Mario Machado as Interviewer
- Tony Hernández as Himself
- Frank Stallone Jr. as Singer / Opponent
- Philmore Berger as Rabbi
- Big Yank as Sparring Partner
- François André as Clubber's Cornerman
- Eddie Smith as Clubber's Cornerman
- Chino 'Fats' Williams as Derelict
- LeRoy Neiman as Special Appearance
- Bob Minor as Challenger
- Clifford Strong as Challenger
- Julius LeFlore as Challenger
- Jason Felice as Challenger
- Tony Brubaker as Challenger
- Rex Pierson as Challenger
- Ray Notaro Jr. as Challenger
- Charles A. Tamburro as Challenger
- Carey Lindley as Challenger
- Jophery C. Brown as Challenger
- Gilbert B. Combs as Challenger
- David Cadiente as Opponent
- Roger Braxton as Opponent
- J.D. Smith as Opponent
- Tom Lupo as Opponent
- Melvin Jones as Opponent
- Alex Brown as Opponent
- David R. Ellis as Opponent
- George O'Mara as Opponent
- Clarke Coleman as Police
- Billy Hank Hooker as Police
- Mickey Gilbert as Police
- Fred Waugh as Police
- James M. Halty as Police
- Sasha Czack as Woman in Gym (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 108
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 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 10 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 56 |
| 22 to 24 | 11 | 24 |
| 25 to 27 | 6 | 110 |
| 28 to 30 | 7 | 48 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 38 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 9 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 89 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 21 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 33 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 39 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 20 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 35 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 9 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 6 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 18 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 11 |
| 82 to 84 | 18 | 21 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 6 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 3 |
| 106 to 108 | 2 | 134 |
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.
57 lines from women, 771 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 42 men in the cast. 2 women and 38 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 91 of 862.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 116 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 3% of the words (355), men 97% (9,989). 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
78
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sylvester Stallone (man)
- Written by
- Sylvester Stallone (man)
- Produced by
- Irwin Winkler (man), Robert Chartoff (man)
- Shot by
- Wilmer Butler (man)
- Edited by
- Don Zimmerman (man), Mark Warner (man)
- Music by
- Bill Conti (man)
- Production design by
- William J. Cassidy (man)
- Costumes by
- Tom Bronson (man)
- Cast by
- Rhonda Young (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 18 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 22 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ina Fried 7, Talia Shire 36
Men
Hulk Hogan 28, Mr. T 30, Carl Weathers 34, Sylvester Stallone 35, Burt Young 42, Tony Burton 45, Al Silvani 72, Burgess Meredith 74
Exhibit G: the money
It made 7.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $17 million
- Box office
- $125 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 862 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
