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. Offers above-average pyrotechnics, a body count that steadily mounts, and plenty of hand-to-hand combat. The best of the many Die Hard rip-offs made during the 1990s. Sudden Death is a thrilling roller-coaster ride of hard-edged action. Fun Die Hard knockoff that uses the stadium for all its worth. The mascot fight is a highlight.A mildly satisfying high-energy romp complete with outstanding professional hockey footage and intense physical confrontations.

"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

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. Van Damme's character, Darren McCord, takes his son and daughter to the game. As usual, the arena is packed with fans and the Vice President of the U.S. has come to see the game as well. Unfortunately, Joshua Foss Powers Boothe , a demented terrorist and a small band of terrorists take control of the Owner's box where the V.P. and several people. Foss demands that he wants a billion dollars and how he wants to use it puzzles me. However, at the end of each period, if his demand isn't met, Foss shoots someone and if the deal isn't done at the end of the game. The arena is blown sky high with several explosives that are set all over the arena.Boothe is good here and he makes the threat very real, which is key to making any thriller. He also shows some wit and in one particular scene, the Vice President curiously asks Foss "What kind of lunatic are you?" Foss responds - "The best kind."What draws McCord into the situation is when his daughter is taken up to the Owner's box. From there on, the movie manages to make the excitement to be interesting. One example would be the fight scenes that McCord has with a couple of thugs in the kitchen at two seperate times. Just about every prop is used from the meat slicer to the bone, which goes through one of the neck of a terrorist. Fun and yucky isn't it?The last half of the film is just about entertaining as the first half is. I'm undecided if "Sudden Death" would make the best thriller that involves a sports event and terrorists since John Frankenheimer's "Black Sunday". Van Damme and Boothe are both good here.

Grade: BWhere I saw it: Cinemax

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 *****