Plot: What’s it about?
Victoria English (Paris Hilton) isn’t just rich and beautiful, she is also the head of the Gamma Gamma sorority, the most popular house on campus. The Gammas have been the top sorority at not only South Beach University, but the entire nation for several years. Now FHM Magazine is going to name the country’s hottest sorority, an honor Victoria has to claim for the Gammas. Victoria has all the school’s hottest ladies, so she seems to have a lock, but rumors persist that FHM is also looking for diversity, not just hot bodies. And since the Gammas are almost all hot blondes, Victoria knows she needs to add some depth to her roster. At the same time, a group of outcast freshman are in need of a place to call home, so Victoria takes them on as pledges, with no plans to ever allow them membership, of course. Victoria taunts and tortures the girls to no end, knowing they won’t leave, but when one does walk, she takes it out on the ones left. With time running out, will Victoria be able to win her award and will she ever get what she deserves?
How far National Lampoon has fallen. Once a prominent brand in the world of comedy, now the label is as trustworthy as a politician. The past holds such classics as Vacation and Animal House, but now we have clunkers like Pledge This. After two years on the shelf, Pledge This finally arrives and while it has minor moments, the movie is inconsistent and never really gets much momentum. Paris Hilton is fun to watch, as always, but she doesn’t have a lot to do here. The voice over narration is supposed to be hers, but it sounds nothing like her and distracts more than a little. Even so, she is still white hot and wears some nice outfits here, so at least the eye candy is ample. In addition to Paris, there are numerous hotties on deck and while the nudity isn’t rampant, there is a good deal of skin on showcase. But the naked chicks aren’t enough, as the writing is lackluster and the jokes fall flat too often. I didn’t expect much, but even my low expectations weren’t reached, thanks to a lot of bad jokes and poor attempts to tap into the American Pie gross out manual. Some moments work, but not enough and even some mildly humorous cameos don’t offer enough cushion. Unless you’re a diehard Paris devotee, Pledge This isn’t really worth the time, even as a rental.
Video: How does it look?
Pledge This is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. I was pretty pleased with the treatment offered here, as the image is quite sharp and shows minimal flaws, good work indeed. I did see a few scenes that looked a little dark, but usually the contrast is dead on, so no real worries there. The colors look vivid and bright, with no errors I could detect, while flesh tones were natural throughout. I also saw no traces of compression flaws, which leaves me to score this one well. The movie might have been shelved for two years, but it still looks like a new release here.
Audio: How does it sound?
This is a dialogue driven comedic picture after all, so the included Dolby Digital 5.1 track isn’t that explosive, but it does sound good enough. The surrounds are used in some scenes for impact reasons, but most of the time the music is the sole resident, although that is by no means a bad notion. The mix comes off as very natural and that’s important, as hollow sounding mixes with unneeded surround presence are horrific, if you ask me. The vocals come through clean and crisp at all times, with no problems in the least to discuss. This disc also includes English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes a brief behind the scenes featurette.
