Movie Review: Sudden Death (1995)

When I first heard about Sudden Death — that it’s a Die Hard clone set inside the arena during the Stanley Cup Finals, and there’s a scene where Jean-Claude Van Damme fights the Pittsburgh Penguins mascot — I knew I needed to see it.

And it did not disappoint. It’s an incredibly stupid movie, but that’s more than part of the charm, of course.

Van Damme definitely isn’t a great everyman, though his relationship with his kids worked better than I thought it might. Powers Boothe is pretty great as the main terrorist, who threatens the Vice President up in his luxury box while having bombs ready to go off throughout the arena. I saw this movie a while ago, so I don’t even remember if it ever made it clear why he was doing this. Maybe it was just for money or something. I also have no recollection of how Van Damme ended up between the pipes at one point in the movie, but you bet your ass that happens.

The movie is dumb, but incredibly satisfying. I was entertained the whole way through.

Rating: 8/10