Sudden Death
Tags: suspenseful, action, violence

Plot synopsis:
Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a French Canadian-born firefighter with the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau who suffered a personal crisis after he was unable to save a young girl from a house fire. Now removed from active duty, Darren has become demoted to being fire marshal for the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.
While attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks with his daughter Emily (Whittni Wright) and his son Tyler (Ross Malinger), he discovers a crime operation occurring in the arena. Soon a gang of terrorists led by former US government employee and fired CIA operative Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe) is holding U.S. Vice President Daniel Binder (Raymond J. Barry) and several other VIPs hostage in a luxury suite.
Foss has the arena wired with explosives, and plans to blow it up at the end of the game while having hundreds of millions of dollars wired into several off shore accounts. Darren must not just stop Foss, but somehow send the game into overtime and rescues both his son and daughter simultaneously.
Darren is pulled into the plot when Emily is kidnapped by Carla, the sole female member of the terrorists dressed as the mascot Iceburgh. Carla places Emily in the suite with the other hostages about to be executed. Darren heads up to the executive offices and finds a mobile phone, with which he gets in touch with Secret Service Agent Matthew Hallmark (Dorian Harewood), who advises Darren to stand by while the agents take charge. He angrily refuses, saying that he will handle this himself.
The Secret Service and the Pittsburgh Police team up to surround the arena and a standoff ensues. Meanwhile, Darren manages to find a few of the bombs and disarm them, whilst Foss goes about killing several hostages after the 2nd period ends. Agent Hallmark finally makes his way inside and meets with Darren, who explains where the rest of the bombs are most likely located. It is then revealed that Hallmark is in league with Foss, and tries to kidnap Tyler, but fails. Hallmark then reveals his true self to Darren, and Darren burns him alive. Darren then uses Hallmark's phone to contact Foss, who taunts him with the news that he is holding his daughter captive.
As time quickly ticks down, Darren manages to disable more bombs, but is severely slowed by confrontations with Foss's men. At one point, the fire marshal must pretend to be the Pittsburgh goalie to escape the thugs and ends up successfully defending a shot. The third period runs down, and with the Penguins down by one goal, Luc Robitaille scores the equalizer in the last second, bringing the game to sudden death and prolonging the game, but only until the next goal is scored. Darren decides that there's no time left to find the remaining bombs and climbs up to the roof of the arena. He advances upon the owner's box from above and forces his way in, rescuing Emily and the remaining hostages.
Meanwhile, Foss manages to escape and blend in with the chaos that has ensued by one of Foss's henchmen falling from the roof through the score display and blowing it up. Foss sets off one of the bombs, flooding part of the arena, and recaptures Emily when she recognizes him. They head up towards the top of the arena, where a helicopter is waiting to lift Foss away. Darren intervenes and saves his daughter. Foss flees, and a wounded Darren shoots the pilot through the floor and a screaming Foss is killed as the chopper falls into the arena and explodes on impact with the ice.
Darren is led to a waiting ambulance while and his son and daughter comment to the paramedics about how their father is a hero. A contented Darren is put inside the ambulance as the film ends.

Review: I've not been a big fan of Van Damme's films, but "Sudden Death" is easily his best movie to date.
Jean-Claude Van Damme would be near the top of my list of actors that I only admire although I've seen a few films where he has his name is on the poster."Sudden Death" is the second film that Van Damme has starred in with photographer/director Peter Hyams ("End of Days", "Timecop") is at the helm.This film was based on an actual story by Karen Baldwin and is adapted into the story by Gene Quintano.The movie takes place at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh where the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penquins are about to take the ice for the last game of the Stanley Cup finals.
I also thought it was very cool how Jean-Claude's character used lots of odd objects to create weapons(Fire extinguisher, tube and darts)..anyway if your looking for a good action movie to watch, Sudden Death should be your choice..
It just so happens to be the day that extortionist/thieves kidnap the vice president and hold him hostage at the stadium, thus putting himself and his children in mortal danger.Lets cut to the chase here, Sudden Death is a clone rip off of Die Hard, the action template movie that shines as bright as a newly formed bruise, but as copycats go {and there have been reams}, Peter Hyams' beefcake blunderbuss movie is an action junkie's delight.
But it's got Van Damme fighting a hot kick ass babe in a penguin suit and a last fifteen minutes of high roof/dangling/swinging/exploding mayhem that does the action genre proud.It's no Die Hard, but what genre films are?
The muscles from Brussels plays Darren McCord, a divorced ex-firefighter who must contend with baddies when they, because the vice-president is taking in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finales, take a hockey arena hostage, that Darren's two kids happen to be at as well.This is one of Van Damme's more enjoyable films and even one of the better numerous Die Hard clones out there.
Sudden Death just might be Jean-Claude Van Damme's best movie to date along with Hard Target,Bloodsport,Lionheart,and Cyborg!Powers Boothe is great and there is always action,great fights and interesting moments in the film!The film is very satisfying and entertaining and recommend for big time action fans!.
It's a classic 'everyman versus terrorists' scenario, but executed with aplomb and filled with a great sense of scale (helped in no small part by Hyams' skill as a director of photography) and memorable moments.Van Damme is at his butt-kicking best, with Sudden Death offering all the thrills, spills and stuff blowing up that action fans relish.
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.
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..
SUDDEN DEATH has Jean Claude Van Damme playing Firefighter Darren Mccord, who after a personal crisis during a Fire in which he was unable to save a young girl is removed from active duty, he now works as a Fire Safety Officer and takes his kids to a Ice Hockey Game where he is working.
The same night The V.P. of the USA also happens to be in attendance - but on that very night and at that very stadium a bunch of baddies led by a menacing Powers Boothe take the V.P. and his entourage hostage and it's up to Van Damme to save the day as usual.SUDDEN DEATH is ludicrous and clichéd (it's an obvious Die Hard Rip off) but it's enormously entertaining although it was a flop on it's original release - It opened to just $4.8M during Christmas 1995 and ended up with only just over $20M in the U.S, but it did do somewhat better internationally, taking $64M by the end of its Worldwide release and it also did relatively well on home Video.Directed and Photographed by Peter Hyams who also Directed Van Damme's 1994 Hit 'TIMECOP' and Produced by (at the time) the Owner of the Pittsburgh Penquin Hockey team.It's all nonsense of course, but SUDDEN DEATH is one of Van Damme's best flicks!Released by UNIVERSAL PICTURES.**** out of *****.
Darren(Jean Claude Van Damme) is a firemen, he carries his sons to a Pittsburgh Penguin national Hockey play-off where is taking place the final.But the arena has been taken by a terrorists led by a cruel villain(Powers Boothe).
Coming towards the back-end of Jean-Claude Van Damme's popularity with movie-goers (although the fans would stick with him), "Sudden Death" would be an huge improvement over his previous feature "Street Fighter" but only to be short-lived with what was to follow in the late-90s.
I think is the best movie of Jean Claude Van Damme yet, Peter Hyams relies on a powerful soundtrack, countdown climax and several explosions and fights to create tension.
A mid-90s effort from the Die Hard school of action films, Sudden Death stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Darren McCord, a heroic fire marshal who singlehandedly takes on the group of evil terrorists who threaten to blow-up the Pittsburgh Civic Arena during the finals of the NHL Stanley Cup. In true John McClane style, loose cannon McCord proves to be a right royal pain in the ass for the bad guys, his ingenuity and fighting prowess allowing him to whittle down their numbers until the inevitable face-off with head terrorist Joshua Foss (played with gusto by Powers Boothe) atop the Arena's impressive dome.Sticking close to the original Die Hard blueprint, Sudden Death is predictable stuff, even going so far as having the despicable Foss hold McCord's loved ones hostage; but although the film doesn't ever attempt to break new ground, there's still plenty of fun to be had with the well-choreographed mayhem, which includes a brutal smack-down against a team mascot in a kitchen full of dangerous appliances, a thrilling fist fight high above the ice rink, the unforgettable sight of McCord swinging through the air on a lighting cable carrying home-made explosives, and Foss plummeting through the arena's open roof trapped inside a helicopter..
A fireman (Jean-Claude Van Damme) with a troubled past brings his two children (Whittini Wright and Ross Malinger) to watch the final Hockey game of the "Pittsburgh Penguins" versus the "Chicago Blackhawks" for the Stanley Cup. But his daughter and the vice president of the united states (Raymond J.
Boothe is too good of a villain in the film and Van Damme has some of the most funniest unintentional action scenes ever to put in a movie like this.
Jean-Claude Van Damme actually isn't that bad in 'Sudden Death', its one of his great movies, i think.
Former fireman Darren McCord (Jean Claude Van Damme) must try to save the Vice President and a group of hostages from a bunch of terrorists led by Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe).
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.
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.
Alas, if this movie had come out before the Street Fighter debacle, Van Damme would now be in the upper echelon of action heroes.Unfortunately, he's been a little hard to take seriously since that movie, which is a shame because Sudden Death is a fantastic flick!
But from there, the action seems to come in fits and starts when McCord begins trying to track the bombs planted in the stadium.It may strive for comparisons to "Die Hard" but I'm afraid that "Sudden Death" felt like a cheap knock-off of the real thing, much like Steven Seagal's "Under Siege" did.
Watch it for the superb action-sequences & an energetic performance by Jean-Claude Van Damme.'Sudden Death' Synopsis: A disgraced former fireman takes on a group of terrorists holding the Vice President and others hostage during the seventh game of the NHL Stanley Cup finals.'Sudden Death' is strictly meant for those who Love Action-Packed Flicks, and I must say, being a fan of the genre myself, I was entertained.
Too bad that he's making some B-movie rubbish, because obviously van Damme could've been more than he's become.So, if good action is all you need, you might want to give "Sudden Death" a chance.
Sudden Death is by far one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best movies, Sudden Death is an actionpacked and overall suspenseful Die Hard clone that moves fast and doesn't let you think about the plot holes.
Better than all the other Van Damme films, this movie is basically a Die Hard knock off in a hockey rink.
As a change to your usual cop/ex army hero we are given Van Damme as an ex fireman as this is a Die Hard formular picture obviously we need blood thirsty terrorists, hostages, ransom demands action heros and most of all something big to be taken over.
SUDDEN DEATH Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)Sound format: DTSA fireman-turned-security guard (Jean-Claude Van Damme) swings into action when the US Vice President (Raymond J.
Barry) is held hostage by armed terrorists during a nationally televised hockey match in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena.The second of two collaborations between action star Van Damme and director-cinematographer Peter Hyams (the first was TIMECOP in 1994), SUDDEN DEATH swaps the inventiveness of that earlier film for action and violence, executed with visual flair and a knowing sense of humor (cf.
Powers Boothe enjoys himself immensely as the rogue CIA agent holding court over a team of foot-soldiers who struggle valiantly to prevent Our Hero from ruining Boothe's plan to steal a billion dollars from US bank accounts during the course of a single hockey game.Van Damme is as personable as ever, whether battling murderous assassins, squaring off against Boothe on top of the Civic Arena's huge dome, or saving his sickly-sweet kids (Whittni Wright and Ross Malinger) from destruction as a series of bombs are detonated within the building.
(You heard me!) Bad guys take over the luxury box, threatening to kill everyone if billions in frozen drug money isn't passed into multiple bank accounts in their control.From here I'll let you decide if JCVD is a negligent fire marshall or a negligent Dad - as he performs precious few duties associated with either.Like many other equally dodgy films this rips Die Hard at every turn, only it is so shameless that I wonder why they didn't just give characters names like Hans, Al and Argyle.Some points of interest: JCVD has a life or death fight with a woman wearing a penguin outfit!
I feel nauseous right now.When it all hits the fan and the entire crowd must rush for the exits everyone moves along in an orderly fashion and the arena is emptied in minutes, allowing the final series of ridiculous showdowns to take place.Final aside - I've been to many sporting events, admittedly none where a major terrorist incident took place, and I have never seen people move in such an orderly and polite fashion where they are allegedly in fear for their lives.Verdict - Rips off Die Hard at every turn, only with a plot so ludicrous it was almost doomed to fail even as a brainless action movie.This movie tried harder to be different than any other JCVD film I have ever seen, which is probably why I am so hard on it for failing.If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com.
Terrorists led by Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe) takes the Vice President hostage and threatens to blow up the stadium at the end of the game for a ransom of over $1 billion.Van Damme tries to do Die Hard.
Sudden Death Canadians are so vehement about hockey that no matter if their team wins or loses, they will still riot in the streets.Fortunately, the Canadian firefighter in this action movie is on-hand to extinguish overturned police cruises.Unable to perform his firefighting duties, a disgraced fireman, Darren (Jean Claude Van Damme), takes a fire marshal position with the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.On the same night his children are attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, however, so too is a terrorist (Powers Boothe), who has just taken the place hostage.With the arena rigged to go off at the end of the game, Darren must now send the game into overtime before he can defuse the bombs.A forgotten gem from the rogue-hostage genre, Sudden Death's greatness lines in its sublime lunacy.I mean, why would anyone want to blow up a hockey arena if Don Cherry wasn't inside?
The police are disappointed to lose their contact, but no one else seems to notice.There are lots of stupid one-liners in the movie ("These guys want to see a hockey game so bad, maybe we should put them on ice!"), but I have to say that for his part, Van Damme did the best he could with the material he was given.
The makers know the multiplex crowd would rather feel the bass in the speakers vibrating around the theatre with each explosion than be exposed to any level of exposition that might lead to a little more depth to the characters; they know they would rather see their muscle-bound hero fighting a seven-foot penguin in a deserted kitchen than displaying even the merest hint of acting ability; they know the easiest way to put their target audience through the emotional wringer is to place the son/daughter in the hands of the nasty man with the bomb and have him say nasty things to her; they know that the same audience will miss completely the giveaway clues as to how the plot will be foiled because they stare at the screen but they never really watch what's going onPowers Boothe plays Alan Rickman  sorry: Joshua Foss  a former Secret Service Agent who turns bad for no given reason and decides to hold a stadium to ransom during the course of a ice hockey match.
This was one of two movies Van-Damme would star in that was directed by Peter Hyams and like Carpenter & Russell, they prove they are a good match for some awesome action.
Another great movie from Jean-Claude Van Damme who is one of the best action stars of all time and one of my favorite action movie actors.The plot in this movie is good and its about how some Terrorists take the Vicepresident hostage and threaten to blow up a ice hockey stadium full of people if they do not get $1 Billion dollars.There are a lot of good scenes in this movie like when Vam Damme is fighting one of the bad guys and he kills him by stabbing a chicken bone in his neck.And the scene in the end of the movie when the bad guy gos down in a helicopter and he blows up.Over all this movie is a great Van Damme movie and i recommend it to watch and my rating is 6 out of 10..
Therefore, Darren must not only subdue the terrorists, but postpone the game and send it to overtime.....Oh yes, the film is silly, and full of gaping plot holes, but for heavens sake, it's a really fun movie with a really good performance from Van Damme (his relationship with his children is spot on), and Powers Boothe, looking like he's having the time of his life as the villain.It's a shame though that the movie was released at the time it was.
Sudden Death starts as ex-firefighter Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) picks up his two young children Emily (Whittni Wright) & Tyler (Ross Malinger) from his ex-wife Kathi (Kate McNeil) to take them to the Civic Arena to watch the National Ice Hockey League's seventh & final game of the Stanley Cup between the Pittsburgh Penguins & the Chicago Hawks.
The script by Gene Quintano could have easily been made as a Die Hard film & not looked out of place, there's the cold hearted bad guy, there's the plan to take control of some location & cut it off from the outside world, there's the lone ranger style hero who has to do it all on his own against the odds while his family get caught up in the situation which makes things personal for him, there's enough dead bodies to fill a graveyard, there's plenty of shoot-outs, fights, gratuitous violence, one liners (I love the one by Boothe who when trying to select a hostage to kill says 'you all agree the Mayor's wife has been the most annoying' after she started crying), plenty of explosions & a few plot twists as well.
Sudden Death (1995): Dir: Peter Hyams / Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Booth, Raymond J.
A good Van Damme 90's Die-Hard action film!.
Still Van Damme's decent action movie in my opinion."Terror Goes Into Over-Time" Sudden Death is a 1995 American action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Darren McCord, a Pittsburgh firefighter who during a Stanley Cup finals game finds himself trying to save his daughter and the Vice-President, who have been taken hostage by a team of terrorists led by former government operative Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe).