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This time, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a traumatized firefighter who takes his two children to a Stanley Cup game that the vice-president is attending. Unfortunately several people, including Van Damme's daughter as well as the vice-president, are taken hostage by a deranged CIA member and his team of suited up goons. Their plan is to kill one hostage each quarter if their continuously outrageous demands for absurd amounts of money are not met. If they still don't have their money by the end of the game, the arena and all of the people inside will be detonated. Van Damme ends up having to do battle with these creeps while trying to disarm the bombs. Eventually when the game nears it's end he also ends up having to do everything in his power to get the hockey game to continue.

This is easily one of the most intense and nerve-wracking Van Damme films. Obviously it's just another Die Hard-ripoff, but it has more to offer than most Die Hard-ripoffs that came out in the 90s. For starters, the villains in this are real villains. They have absolutely no qualms with killing any innocent people, and they do it about as casually and as constantly as a real bad guy should. A lot of people get killed in this film, and a good portion of the victims are innocent bystanders. Powers Boothe is actually pretty damn scary! The first third of the film has a pretty high bodycount, and the bloodshed starts off almost immediately. Sure, the villains aren't as sadistic as the villains in, say, the second Die Hard film, but I don't think that anyone is going to dispute that these bad guys are pretty bad. One thing this film does exceptionally well, however, is allow the action set-pieces to be implemented in some pretty cool ways. There's a fight scene in the kitchen involving a team mascot gone mad in which all the deadly and dangerous hazards become tools. There's a lot of really slick gore and some really shocking moments of bodily harm that make this film a lot more memorable. What really makes the film work, however, is the final act where things get down to the wire and it becomes all about survival. I won't spoil what happens, but the last few action set-pieces are spectacular in their creativity and in their energy.

Van Damme also does a fine job as usual as the hero who ends up having to do everything by himself. He shows about as much charisma as expected for the role, but since he's playing a father he remembers to keep it in check a lot of the time too. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but don't expect a lot of moments of sly little comments like you would find in Bloodsport. I don't mind so much either way, it's just that this isn't the goofy Van Damme that was in Double Impact, but it's not the hardened stonefaced loner in Hard Target. This Van Damme lies somewhere in between those, though leaning more toward the Hard Target Van Damme. As long as he isn't the loudly shrieking crucified idiot that he was in Cyborg, I don't have any problem. I think one thing that made this a little more unique is the fact that he's trying to rescue his child rather than rescue a woman who simply knows too much. This helped make the film much more simple to digest and it also gave it that little emotional kick that never hurts in a good action film.

I like my action films to be raw and gut-wrenching, and Van Damme's films usually deliver the goods. Sudden Death is definitely no exception. It's an intense and explosive film that is entertaining as hell and has plenty of good shocks. It's not a good film by any means, but if you're looking for action that is brutal, Sudden Death is easily one of the more entertaining films of the 90s, and plus there aren't a lot of films where a bad guy is killed by getting shoved into a dishwasher.

OK, let's be straight forward. This is not Oscar material. It's a typical hostage movie similar to the Die Hard series. There are some pretty decent action sequences and some that just don't plain make any sense and, after you see them, you will be left kinda confused. Having said that, this is a good movie. The best part about this movie is, surprisingly, the bad guy. Powers Boothe plays the lead terrorist and he plays it well. At times you root for him because he plays the part so well. Unfortunately, it's hard to root against this guy because of his wise-ass attitude, but some of his quotes are memorable and quite amusing. (Example: To the vice president "I voted for you. I really did. It's your sincerity and compassion. However there may be a need to kill someone else. Now we're gonna make this work or we're gonna die trying!") This is a typical Van Damme film except in this one he plays a little hockey. This movie, albeit a bit done-before, is surrounded by an entertaining cast that propels this from a 5 to a 7.

It seems that every Hollywood action heavyweight has to have their "Die Hard" moment, and 1995's "Sudden Death" was Belgian martial arts sensation Jean-Claude Van Damme's contribution. Basically "Die Hard on Ice," "Sudden Death" is slickly polished and photographed nicely & directed by Van Damme's "Timecop" (1994) director Peter Hyams, but that's about it - despite a few well-executed action sequences and special effects.

During Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, fire marshal Darren McCord (Van Damme), a former Pittsburgh firefighter traumatized by his inability to save a young girl from a deadly house fire two years earlier, takes his two children to watch the hockey game. Also in attendance, is the vice president of the United States (Raymond J. Barry); and a crack team of terrorists led by Joshua Foss (the late Powers Boothe), a disgruntled former Secret Service operative who has taken the VP and 10 others hostage in the owner's box and wants two billion dollars in frozen funds from enemy nations to be wired to 13 bank accounts of his choice.

The gist of it is, is that the government has until the end of each inning to transfer one-third of the money, or else Foss will execute a hostage. If at the end of the game his demands still are not met, he will blow up the Civic Arena with strategically placed explosives and kill everyone inside it. Only a one-man army, Darren McCord, can stop them.

"Sudden Death" has the usual shoot-outs, explosions, martial arts showdowns (including Van Damme's hilarious fight with Foss's henchwoman, disguised as the Pittsburgh Penguins' mascot, in the Arena's kitchen) and thrilling foot-chases, but that's about it. It's pretty typical and by-the-numbers stuff that doesn't offer anything new to a tired and worn-out premise.

On the plus side, Powers Boothe makes for a truly memorable bad guy with a cold and efficient manner and a no-nonsense approach, as well as a black-hearted sense of humor. Boothe provides some of the film's best lines and gets some of the most memorable moments, too. He is really what keeps the movie going.

All in all, "Sudden Death" is a good way to kill 111 minutes of your Saturday afternoon.

6/10

After the success of "Die Hard" there have been many movie clones of that great action film. There was "Die Hard on a Ship" ("Under Siege"), "Die Hard on a Train" ("Under Siege 2"), and "Die Hard on a Bus" ("Speed"), just to name a few. "Sudden Death" can be described as either "Die Hard on the Ice", "Die Hard at a Hockey Game" or "Die Hard in an Arena". You pick. Technically you could put all three titles into this movie and it'll still be pretty much the same thing. However, "Sudden Death" is one of the better "Die Hard" clones. It's an exciting movie about terrorists taking over the Pittsburgh Civic Arena where the decisive seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks is being played. However there's a little difference here. The only people who know that hostages have taken over are the people in the VIP box (which includes the Vice President), the Secret Service men outside the arena, and an arena fire marshall who's two little kids are attending the game. The 17,000-plus fans attending the game have no idea whats really going on. That fire marshall is played by Belgian action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. I've not been a big fan of Van Damme's films, but "Sudden Death" is easily his best movie to date. Van Damme plays Darren McCord, the fire marshall who finds out something's wrong when his little daughter is taken to the VIP box as a hostage after witnessing a killing. When McCord finds out what's going on, he does precisely what Bruce Willis did in "Die Hard", takes on the terrorists all by himself. The lead bad guy is portrayed by Powers Boothe in a frightening performance. He may not be quite as effective as Alan Rickman's villain in "Die Hard", but Boothe does a good job at being mean. Van Damme is also very good too (especially in one scene where he poses as the Penguins goalie to hide out from the bad guys who were chasing him). He's much better here than he was in "Timecop", teaming again with "Timecop" director Peter Hyams. The action scenes are splendid (both the gunplay and the action during the game), and the suspense has you on the edge. "Sudden Death" has a few silly moments here and there, but since this movie is such a good thrill ride, you won't care. This movie deserved to be a big hit at the box office and wasn't. I'll never understand why.

***1/2 (out of four)

A former fireman goes head to head with a gang of terrorists holding the Vice President and his daughter hostage during the NHL Cup finals.

While John McClane is certainly not the first action hero, had Die Hard not happened and Sudden Death had been made in 1988 Karen Elise Baldwin story may have faired well, however, by 1995 the theme had been done to death with endless amounts of Hard-a-likes including Passenger 57 (1992), Under Siege (1992) Speed (1994) to name a few. 

Jean-Claude Van Damme looks unhappy, yet actually does an okay job as Darren McCord but feels miscast, even with the screenplay catering for his trademark kicks for fans he looks uncomfortable with a slightly thriller oriented script by Gene Quintano and comes across less effective than in Maximum Risk. 

Like Bruce Payne and Alan Rickman before him Powers Boothe is first rate as ruthless ransomer Foss. Raymond J. Barry is notable as the Vice President, the rest of the cast of expendable agents and terrorist are adequate but forgettable. No doubt hockey fans will have fun spotting real life personalities and players.

The stadium location is visually interesting and the music score adds to the action and more tension filled scenes. Director Peter Hyams keeps the screen busy but like Van Damme just goes through the motions, still Sudden Death is only really let down by bad timing, pacing and annoying child actors. 

With unexpected executions, fights, explosions, one-liners and an obligatory twist Sudden Death is an entertaining larger than life hostage flick - just leave your cranium at the door.