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Hard as Wood
Rating: 3 Stars
Produced and directed by Michael Brandon and Chris Ward. Videography by Ben Leon and David Hempling. Edited by Ben Leon. Music by J.D. Slater. Starring Michael Brandon, Mike Power, Francois Sagat, Nick Piston, Chuck DiRocco, Sean Harris, Colin West, Rafael Alencar, and Joey Russo.
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François Sagat, 76 kilos of choice Franco-Slovak boeuf, attracts notice for the tattoo that covers his shaven scalp like a painted military buzz-cut. But his stardom is cinched by his round, soulful face, his large, uncut cock, and his hair-dusted, borderline-perfect physique. He's appeared in at least half a dozen Raging Stallion videos in the past six months, most notably Arabesque (see The Guide, April 2006), but never to better advantage than in this, his debut. Appearing here in the first fully developed sex scene, he proves his mettle by deep-throating Michael Brandon's startling apparatus, and by compliantly bottoming for Brandon, a model he could, if so inclined, break in half.

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All the action is staged outdoors, adding wood to a woodland setting. Brandon and spiky Brit Mike Power introduce each episode, sitting by a campfire jerking off, arousing each other by talking about sex they've witnessed, had, or want to have. Eventually, for the fifth and final segment, they collaborate on bottom-boy Joey Russo. There's a certain sameness to the first four episodes, and some models try too hard, but much of the sex is raw and powerful. The encounter between baroquely tattooed Colin West and stunning Latin Rafael Alencar (on loan from Studio 2000), ends with a memorably tasty oral cumshot. The principal DVD extra is an al fresco solo for Sagat, whose encore is a welcome event.