Does it pass? bechdel.io

Passes the Bechdel test

The Terminator

1984. Directed by James Cameron, written by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and William Wisher.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    8 women characters. 6 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 250.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

Poster for The Terminator

The film

Sent back from a dystopian 2029--where the ruthless machines have conquered the entire world--to 1984 Los Angeles, the indestructible cyborg-assassin known as the Terminator commences his deadly mission to kill mankind's most important woman: the unsuspecting Sarah Connor. However, from the same war-torn post-apocalyptic future comes a battle-scarred defender--Kyle Reese, a brave soldier of the human Resistance Army--bent on stopping the cybernetic killer from eliminating the world's last hope. But the Terminator has no feelings, he doesn't sleep, and above all, he won't stop until he carries out his grim mission. The Terminator uses his exceptional intelligence and strength to find Sarah, but is there any way to stop the cyborg?

Released
26 Oct 1984
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rated
R
IMDb
8.1 / 10
Metascore
84 / 100
Awards
10 wins & 13 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Sarah 167 lines, woman
  2. Reese 125 lines, man
  3. Vukovich 32 lines, man
  4. Ginger 24 lines, woman
  5. Traxler 20 lines, man
  6. Silberman 18 lines, man
  7. Terminator 17 lines, man
  8. Breen 8 lines
  9. Clerk 7 lines, man
  10. Matt 7 lines, man
Full cast, 48 people
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator
  • Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese
  • Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor
  • Paul Winfield as Traxler
  • Lance Henriksen as Vukovich
  • Rick Rossovich as Matt
  • Bess Motta as Ginger
  • Earl Boen as Silberman
  • Dick Miller as Pawnshop Clerk
  • Shawn Schepps as Nancy
  • Bruce M. Kerner as Desk Sergeant
  • Franco Columbu as Future Terminator
  • Bill Paxton as Punk Leader
  • Brad Rearden as Punk
  • Brian Thompson as Punk
  • William Wisher as Policeman
  • Ken Fritz as Policeman
  • Tom Oberhaus as Policeman
  • Ed Dogans as Cop in Alley
  • Joe Farago as TV Anchorman
  • Hettie Lynne Hurtes as TV Anchorwoman
  • Tony Mirelez as Station Attendant
  • Philip Gordon as Mexican Boy
  • Anthony Trujillo as Mexican Boy
  • Stan Yale as Derelict
  • Al Kahn as Customer
  • Leslie Morris as Customer
  • Hugh Farrington as Customer
  • Harriet Medin as Customer
  • Loree Frazier as Customer
  • James Ralston as Customer
  • Norman Friedman as Cleaning Man
  • Barbara Powers as Ticket Taker
  • Wayne Stone as Tanker Driver
  • David Michels as Tanker Partner
  • John E. Bristol as Phone Booth Man
  • Webster Williams as Reporter
  • Patrick Pinney as Bar Customer
  • Bill W. Richmond as Bartender
  • Chino 'Fats' Williams as Truck Driver
  • Greg Robbins as Motel Customer
  • Marianne Muellerleile as Wrong Sarah
  • John Durban as Sentry
  • Marian Green as Dancer Shot by the Terminator (uncredited)
  • J. Randolph Harrison as Policeman (uncredited)
  • David Kristin as Punk (uncredited)
  • Darrell Mapson as Bar Patron at Pay Phone with Sarah (uncredited)
  • John Stuart West as MacDougal (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 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 250

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 619
7 to 1201
13 to 1803
19 to 24100
25 to 30513
31 to 3641
37 to 4294
43 to 48143
49 to 5412
55 to 601612
61 to 661113
67 to 7219
73 to 7811
79 to 8470
85 to 9023
91 to 9632
97 to 10200
103 to 10802
109 to 114110
115 to 12045
121 to 12601
127 to 13278
133 to 13848
139 to 14411
145 to 15045
151 to 156015
157 to 162531
163 to 16801
169 to 17402
175 to 18004
181 to 1862727
187 to 1922218
193 to 19833
199 to 20494
205 to 2101923
211 to 21600
217 to 22211
223 to 22812
229 to 23430
235 to 24000
241 to 24611
247 to 250115

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
SARAH: Oh, sorry. That's not real leather, is it? NANCY: Look at it this way: in a hundred years, who's gonna care?
SARAH: I'm on break, Chuck. Carla's got my station. NANCY: Hurry up. It's about you... I mean sort of...Come on!
GINGER: ...and three aaand four! And that's it ladies! Now, didn't that feel good? GINGER: Let's think positive or next time I'll play the FM version. SARAH: ...yeah, really? Say some- thing in Italian. GINGER: You're wasting your time, kiddo. Let's go.
SARAH: Sure, Bunky. GINGER: Hello?
GINGER: Hi there. Ha ha ha, fooled you. You're talking to a machine... GINGER: ...but don't be shy, it's okay. Machines need love too... GINGER: ...so talk to it and Ginger, that's me, or Sarah will get back to you. Wait for the beep. SARAH: Ginger, this is Sarah...

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 45 are women's.

208 lines from women, 253 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 25 men in the cast. 6 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 44% of the words (1,904), men 56% (2,399). Women have 45% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
James Cameron (man)
Written by
James Cameron (man), Gale Anne Hurd (woman)
Produced by
Gale Anne Hurd (woman)
Shot by
Adam Greenberg (man)
Edited by
Mark Goldblatt (man)
Music by
Brad Fiedel (man)
Costumes by
Hilary Wright (gender not listed)
Cast by
Stanzi Stokes (gender not listed), Greg Robbins (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    3 women, 22 men, 8 not listed

  • Sound

    2 women, 9 men, 8 not listed

  • Production

    1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    2 women, 4 men, 2 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 26 on average. Men: 40 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Shawn Schepps 23, Bess Motta 26, Linda Hamilton 28

Men

Rick Rossovich 27, Michael Biehn 28, Arnold Schwarzenegger 37, Earl Boen 43, Lance Henriksen 44, Paul Winfield 45, Dick Miller 55

Exhibit H: the money

It made 12.2 times what it cost.

Budget
$6.4 million
Box office
$78.4 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 250 scenes and 503 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

Related films

Back to the whole shelf