Fails the Bechdel test
Saving Private Ryan
1998. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Rodat.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than 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
Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...
- Released
- 24 Jul 1998
- Genres
- Drama, War
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 91 / 100
- Awards
- Won 5 Oscars. 79 wins & 75 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Miller 353 lines, man
- Reiben 117 lines, man
- Sarge 95 lines, man
- Upham 68 lines, man
- Jackson 63 lines, man
- Ryan 26 lines, man
- Wade 25 lines, man
- Colonel Anderson 16 lines, man
- Supply Sergeant 8 lines, man
- The Germans 5 lines, man
Full cast, 101 people
- Tom Hanks as Captain Miller
- Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath
- Edward Burns as Private Reiben
- Barry Pepper as Private Jackson
- Adam Goldberg as Private Mellish
- Vin Diesel as Private Caparzo
- Giovanni Ribisi as T/4 Medic Wade
- Jeremy Davies as Corporal Upham
- Matt Damon as Private Ryan
- Ted Danson as Captain Hamill
- Paul Giamatti as Sergeant Hill
- Dennis Farina as Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
- Joerg Stadler as Steamboat Willie
- Max Martini as Corporal Henderson
- Dylan Bruno as Toynbe
- Daniel Cerqueira as Weller
- Demetri Goritsas as Parker
- Ian Porter as Trask
- Gary Sefton as Rice
- Julian Spencer as Garrity
- Steve Griffin as Wilson
- William Marsh as Lyle
- Marc Cass as Fallon
- Markus Napier as Major Hoess
- Neil Finnighan as Ramelle Paratrooper
- Peter Miles as Ramelle Paratrooper
- Paul Garcia as Field HQ Major
- Seamus McQuade as Field HQ Aide
- Ronald Longridge as Coxswain
- Adam Shaw as Delancey
- Rolf Saxon as Lieutenant Briggs
- Corey Johnson as Radioman
- Loclann Aiken as Soldier on the Beach
- John Barnett as Soldier on the Beach
- Maclean Burke as Soldier on the Beach
- Victor Burke as Soldier on the Beach
- Aiden Condron as Soldier on the Beach
- Shashi Rami as Soldier on the Beach
- Shane Hagan as Soldier on the Beach
- Paul Hickey as Soldier on the Beach
- Shane Johnson as Soldier on the Beach
- Laird Macintosh as Soldier on the Beach
- Brian Maynard as Soldier on the Beach
- Martin McDougall as Soldier on the Beach
- Mark Phillips as Soldier on the Beach
- Lee Aaron Rosen as Soldier on the Beach
- Andrew Scott as Soldier on the Beach
- Matthew Sharp as Soldier on the Beach
- Vincent Walsh as Soldier on the Beach
- Grahame Wood as Soldier on the Beach
- John Sharian as Corporal
- Glenn Wrage as Doyle
- Crofton Hardester as Senior Medical Officer
- Martin Hub as Czech Wehrmacht Soldier
- Raffaello Degruttola as Goldman
- Nigel Whitmey as Private Boyd
- Sam Ellis as Private Hastings
- Erich Redman as German #1
- Tilo Keiner as German #2
- Stephan Grothgar as German #3 / Voice on Bullhorn
- Stéphane Cornicard as Jean
- Michelle Evans as Jean's Wife
- Martin Beaton as Jean's Son
- Anna Maguire as Jean's Daughter
- Nathan Fillion as Minnesota Ryan
- Leland Orser as Lieutenant DeWindt
- Michael Mantas as Paratrooper Lieutenant
- David Vegh as Paratrooper Oliver
- Ryan Hurst as Paratrooper Michaelson
- Nick Brooks as Paratrooper Joe
- Sam Scudder as Paratrooper #1
- John Walters as Old French Man
- Dorothy Grumbar as Old French Woman
- James Innes-Smith as MP Lieutenant
- Harve Presnell as General Marshall
- Dale Dye as War Department Colonel
- Bryan Cranston as War Department Colonel
- David Wohl as War Department Captain
- Eric Loren as War Department Lieutenant
- Valerie Colgan as War Department Clerk
- Amanda Boxer as Mrs. Margaret Ryan
- Harrison Young as Ryan as Old Man
- Kathleen Byron as Old Mrs. Ryan
- Rob Freeman as Ryan's Son
- Thomas Gizbert as Ryan's Grandson
- Nina Muschallik as Ryan's Granddaughter (uncredited)
- Mac Steinmeier as Waffen SS Soldier (uncredited)
- Derek Lea as Bangalore Assistant (uncredited)
- Leo Stransky as German Sniper (uncredited)
- Vincent Ventresca as Soldier on Beach (uncredited)
- John de Lancie as Letter-reader (voice) (uncredited)
- James Embree as German Paratrooper (uncredited)
- Declan Geraghty as Soldier (uncredited)
- Chris Hastings as Waffen SS Soldier (uncredited)
- Alan Joyce as A23 Platoon (uncredited)
- Martin Maloney as USA Ranger - French Village (uncredited)
- João Costa Menezes as Soldier on the Beach (uncredited)
- Abbe Muschallik as Ryan's Granddaughter (uncredited)
- Paul Sacks as Soldier Signalling to Relief Column (uncredited)
- Conor Waldron as D-Day Soldier (uncredited)
- Paul Woodadge as Paratrooper (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 64
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 2 | 0 | 35 |
| 3 to 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 26 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 34 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 39 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 109 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 78 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 61 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 9 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 5 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 19 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 80 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 30 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 11 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 14 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 9 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 60 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 8 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 31 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 9 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 11 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 51 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 29 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 45 |
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, 0 are women's.
2 lines from women, 825 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 78 men in the cast. 2 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 52 of 882.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 829 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 0% of the words (46), men 100% (9,634).
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
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Written by
- Robert Rodat (man)
- Produced by
- Mark Gordon (man), Steven Spielberg (man), Ian Bryce (man), Gary Levinsohn (man)
- Shot by
- Janusz Kamiński (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Thomas E. Sanders (man)
- Costumes by
- Joanna Johnston (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 40 men, 23 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 15 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 14 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 9 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 3 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 8 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 12 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Giovanni Ribisi 23, Adam Goldberg 27, Matt Damon 27, Barry Pepper 28, Jeremy Davies 28, Edward Burns 30, Vin Diesel 31, Tom Sizemore 36, Tom Hanks 42, Ted Danson 50
Exhibit G: the money
It made 6.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $70 million
- Box office
- $482 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 64 scenes and 882 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
