Fails the Bechdel test
The Last Samurai
2003. Directed by Edward Zwick, written by John Logan and Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
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
In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a cynical veteran of the American Civil War, who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing Imperial Army in modern warfare using firearms. The Imperial Omura (Masato Harada) cabinet's first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai, hereditary warriors, who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty, but reject the Westernizing policy, and even refuse firearms. Yet, when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded, Algren's courageous stand makes the samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) spare his life. Once nursed to health, he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way, and participates as advisor in Katsumoto's failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted. He must now choose to honor his loyalty to one of the embittered sides when the conflict returns to the battlefield.
- Released
- 05 Dec 2003
- Genres
- Action, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 55 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 4 Oscars. 20 wins & 67 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Algren 306 lines, man
- Katsumoto 114 lines, man
- Omura 82 lines, man
- Graham 60 lines, man
- Bagley 42 lines, man
- Gant 31 lines, man
- Emperor 25 lines, man
- Ka Tsumoto 24 lines
- Taka 14 lines, woman
- Yoritomo 14 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
- Tom Cruise as Nathan Algren
- Ken Watanabe as Moritsugu Katsumoto
- Timothy Spall as Simon Graham
- Tony Goldwyn as Col. Benjamin Bagley
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Ujio
- Koyuki as Taka
- Shin Koyamada as Nobutada
- Billy Connolly as Zebulon Gant
- Togo Igawa as General Hasegawa
- Shichinosuke Nakamura as Emperor Meiji
- Masato Harada as Omura
- William Atherton as Winchester Rep
- Chad Lindberg as Winchester Rep Assistant
- Scott Wilson as Ambassador Swanbeck
- Ray Godshall Sr. as Convention Hall Attendee
- Masashi Odate as Omura's Companion
- John Koyama as Omura's Bodyguard
- Satoshi Nikaido as N.C.O.
- Shintaro Wada as Young Recruit
- Shun Sugata as Nakao
- Sosuke Ikematsu as Higen
- Aoi Minato as Magojiro
- Seizō Fukumoto as Silent Samurai
- Shoji Yoshihara as Sword Master
- Kosaburo Nomura IV as Kyogen Player #1
- Takashi Noguchi as Kyogen Player #2
- Noguchi Takayuki as Kyogen Player #3
- Sven Toorvald as Omura's Secretary
- Yuki Matsuzaki as Soldier in Street #1
- Mitsuyuki Oishi as Soldier in Street #2
- Jiro Wada as Soldier in Street #3
- Hiroshi Watanabe as Guard
- Yusuke Myochin as Sword Master's Assistant
- Hiroaki Amano as Samurai Ensemble
- Kenta Daibo as Samurai Ensemble
- Koji Fujii as Samurai Ensemble
- Makoto Hashiba as Samurai Ensemble
- Shimpei Horinouchi as Samurai Ensemble
- Takashi Kora as Samurai Ensemble
- Shane Kosugi as Samurai Ensemble
- Takeshi Maya as Samurai Ensemble
- Seiji Morita as Samurai Ensemble
- Lee Murayama as Samurai Ensemble
- Takeru Shimizu as Samurai Ensemble
- Shinji Suzuki as Samurai Ensemble
- Hisao Takeda as Samurai Ensemble
- Ryoichiro Yonekura as Samurai Ensemble
- Ryoichi Noguchi as Samurai Ensemble
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 182
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 | 35 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 32 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 35 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 31 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 35 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 37 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 27 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 3 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 27 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 36 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 27 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 28 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 3 |
| 69 to 72 | 4 | 6 |
| 73 to 76 | 2 | 6 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 35 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 30 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 53 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 17 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 32 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 17 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 1 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 7 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 10 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 0 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 14 |
| 153 to 156 | 3 | 16 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 18 |
| 161 to 164 | 2 | 14 |
| 165 to 168 | 2 | 12 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 14 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 2 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 34 |
| 181 to 182 | 0 | 4 |
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, 2 are women's.
14 lines from women, 717 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 32 men in the cast. 1 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 279 of 763.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 278 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 1% of the words (77), men 99% (8,095). Women have 2% 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
72
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 18 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Edward Zwick (man)
- Written by
- Edward Zwick (man), Marshall Herskovitz (man), John Logan (man)
- Story by
- John Logan (man)
- Produced by
- Paula Wagner (woman), Marshall Herskovitz (man), Edward Zwick (man), Scott Kroopf (man), Tom Cruise (man), Tom Engelman (man)
- Shot by
- John Toll (man)
- Edited by
- Victor Du Bois (man), Steven Rosenblum (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man)
- Production design by
- Lilly Kilvert (woman)
- Costumes by
- Ngila Dickson (woman)
- Cast by
- Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
9 women, 24 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 16 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 14 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 9 men, 8 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Koyuki 26
Men
Shichinosuke Nakamura 20, Shin Koyamada 21, Tom Cruise 41, Tony Goldwyn 43, Hiroyuki Sanada 43, Ken Watanabe 44, Timothy Spall 46, Togo Igawa 57, Billy Connolly 61
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $140 million
- Box office
- $457 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 182 scenes and 763 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
