Fails the Bechdel test
Spaceballs
1987. Directed by Mel Brooks, written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 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
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
On the peaceful planet Druidia, King Roland attempts to marry his daughter Princess Vespa to Prince Valium, but Vespa and her loyal droid Dot Matrix escape during her wedding. After wasting the fresh air on the distant planet Spaceball, corrupt President Skroob orders the arch-villain henchman Dark Helmet to kidnap Princess Vespa to force King Roland to provide them with the code to Druidia's atmosphere. Under those circumstances, the seasoned mercenary Lone Starr and his devoted half-human, half-canine sidekick Barf try to save the princess. In the meantime, the ruthless loan shark Pizza the Hutt is after them. But only he who can harness The Schwartz, a mystical cosmic force, will save the day.
- Released
- 24 Jun 1987
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 46 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lone Starr 163 lines, man
- Princess 102 lines, woman
- Barf 100 lines, man
- Dark Helmet 93 lines, man
- Sandurz 52 lines, man
- Yogurt 44 lines, man
- Dot 40 lines, woman
- Skroob 34 lines, man
- King Roland 28 lines, man
- Vinnie 20 lines, man
Full cast, 68 people
- Bill Pullman as Lone Starr
- Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet
- Mel Brooks as President Skroob / Yogurt
- John Candy as Barf
- Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa
- Dick Van Patten as King Roland
- George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz
- Michael Winslow as Radar Technician
- Joan Rivers as Dot Matrix (voice)
- Lorene Yarnell Jansson as Dot Matrix
- John Hurt as John Hurt
- Sal Viscuso as Radio Operator
- Ronny Graham as Minister
- Jim J. Bullock as Prince Valium
- Leslie Bevis as Commanderette Zircon
- Jim Jackman as Major Asshole
- Mike Pniewski as Laser Gunner
- Sandy Helberg as Dr. Schlotkin
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Captain of the Guard
- Jeff MacGregor as Snotty
- Henry Kaiser as Magnetic Beam Operator
- Denise Gallup as Charlene
- Dian Gallup as Marlene
- Gail Barle as Waitress
- Dey Young as Waitress
- Rhonda Shear as Woman in Diner
- Robert Prescott as Sand Cruiser Driver
- Jack Riley as TV Newsman
- Tom Dreesen as Megamaid Guard
- Rudy De Luca as Vinnie
- Tony Griffin as Prison Guard
- Rick Ducommun as Prison Guard
- Ken Olfson as Head Usher
- Bryan O'Byrne as Organist
- Wayne Wilson as Trucker in Cap
- Ira Miller as Short Order Cook
- Earl Finn as Guard with Captain
- Mitchell Bock as Video Operator
- Tommy Swerdlow as Troop Leader
- Tim Russ as Trooper
- Ed Gale as Dink
- Antonio Hoyos as Dink
- Felix Silla as Dink
- Arturo Gil as Dink
- Tony Cox as Dink
- John Kennedy Hayden as Dink
- Dee Booher as Bearded Lady
- Johnny Silver as Caddy
- Brenda Strong as Nurse
- Dom DeLuise as Pizza the Hutt (voice)
- Robert Buckingham as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Corey Burton as Dink (voice) (uncredited)
- Dan Cotter as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Phil Hartman as Dink (voice) (uncredited)
- Conrad Hurtt as Guard (uncredited)
- Rick Lazzarini as Pizza the Hutt / Ape #2 (uncredited)
- Tress MacNeille as Dink (voice) (uncredited)
- Jerry Maren as Dink (uncredited)
- Terence Marsh as Spaceball Drum Beater (uncredited)
- Steve McLean as Movie Crew Member (uncredited)
- Sam L. Nickens as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- John Paragon as Dink (voice) (uncredited)
- Rob Paulsen as Spaceball with Comb / Dink (voice) (uncredited)
- Julie Pitkanen as Self-Destruct Voice (voice) (uncredited)
- Ben Pollock as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Thomas Meehan as King Roland's Aide (uncredited)
- George Sasaki as Transporter Technician (uncredited)
- Dan Cotter as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 150
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 4 | 0 | 33 |
| 5 to 8 | 5 | 28 |
| 9 to 12 | 3 | 13 |
| 13 to 16 | 6 | 19 |
| 17 to 20 | 7 | 1 |
| 21 to 24 | 9 | 6 |
| 25 to 28 | 1 | 13 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 11 | 13 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 10 |
| 41 to 44 | 3 | 10 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 32 |
| 53 to 56 | 17 | 63 |
| 57 to 60 | 24 | 25 |
| 61 to 64 | 1 | 10 |
| 65 to 68 | 10 | 29 |
| 69 to 72 | 5 | 50 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 21 |
| 77 to 80 | 4 | 14 |
| 81 to 84 | 2 | 43 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 5 |
| 89 to 92 | 10 | 19 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 2 |
| 97 to 100 | 6 | 13 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 1 |
| 105 to 108 | 2 | 2 |
| 109 to 112 | 3 | 15 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 8 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 8 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 22 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 18 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 9 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 2 |
| 137 to 140 | 6 | 11 |
| 141 to 144 | 2 | 9 |
| 145 to 148 | 8 | 37 |
| 149 to 150 | 0 | 0 |
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, 20 are women's.
160 lines from women, 630 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
12 women and 44 men in the cast. 3 women and 42 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 41 of 859.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 56 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,488), men 83% (7,126). Women have 20% 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
77
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Mel Brooks (man)
- Written by
- Thomas Meehan (man), Ronny Graham (man), Mel Brooks (man)
- Produced by
- Mel Brooks (man)
- Shot by
- Nick McLean (man)
- Edited by
- Conrad Buff IV (man)
- Music by
- John Morris (man)
- Production design by
- Terence Marsh (man)
- Costumes by
- Donfeld (man)
- Cast by
- Bill Shepard (man), David Rubin (man), Lynn Stalmaster (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 17 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Daphne Zuniga 24, Lorene Yarnell Jansson 43, Joan Rivers 54
Men
Michael Winslow 28, Bill Pullman 33, Rick Moranis 34, John Candy 36, George Wyner 41, Dick Van Patten 58, Mel Brooks 60
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $22.7 million
- Box office
- $38.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 150 scenes and 859 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
