Fails the Bechdel test

The Fly II

Name: The Fly II
Released: 1989

1989. Directed by Chris Walas, written by Mick Garris and Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 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

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Five years after the death of his scientist father in The Fly (1986), whiz kid Martin Brundle is kept under lock and key in the labs of Bartok Industries. With the teleportation device now in the hands of the duplicitous CEO, Anton Bartok, Martin is eager to perfect the ambitious matter transfer project and vindicate its inventor. However, he is running out of time. And as the dormant alien chromosomes inside him spread like wildfire, it is only a question of when the insect within will take over. But the disease has a purpose. Who can prevent it from turning Martin into something else?

Released: 10 Feb 1989
Genres: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.2 / 10
Metascore: 36 / 100
Awards: 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Martin 161 lines, man
Bartok 117 lines, man
Beth 110 lines, woman
Jainway 23 lines, woman
Scorby 17 lines, man
Shepard 15 lines, man
Stathis 15 lines, man
Wiley 11 lines, man
Seth 8 lines, man
Trimble 6 lines, man

Full cast, 35 people

Eric Stoltz as Martin Brundle
Daphne Zuniga as Beth Logan
Lee Richardson as Anton Bartok
John Getz as Stathis Borans
Frank C. Turner as Shepard
Ann Marie Lee as Dr. Jainway
Garry Chalk as Scorby
Saffron Henderson as Ronnie
Harley Cross as 10 year old Martin
Matthew Moore as 4 year old Martin
Rob Roy as Wiley
Andrew Rhodes as Hargis
Pat Bermel as Mackenzie
William S. Taylor as Dr. Trimble
Jerry Wasserman as Simms
Robert Metcalfe as Observer #1
Garwin Sanford as Observer #2
Bruce Harwood as Technician
Lorena Gale as Woman
Bill Dow as Man
Duncan Fraser as Obstetrician
Ken Camroux-Taylor as Linder
Tom Heaton as Manager
Allan Lysell as Guard 'A'
Suzanne Ristic as Guard #1
Danny Virtue as Guard #2
Mike Winlaw as Neonatologist
Kimelly Anne Warren as Maria
David Mylrea as Flywalker
Cecilia Warren as Anchorwoman
Andrea Mann as Cute Girl
Sterling Cottingham as Baby Martin/Newborn
Rodney Clough Jr. as Martin Brundle - 1 1 / 2 years old
Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle (archive footage) (uncredited)
Janet Hodgkinson as Nurse

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 124

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	1	4
7 to 9	8	16
10 to 12	0	16
13 to 15	6	12
16 to 18	0	0
19 to 21	0	1
22 to 24	0	1
25 to 27	0	1
28 to 30	0	4
31 to 33	1	2
34 to 36	1	24
37 to 39	1	23
40 to 42	14	13
43 to 45	7	14
46 to 48	10	12
49 to 51	1	7
52 to 54	3	4
55 to 57	11	10
58 to 60	11	12
61 to 63	3	13
64 to 66	6	8
67 to 69	3	30
70 to 72	0	12
73 to 75	4	5
76 to 78	1	6
79 to 81	4	8
82 to 84	17	34
85 to 87	11	20
88 to 90	2	16
91 to 93	5	6
94 to 96	1	2
97 to 99	3	12
100 to 102	1	3
103 to 105	0	4
106 to 108	0	1
109 to 111	2	0
112 to 114	0	1
115 to 117	0	11
118 to 120	2	8
121 to 123	0	2
124 to 124	0	2

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, 27 are women's.

140 lines from women, 380 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

7 women and 23 men in the cast. 5 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 559. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 44 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 26% of the words (2,311), men 74% (6,450). Women have 27% 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, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Chris Walas (man)
Written by: Jim Wheat (man), Ken Wheat (man), Frank Darabont (man), Mick Garris (man)
Story by: Mick Garris (man)
Produced by: Steven-Charles Jaffe (man), Mel Brooks (man)
Shot by: Robin Vidgeon (man)
Edited by: Sean Barton (man)
Music by: Christopher Young (man)
Production design by: Michael S. Bolton (man)
Costumes by: Christopher Ryan (man)
Cast by: Deborah Lucchesi (woman), Michelle Allen (woman)