German porn director Sven Jungbluth's debut feature owes more than a little to the film "Run, Lola, Run" ( http://TomTykwer.de ). Like that film, "Countdown" is a race against the clock, and the breakneck pacing, rat-a-tat editing and even one of its star's names, Franko Potente, all pay homage to "Lola." But while Lola runs to save her boyfriend's life, Franko has an altogether different reason for racing through the streets -- he's trying to hook up with Teutonic golden stud Thom Barron. Thom waits for Franko in a public restroom while Franko, who has no money for the subway and whose car is in the shop, tries to get there in two hours.

Everything after the setup revolves around the central question: will Franko arrive in time for his tryst with the blond, extremely well-endowed Thom? Or, more to the point, can a blond hunk oozing sex appeal remain in a public restroom for two hours without having sex with some other stud? Franko's journey is a sexual odyssey that is both imaginative and kinky as the minutes count down. And he's off! (With a handy digital clock that appears occasionally in the corner of the screen to let us know how much time he has left.)

Franko, who is adorable in his own right, and whose wind pants slip tantalizingly low on his hips as he runs, exposing just the top of his ass cleft, is almost immediately thwarted when a street thief, Eduardo Cortez, grabs his cellphone and takes off with it. Franko follows the thief, who makes the fatal error of stopping to have hot sex with another stud, Jake Corwin, in a building's basement. Jake's huge cock is definitely a distraction, and as he fucks Eduardo's face with it, Franko lies in wait, biding his time. Jake and Eduardo, who both sport multiple tattoos and piercings, continue to engage in raunchy sex play, including Eduardo's smooth ass being spat upon, spanked and licked, and finally pounded by Jake's huge dick. They suck and fuck as intensely as they engage in foreplay, and the scene ends with a rousing double volley of cum that saturates Eduardo's hairy lower belly and pubes. As the two punks bask in the afterglow, Franko seizes his chance, grabs his cellphone, and runs away.

On his way, Franko passes a cute, dimpled blond stud on the street, Willi Wonder (these names just get better and better). Willi is on his way to hair stylist Max Schneider, and when he arrives, Max is banging away at Mahla, one of his female clients, whose hair is up in curlers (gotta love that touch). Guess it's one of those "full service" salons. Willi watches them fuck, and as he does, his dick rises to full erection. When Willi approaches Max from the back, he pulls out of Mahla, and then the two studs get busy as she watches and diddles her pussy with the handle of a hairbrush. Max forces his thick cock down Willi's throat, and then he gets down on Willi's enormous schlong as Mahla undoes her rollers and combs out her 'do (which looks fabulous). Then, as Max pushes inside Willi's gorgeous, tight ass, Mahla slaps down a tip for Max, and as she leaves, gives him a playful smack on the ass. All the while, Max continues to plow Willi. Willi blasts off as Max is fucking him missionary, and then Max shoots his load all over Willi's impish grin, coating his face with slime.

It's back to Franko, who is still running and has worked up quite a thirst. He stops in a sandwich shop for a bottle of water, and forgets his cellphone when he leaves. Franko gets quite a show when he returns for it and spots the deli's owner, dark and handsome Tim Vinzent, jacking off behind the counter. When Tim cums, he adds his load to some sandwich spread that is resting on the counter, and just before Franko runs out, he gives him a taste of it from his finger. Talk about your special sauce!

Franko gets waylaid next by porn star Wolff, who drags him into a dance club so that he can watch Wolff get sexually ravaged by four black studs who are as handsome as they are well hung. They start with a very erotic dance sequence, where Wolff and the four dudes gradually lose what little they are wearing, and revealing one dick that has to be seen to be believed -- it's at least a foot long, and maybe more, and that is not an exaggeration. Wolff is the center of attention. He reclines, surrounded by the other dudes, and samples their cocks orally. Then Wolff's pretty little butt gets fucked by the two biggest dicks, in succession, and at the end of the scene all four of the black studs unload their cum on his torso. Wolff manages two great cum-shots, one before he gets fucked, and one at the end.

Though the scene in the club has mesmerized him, Franko realizes he has probably wasted far too much time there and once again he takes off. But this time, a sinister man shoots him with a tranquilizer dart, and he's abducted. When he awakens, Franko is strapped to a hospital gurney, drugged. He watches helplessly as his captor, played by mega-hung hottie John Hawk, unleashes his sexual fury on another slave, played by Josh Ford, who is also strapped down. In a production that is filled with very well endowed studs, John is a standout. He takes his cock out, works it up to full erection, and even plays with the pre-cum on its head while the other two men watch. John then takes control of Josh's ass, which is completely open and spread by the chair he's strapped to. John pushes his huge dick into Josh's open asshole without preamble, and the slave can only moan through the leather gag that is fastened onto his mouth. John then removes the leather gag and forces his meat down Josh's throat. John stokes his meat to a huge cum-shot, a load that covers his slave's face and neck with big globs of hot white lava. As soon as he shoots, John falls into a deep sleep, and Josh takes off his own restraints and lets Franko go. Franko rewards the slave with a big kiss, and runs out.

Franko's next distraction is surreal. He enters an art gallery where studs Felix Groth and Christoph Scharff are naked and sucking each other's cocks while fully dressed as patrons chat, sip wine, and almost completely ignore the fact that there are two men having sex right in the middle of the gallery. Franko takes in the scene, but then he races off again. Felix and Christoph continue their sex play as the crowd in the gallery almost but not quite acts as if they're not there. One of the onlookers hilariously mocks designer Karl Lagerfeld, coyly hiding his face behind an open fan. But it's impossible to ignore how gorgeous Christoph is, with his full, sensual lips and buff body, and when Felix eats out his ass then fucks him, finally losing his load all over Christoph's ass, the crowd applauds politely.

Franko stops to relieve himself in a public toilet and encounters a hot three-way between two tops, played by Tim Vinzent and Ben, and their bottom, Damion. The tops treat Damion roughly, forcing him to suck them off in turn, and then one holds him aloft while the other fucks his ass. Damion's asshole is ready for it, though, and it looks really great from underneath as it gets speared. It also looks amazing at the end of the scene, after both studs have totally creamed it with their loads.

The scene then switches to two hotties, Lupus and Timmi, having sex in the back seat of a moving taxicab. The cab driver is so engrossed in watching what is going on in the back seat that he hits a pedestrian, and, yep, you guessed it, it's Franko. The cab stops long enough to pick him up, and the two studs from the backseat jump out, grab him, and toss him into the trunk of the cab. Then the cab takes off again. The two studs go right back to sucking each other off, and then they fuck, and the cab driver (who apparently was totally unaffected by hitting a pedestrian) continues to watch in the rear view mirror). Even other motorists stop and have a gander as Timmi and Lupus perform. Both dudes deliver massive cum-shots at the end of the scene, one a facial.

The cab driver stops, and Franko pops out of the trunk as if nothing has happened. He finally gets to the men's room where Thom is waiting, only to find that Thom has just shot off all over Christoph's chest.

But all is not lost.

Magically, Franko manages to run the clock back, and he arrives at the rest room just as Christoph is salivating over Thom's beautiful uncut dick. Franko joins them, sucking them both off, and then Christoph fucks him while he sucks Thom. Then the two studs switch places and Thom slides into Franko's ass while Franko blows Christoph. Christoph unloads on Franko's shoulder, and then Thom pulls out of Franko and erupts, his load landing in huge globs all over Franko's ass. Thom leaves Christoph and Franko behind, and the lingering look between them is a clue to the ending.

What an amazing talent first-time director Sven Jungbluth is -- not only does he manage a production that pulls off nine scenes (with 21 in the cast) expertly, he also weaves a tale that connects them all. With "Countdown," he makes a propitious debut.

DVD features: Chapters; trailers ("Navy Blues: Deeper in the Brig," "Wild Rangers," "Man Academy 2" and "Man Hunter"); gallery; and no regional coding (playable worldwide).

A DVD Review by Martin Cox

My friend Louise visits Germany often. I dream about going with her, and while she sleeps at night, sneaking out to find the illicit, opium-drenched remains of nightclubs still under the influence of the Weimer Republic. Until that happens, though, I will have to content myself with the excellent, seedy German adventures that take place in the nightclubs, cabs and galleries of Countdown from the famed Cazzo Films (Berlin), release by Chip Daniel's Centaur Films. Countdown is a wonderful male-based reenactment of the 1999 action foreign film smash, Run, Lola, Run. In fact, the lead actor of the film is named Franko Potente after the luminous Franka Potente, the female actress who starred as Lola. Just as in that first film, this feature is about a race against time. But the kinky twist this time is that the race is not to save someone's life but to get to a certain bathroom in time to have sex.

The adorable Potente is lounging around his apartment when he gets a call from the basketball star, tall and blondly imposing Thom Barron. Barron gives Potente two hours to get across town to a specific bathroom to engage in relations that bring a new meaning to the word "relief." Before you can shout "Twisted Sister," Potente is out the door, bounding like an Olympic trained runner towards his final destination. (An apt analogy, because the performers in this film would definitely win in the Olympics of Hot Sex!)

Anyhow, as he races along, Potente's phone is stolen by dome plated, alterna-pierced Eduard Cortez. As a clock beats restlessly away at the top of the screen, Potente follows Cortex into a dark and dreary basement. There he watches as Cortez begins to service his master, thick-limbed Jake Corwin. Cortez devours Corwin's fleshy tool with such unmannered gusto that even, in one of the flick's many perverse highlights, the basement rat stops to watch. Yes, that's right, our four-limbed, cheese-loving friends are voyeurs too. Corwin slams in and out of Cortez with such undignified fervor that they both become lost in the moment upon their mutual releasing. This gives Potente the chance to sneak in and grab his phone and get on the run again. This is a steamy, hot encounter and a great beginning to a mighty and unusual film.

As he runs along, Potente bumps into blond, lean Willi Wonder and continues haphazardly on his way. Wonder shakes it off good-naturedly though, and it is a good thing that he does! His gregariousness pays off when he wanders into a beauty parlor where the dark and close-cropped, molten hot Max Schneider is fucking the beautician, Mahla. Bisex freaks, delight! Wonder looks on, grinning like a mad fool, until the ultra-pleased and ultra-ultra-kinky Mahla invites him over. Soon enough, Schneider pops out of Mahla, whips off his condom and forces a very willing Wonder onto his knees, where he begins to chew on Schneider's ultra-hot and multiply useful Demon Dog. Mahla watches for a bit, then calmly and precisely uncurls her hair, freshens her makeup and then, after leaving some money for Schneider, slaps him on his ass as she goes. This is the best moment in the film! Soon afterward, sex whore Wonder is wagging his light, taut ass in the air for Schneider to bury his fingers into. Schneider does just that before climbing on top of the wiry Wonder and riding him like Roy Rogers saddled Trigger. Good fun!

Potente, meanwhile, stops at a sandwich shop to get some water. Of course, the absent-minded, highly-stressed boy forgets his cell phone. When he returns for it, he finds the swarthy and densely hairy counter man, Tom Vinzent, totally stripped down and wacking on his tan and beefy pud. To the rhythms of a Bali disco beat, Potente watches as the hypnotic Vinzent works himself into a gooey frosting. Vinzent ladles this prize into a bowl of curry. He stirs it in with his finger and then offers the dripping remains to a fascinated Potente. After, swallowing this oozing concoction hungrily, Potente, once again, barges out the door and onto his ultimate destination.

But surrounded and waylaid into a dance bar by two handsome strangers, Potente finds himself spectator to another erotic adventure. There he, wide eyed and willing, witnesses close-cropped "American Soap Star Next Door" type Wolff dancing, flanked by a bevy of beautifully smooth Black dancers. They soon have Wollf on his sweating back on a platform, swallowing all of their tremendously huge dicks. The largest cock, we discover, being salvia splattered -- at 13-inches -- belongs to the very masculine Wade. Before you know it, Wade has shoved this greasy tent pole up Wollf's very easygoing chute. Wollf moans like a holy woman giving testimony on Sunday morning and remains just as enthusiastic when another dancer, Karl Johnson, shoves his pillager up his by now very warmed up tunnel o' man. Soon all these men coat the dance floor with markings of exuberance, and Potente, gorged visually, once again, is on the run!

Potente is shot with a dart as he runs along by an unseen assailant though. He stumbles into unconsciousness, and when he awakens, he is strapped to a gurney and "forced" to watch as the lithe and well hung John Hawk fucks another bound-and-gagged captive, the multi-pierced, punk rocking bottom boy Josh Ford. Hawk has the slant-eyed look of a movie professor gone mad, and Ford is his accomplice on every level. Neither speaks a word. Not a grunt or groan escapes from their lips as Hawk rocks his rigid pony with beautiful rhythmic strokes into Ford's wide-open cowboy-wide spaces. Hawk, finally, lets out gasps of relief as he lets his load fly into Ford's wide-eyed street youth-like orbs. Hawk exits, allowing Ford the chance to free himself from his bonds so that Potente can head, determinedly, on his way.

Potente, though, is momentarily distracted when, jogging by an art gallery, he notices the smoothly blond Felix Groth sucking on the immaculately beautiful Christoph Scharff's rigid phallus. Groth and Scharff are determined and concentrated performers. Their attention on each other is unwavering, even though they are surrounded by milling extras playing throngs of art lovers as they engage in their lustful acts! This is one of the most amazingly staged films in this cinematic adventure and is surely an instance when porn actually does become art of the highest order. It is creative, bizarre and beautifully filmed. The extras in the art gallery -- except for one amused and curious middle-aged woman -- pay no attention to Groth and Scharff until they burst into orgasm -- which signals them to erupt in thunderous applause. Up until that point, Groth fucks -- with a beautifully thick and curved dick -- the beyond perfect Scharff with a steadily building intensity of flow. Eventually, he is pounding into Scharff with such incredible power that the two begin to grunt out with slapping-like animal calls that make this scene one of the hottest that I have ever seen.

Potente does not see the powerful conclusion of the above scene because he has rushed on and into a bathroom to get some relief of a different order. Of course, our lucky lad gets more than he expected upon entering this loo. There he finds bottom boy Damion eagerly being manhandled by two street-savvy cops, including the beyond punk rock Ben. These two lugs control Damion's every movement, headlocking him as they force him to take their huge and swelling cocks, lifting him up and bouncing him, rag-doll style, up and down on their turgid, sweaty joints and shoving the same said dicks in his every orifice in every single frame of this scene. This is one of the most aggressive and testosterone-filled scenes of this movie and is definitely worth a repeat viewing or two. Potente for sure and as usual cannot take his eyes away.

Potente, realizing that time is speeding away, hops into a cab, where he greeted with the sight of two lovers going at it. Once again momentarily distracted, he bounds out of the cab when it appears that his time has run out. But suddenly, the overhead clock peels backwards, allowing Potente to enter the bathroom in time to find the beautiful Scharff, from the gallery scene, and the imposing Barron going at it. Scharff is giving Barron the head of the millennium when the exhausted Potente rushes in. Soon the three of them are keeping Smoky the bear in business with the heated eroticism that emerges from their smoldering pores. Scharff proves his versatility by laying waste to Potente's gorgeous cherry. Then, sexually overcome Barron soon takes over, helping to make this scene worth the long wait and Potente's valiant efforts to get there in time. Barron is sure and in control. He has an amazing and cocky presence and makes sure that this scene is a fitting end to an amazing ride. It is. It truly is.

So I guess I can hold off on that trip to Germany for a while. As long, as I have the adventurous and truly unique and enjoyable Countdown to keep me company, what need have I to travel?

- Christian James