Fails the Bechdel test

The Expendables

Name: The Expendables
Released: 2010

2010. Directed by Sylvester Stallone, written by Dave Callaham and Sylvester Stallone.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 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

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

Barney Ross leads the "Expendables", a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road and loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the merciless dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee head to the remote locale to scout out their opposition. Once there, they meet with local rebel Sandra and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city. When they escape the island and Sandra stays behind, Ross must choose to either walk away and save his own life - or attempt a suicidal rescue mission that might just save his soul.

Released: 13 Aug 2010
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 45 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Barney 179 lines, man
Christmas 144 lines, man
Sandra 52 lines, woman
Monroe 46 lines, man
Gunnar 42 lines, man
Tool 39 lines, man
Yang 36 lines, man
Church 34 lines, man
Garza 30 lines, man
Hale Caesar 26 lines, man

Full cast, 52 people

Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross
Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
Jet Li as Yin Yang
Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
Eric Roberts as James Monroe
Randy Couture as Toll Road
Steve Austin as Paine
David Zayas as General Garza
Giselle Itié as Sandra
Charisma Carpenter as Lacy
Gary Daniels as The Brit
Terry Crews as Hale Caesar
Mickey Rourke as Tool
Hank Amos as Paul
Amin Joseph as Pirate Leader
Grifon Aldren as Tall Pirate Leader
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as Garza's Bodyguard #1
Antônio Rogério Nogueira as Garza's Bodyguard #2
Sassa Nacimento as Vilena Customs Agent
R.A. Rondell as Gunner's Goon
Tze Yep as Gagged Hostage
Precious Jenkins as Gunner's Pirate
Ronn Surels as American Operative
Lauren Jones as Cheyenne
Prazeres Barbosa as Old Woman Bartender
Jose Vasquez as Cell Guard #1
Daniel Arrias as Cell Guard #2
Antonio Gullo as Farmer
Javier Lambert as Squad Leader
Tatsu Carvalho as Palace Guard
Marcio Rosario as Royal Guard Leader
Paulo Bastos as Vilenan Soldier
John Baran as Soldier (uncredited)
Joshua Cardenez as Red Beret Soldier (uncredited)
Rod Carvalho as Hostage (uncredited)
Gino Galento as Red Beret (uncredited)
Gideon Hodge as Soldier (uncredited)
James Landry Hébert as Bill Parker (uncredited)
Topher Jones as Sgt. Velasco (uncredited)
Cody Juneau as Red Beret Soldier (uncredited)
Shadoe Knight as Gagged Hostage (uncredited)
Everton Lawrence as Pirate (uncredited)
Ace LeBleu as Red Beret (uncredited)
Edgar Leza as Soldier (uncredited)
David Joseph Martinez as Peasant Worker (uncredited)
Aaron Saxton as Soldier (uncredited)
Bruce Willis as Mr. Church (uncredited)
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench (uncredited)
Victor Eli Hugo as Soldier (uncredited)
Kadrolsha Ona Carole as Peasant Worker (uncredited)
Paulo Gustavo as Soldier (uncredited)
Ricardo Vargas as Soldier (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 128

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	0
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	46
10 to 12	0	32
13 to 15	18	70
16 to 18	0	41
19 to 21	1	29
22 to 24	0	53
25 to 27	0	13
28 to 30	0	3
31 to 33	2	16
34 to 36	9	15
37 to 39	24	39
40 to 42	1	4
43 to 45	4	7
46 to 48	2	4
49 to 51	0	0
52 to 54	0	1
55 to 57	0	7
58 to 60	0	6
61 to 63	0	0
64 to 66	0	0
67 to 69	0	0
70 to 72	0	0
73 to 75	0	2
76 to 78	0	34
79 to 81	0	3
82 to 84	3	20
85 to 87	0	3
88 to 90	1	16
91 to 93	0	17
94 to 96	0	4
97 to 99	0	12
100 to 102	0	14
103 to 105	0	6
106 to 108	0	7
109 to 111	0	9
112 to 114	0	6
115 to 117	0	2
118 to 120	5	50
121 to 123	1	11
124 to 126	3	16
127 to 128	4	41

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, 11 are women's.

78 lines from women, 659 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 37 men in the cast. 3 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 80 of 753. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 117 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (605), men 90% (5,545). Women have 11% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Sylvester Stallone (man)
Written by: David Callaham (man), Sylvester Stallone (man)
Story by: David Callaham (man)
Produced by: Kevin King Templeton (man), Avi Lerner (man), John Thompson (man)
Shot by: Jeffrey L. Kimball (man)
Edited by: Ken Blackwell (man), Paul Harb (gender not listed)
Music by: Brian Tyler (man)
Production design by: Franco-Giacomo Carbone (man)
Costumes by: Lizz Wolf (gender not listed)
Cast by: Deborah Aquila (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)