Bullet Points: Sudden Death

The Stanley Cup trophy was commissioned in 1892 and named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada at the time. Stanley donated the trophy as an award for Canada’s top ranking amateur ice hockey club. The Montreal Hockey Club was the first team to win the Cup in 1893.

Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906, then in 1915 a gentlemen’s agreement was reached between Canada’s top two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The NHA and PCHA agreed to have their respective champions face each other annually with the winning team being awarded The Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup officially became the National Hockey League championship prize in 1947 and that tradition continues to this day.

In 1995, a fictional Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks would serve as the back drop for the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, Sudden Death…

• Hell on Earth: The movie begins with some firefighting action, more specifically firefighter Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lionheart) and his failed attempt at rescuing a young girl from a house fire despite his best efforts. The incident would haunt McCord and change his life forever, forcing him to step away from his firefighter job.
• Game Day: Fast forward two years and Darren McCord is now working as a fire inspector. Darren has been assigned to work the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (or The Igloo for those in the know), where Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is being held. As a perk of the job, Darren has two free tickets to the game. So Darren pops in to check if his two kids, Tyler and Emily, want to go to the biggest hockey game of the year, much to his ex-wife’s chagrin. The McCord kids are treated like royalty by the Civic Arena staff as they get a mini tour of the facility before taking their seats… Darren tells them both to stay in their seats and that he’ll be back to check on them.

• The Master Plan: The Vice President of the United States (played by Raymond J. Barry) is also in attendance and he is about to become the key hostage in a devious plan concocted by Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe, Rapid Fire). Foss is a former Secret Service agent who has gone rogue and assembled the kind of team that one needs to assemble in a Die Hard scenario. Foss knowing all the usual security protocols gives him an edge and makes his master plan almost fool proof… but his plan hits one small snag when Emily McCord disobeys her father’s wishes and leaves her seat after a fight with her brother. Emily storms off and goes to the ladies room, where she has a run in with one of Foss’ accomplices dressed up as Iceburgh (or Icey for those in the know) the Pittsburgh Penguin mascot. Emily ends up being snatched up by “Icey” and taken to the owner’s box. Before I go on, I have to applaud Powers Boothe for his exceptionally evil performance in Sudden Death. Boothe hits all the right notes as the disgruntled Joshua Foss. Foss’ greed and nonchalance in regards to human life make him an extremely dangerous man and Foss is easily one of my favorite Powers Boothe characters.
• Fired Up: Darren McCord saw “Icey” taking his daughter up the elevator to the owner’s box and he immediately knows something is not right. Darren will soon find out that not only is something not right, something is very wrong. Darren learns about Foss’ evil plans from the man himself… Foss intends on blowing up the entire Civic Arena if his monetary demands are not met by the end of the game. There are multiple bombs planted throughout the building and now Darren McCord has to find and disarm all the bombs in order to save his kids and everyone else in attendance at Game 7!

• Die Hard at a Hockey Game: Sudden Death is most definitely Die Hard at a Hockey Game and the movie made great use of the back drop of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals into its Die Hard scenario. The game clock takes the tension up a few notches as Darren McCord has to fight against both time and Foss’ minions (including Manny Perry as Brody) as he embarks on the herculean task of dismantling multiple bombs spread through out a huge facility… fortunately for Darren the game goes into sudden death overtime! Then there’s The Igloo’s retractable roof that comes into play during the big action finale of the film… could you imagine them not taking advantage of this structural feature? It gives the movie a unique finale and one that once you see it, you’ll never forget it.

Of all the Die Hard knock offs that there have ever been, Sudden Death may well be my favorite. It probably doesn’t hurt that I am an unapologetic JCVD loyalist and this movie came out during Van Damme’s Hollywood peak. Powers Boothe deserves his props too, his menacing portrayal of Joshua Foss gave Sudden Death a Grade A villain. The scenes where Foss interacts with young Emily McCord is some top shelf villainy.

Overall I felt like the story being told in Sudden Death was well executed from the beginning to the over the top finish. And speaking of over the top finishes, here are some Bonus Bullet Points to wrap things up…

• Exploding Helicopter: Sudden Death was ranked #4 on Exploding Helicopter’s Top 10 Exploding Helicopter Films.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Jean-Claude Van Damme fight an NHL mascot, then Sudden Death is the movie for you.
• Reunited: Sudden Death reunited Van Damme with Director Peter Hyams. Hyams had directed Van Damme’s biggest box office success, Timecop the year prior. The two would work together again in 2013’s Enemies Closer.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Jean-Claude Van Damme use a squirt gun as a weapon, then Sudden Death is the movie for you.
• Familiar Faces: Dorian Harewood played Agent Hallmark, the FBI agent that Darren McCord makes contact with. Action fans may remember Harwood from 1998’s Evasive Action with Roy Scheider or as Eightball in Full Metal Jacket… Audra Lindley played Mrs. Ferrara, an unwitting pawn in Joshua Foss’ master plan. Lindley is most famous for playing Helen Roper on Three’s Company (and later The Ropers spin off). I remember sitting in the theater and being surprised to see her in Sudden Death since I had incorrectly assumed she had fallen off the face of the earth after her sitcom days were over.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Jean-Claude Van Damme play goalie in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, then Sudden Death is the movie for you.