Sudden Death (1995)

[Ravindra 1]

Jean Claude Van Damme has to stop a group of terrorists from blowing up the hockey arena and killing the vice president of the USA during game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Some of the highlights of this film include: JCVD fighting the Pittsburgh Penguin mascot, JCVD setting someone on fire with a lighter and a squirt gun, but the ultimate highlight that immediately asks the question "How Did This Get Made?!" is when he changes into goalie equipment and enters the game to stop a penalty shot! This movie is so enjoyably bad it's almost good, but definitely bad...

[jarshall 25]

good call. fun movie. on par with Hard Target for WTF moments.
the only downside: no one punches a snake in the face.

[LIBonEarth 2]

After last night's Super Bowl blackout, I think a "Sudden Death" episode should definitely be done.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

After last night's Super Bowl blackout, I think a "Sudden Death" episode should definitely be done.

And it's streaming on Netflix right now! Hells. Yes.

[PWGmark92 9]

This movie is tailored made for me. It's got 90s hockey, it's got JCVD still in his prime, and it's got JCVD fighting a goddamn mascot. If the HDTGM trio ever get the Sklar bros. on, I want them to do this movie to fill in all the sports gaps that June, Paul, and Jason might not touch on.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

The best part in my mind is where they come up with whatever nonsense that leads to him being a goalie and blocking a shot mid movie.

[Marion Cobretti 1]

JCVD kils a bad guy with a chicken bone. There is ton of material in this movie.

[MattHilferty 2]

So I don't know if the JCVD train left the station (I'm still on it). However, with Powers Booth's recent passing, I can't imagine a better time to do a memorial episode for one of the great 90s sleezeball villains.

[AbeFroman 70]

I was hoping this got the nod before Timecop. One of the best Die Hard rip offs. Written as a parody of action films a la Naked Gun but filmed as a straight thriller.

 

So much to discuss: Van Damme in net, mascot fight, death by chicken bone, flammable water pistols, helicopter crashes and insanely annoying child actors.

[IRONicmerMAN 391]

I have Cox as my cable provider. They currently have a lot of Seagal and JCVD films on demand. The Seagal films got old quickly, but JCVD's are timeless.

 

This movie is pretty great. Ridiculous, but pretty great. I think this would fall under the category of absurd and fun movies rather than the ones that are just bad, like The Wraith. Per Roger Ebert: "Sudden Death isn't about common sense. It's about the manipulation of action and special-effects sequences to create a thriller effect, and at that it's pretty good."

 

Also, the number of major hockey players who appeared in this film is astounding. I mean, not that it's impossibly difficult to get pro athletes, but to get guys like Mario Lemieux and Luc Robitaille in their prime is amazing.

[AbeFroman 70]

Could not have said it better. Seagal's peak films have not aged gracefully, save for Under Siege.

 

JCVD's films are all ridiculous but incredibly entertaining. He really did have an incredible run from 1988-1996.

 

Its hard to find a better action film run than Blooodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Timecop, Sudden Death and Maximum Risk.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Some of his later ones werent too bad either. I highly recommend Replicant, it's a goofy but fun movie with Michael Rooker who helps make it better than it has any right to be.

[AbeFroman 70]

There are indeed some gems with post fame, latter day Van Damme. Replicant is indeed goofy fun, but In Hell, another Ringo Lam film, is brutal and Van Damme does real acting.

 

The last two Universal Soldier are legitimately awesome and Enemies Closer is as good as some of his theatrical films.

[bandsaboutmovies 7]

Being a Pittsburgh native, this film is legendary here, rivaled only Striking Distance for cultural relevance.

 

The reason they were able to get so many legendary Pens in there is two-fold: the league was on strike and the owner's wife wrote the script as a way to get herself started in Hollywood. There weren't enough fans in the game scenes, which originally were Chicago and Pittsburgh, but post-strike used the Johnstown Chiefs and Wheeling Thunderbirds, so if you go back and watch, most of the crowd are cardboard cutouts. Once you know that, you can't not see it. It takes over the screen.

 

There's a novelization that Powers Booth did the audiobook for that I've been obsessed with finding.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

There are indeed some gems with post fame, latter day Van Damme. Replicant is indeed goofy fun, but In Hell, another Ringo Lam film, is brutal and Van Damme does real acting.

 

The last two Universal Soldier are legitimately awesome and Enemies Closer is as good as some of his theatrical films.

The first "Universal Soldier" and the most recent two make a pretty solid trilogy. They're all such different kinds of movies, with the last one feeling like a horror movie at times.

[WhalePrintPants 4]

Being a Pittsburgh native, this film is legendary here, rivaled only Striking Distance for cultural relevance.

 

The reason they were able to get so many legendary Pens in there is two-fold: the league was on strike and the owner's wife wrote the script as a way to get herself started in Hollywood. There weren't enough fans in the game scenes, which originally were Chicago and Pittsburgh, but post-strike used the Johnstown Chiefs and Wheeling Thunderbirds, so if you go back and watch, most of the crowd are cardboard cutouts. Once you know that, you can't not see it. It takes over the screen.

 

There's a novelization that Powers Booth did the audiobook for that I've been obsessed with finding.

I lived in Pittsburgh for 15 years and yeah, it's pretty legendary.

 

Along with his wife writing the script, Baldwin was the executive producer.

 

I really hope they do it. The scene where he kills the Pittsburgh Penguin in a dishwasher is insane.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Bumping this in honor of the legendary Powers Boothe.

[mrrichardson 5]

The gang have done plenty of JCVD movies, but still not enough. This film is so entertaining and over the top, that it needs to be done. Loved this movie as a child and still love it today.

[TheUsualSuspect 1]

I legit love this movie. Top 3 Van Damme for sure.

 

I love how he plays the goalie and the players don't recognize it's not their teammate, but random bad guys off the ice do. Apparently it was originally written as a parody of Die Hard, but they decided to make it a Van Damme action film instead, but kept the scene where the guy fights the mascot in the kitchen where the grab whatever they can, escalating in weapons. 

[AbeFroman 70]

Bumping this after a recent rewatch.  By no means a classic, but Die Hard at Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals has held up very well.  As far as Die Hard clones go, it's top 5 along with Under Siege, Speed, Executive Decision and Cliffhanger.  It's utterly ridiculous but legit entertaining in a way that most modern actions films aren't. Powers Booth does a fantastic spin on Hans Gruber as well.  Double Impact is still better suited for HDTGM, but Sudden Death is too much fun to ignore. 

[Señor Gravy Stains 11]

This movie has JCVD fight a terrorist that’s dressed as the Penguins mascot. Later he suits up in goal during game 7 of the Stanley cup finals. 

This movie is ridiculously entertaining and would be perfect for HDTGM.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

I forget was there any kind of further explanation for his Macgyver skills other than he was a firefighter? I always remember that scene in the tunnel where he crafts that wrist shooter as making zero sense whatsoever.

[Gray Jedi 16]

[Joshua Foss 0]

On 6/14/2017 at 7:02 AM, bandsaboutmovies said:

There's a novelization that Powers Booth did the audiobook for that I've been obsessed with finding.

A couple years too late, but I recently found this on Ebay and was able to digitize it and get it online for the listening pleasure of Sudden Death fans worldwide:

https://soundcloud.com/jfoss-157952483/sets/sudden-death-audiobook

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

On 4/28/2018 at 9:26 PM, Ofcoursemyhorse said:

Bumping this in honor of the legendary Powers Boothe.