Pledge, The (Falcon Studios) Review

Distributor: Falcon Studios Edition Details: Digital Screener Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Gay, Barely Legal Run Time: 137 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2019 Director: Chi Chi LaRue, Tony DiMarco Written by: D.P. Welles Cast: Steven Lee, Colton Reece, Devin Franco, Brandon Wilde, Tyson Rush, Tristan Hunter, Trevor Miller, Zak Bishop, Nic Sahara Release Specs: Audio: English Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: Digital Screener Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): N/A Number of discs: N/A

The Pledge is the fourth entry in the three decades spanning Falcon Studios/Jocks Pledgemaster fraternity movie series — which consists of 1988's The Pledge Masters, 1995's New Pledgemaster, and 2009's Pledgemaster: The Hazing. D.P. Welles wrote this installment of the Pledgemaster series and the movie was directed by Chi Chi LaRue, who also helmed New Pledgemaster, and Tony DiMarco. No knowledge of the other entries in the series is necessary to watch The Pledge.

The story for The Pledge has pledge Steven (Steven Lee), pledge Devin (Devin Franco), pledge Brendon (Brendon Wilde), and pledge Tristan (Tristan Hunter) pledging the Phi Epsilon Chi fraternity. Under the evil and harsh eye of Phi Epsilon Chi President Trevor (Trevor Miller) the new pledges are put through trials to prove their loyalty above all to the fraternity.

The negative aspect of The Pledge is that the story feels like it was cut down for the movie from the original script. There are aspects of the plot that appear to be entirely skipped over since they are merely told to the viewer out of the blue at the end giving the viewer the feeling that these plot points should have been shown to the viewer throughout the movie. However, the shortness of the plot in The Pledge leaves the movie no lighter in the story department than most straight collegiate-based movies.

The one negative aspect of the reduced plot aside, the rest of The Pledge is very well made. The sex scenes offer a lot of variety in the themes and acts performed in them — which can be challenging to do in a collegiate themed movie such as The Pledge — and the actors appear to be enjoying themselves during the sex scenes.

The unnamed cinematographer for The Pledge has done a beautiful job capturing the movie. The Pledge has excellent establishing shots and some excellent camera work; especially in the lead-in to the fraternity hall orgy scene where the camera slowly lowers itself down capturing the vastness of the hall and all of the future orgy participants. The locations used for the movie work beautifully as well creating a believable fraternity environment.

The Pledge is disappointing and satisfying all at the same time. Chi Chi LaRue and Tony DiMarco have done an excellent job creating a believable fraternity environment and have gotten an excellent cast for The Pledge. However, finding out how much of D.P. Welles script appears to have been cut is disappointing since The Pledge would have been a far better movie with the missing scripted portions.

The edition of The Pledge screened was a digital screener provided by Falcon Studios; as a result, there may be discrepancies between the reviewed edition and the release edition(s). Falcon Studios has done an excellent job with the digital screener provided. The Pledge was shot digitally and is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p. The image quality is beautiful free from imperfections, and the colors in the movie look great.

The Pledge is presented with an English MPEG Stereo audio track. The sound quality of the movie is good. There are some periods where the dialog volume is lower than the rest; however, the dialog is clear and can be heard at all times. Except for the previously mentioned issue, there aren't any other noticeable issues with the audio.

Falcon Studios didn't provide any extras with their digital screener.

The Pledge is the fourth entry in the three decades spanning Falcon Studios/Jocks Pledgemaster fraternity movie series. Overall, The Pledge is an average gay fraternity adult movie. The plot ends up being awful light — although it is evident that some intended plotted portions are missing from the final movie — with a nice variety to the sex scenes. Viewers who like barely legal vignette-style gay scenes should enjoy The Pledge; however, viewers who enjoy the plot will be frustrated that it appears to have been truncated.

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