Sudden Death (1995)

Regista:

Peter Hyams

Writers (WGA):

Karen Elise Baldwin (story)
Gene Quintano (screenplay)

Data di uscita:

22 dicembre 1995 (USA)

Genere:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Slogan:

Terror goes into over-time.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Villainess | Masked Killer | Strangulation | Scream | Female Killer

Recensioni degli utenti:

Van Damme shines in this unfairly slammed Die Hard spin-off

Cast

Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Darren McCord
Powers Boothe	...	Joshua Foss
Raymond J. Barry	...	Vice President
Whittni Wright	...	Emily McCord
Ross Malinger	...	Tyler
Dorian Harewood	...	Hallmark
Kate McNeil	...	Kathi
Michael Gaston	...	Hickey
Audra Lindley	...	Mrs. Ferrara
Brian Delate	...	Blair
Steve Aronson	...	Dooley
Michael R. Aubele	...	Ace
Karen Elise Baldwin	...	TV Director
Jennifer D. Bowser	...	Joan
Pat Brisson	...	Player #2

Alias:

A rischio della vita (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for a substantial amount of strong violence, and for language.

Durata:

110 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonoro:

DTS

Divieti:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | Australia:M (TV rating) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:MA | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Luoghi delle riprese:

600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Imperial Entertainment

Curiosità:

The film was shot during the NHL lockout during the 1994 - 1995 hockey season, which was finally resolved later that year.

Errori:

Continuity: In all scenes where a Penguin goaltender is shown, the goalie is wearing predominantly white goal pads. However in one brief shot, the Penguins goalie is wearing black goal pads.

Citazioni:

Secret Service agent: You're crazy Me? Ha! I'm not the one paying some neanderthal 40 million dollars a year to skate up and down the ice.

Movie Connections:

Citato in Hot Fuzz (2007)

Colonna sonora:

Rock And Roll, Part II

Van Damme shines in this unfairly slammed Die Hard spin-off

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Traumatised at being unable to save a young girl from a housefire, Darren McCord (VD) quits the fire service and becomes a part time fire marshall at The Stanley Arena, where tonight a major event is taking place in the shape of The Stanley Cup Finals Ice Hockey Tournament and Darren has gained a couple of free passes for his two kids. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones who'll be there- ex CIA agent and criminal mastermind Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe) and his gang of terrorists storm in and take the Vice President and some others hostage and have planted a series of bombs across the stadium that will be detonated and hostages killed unless lots of money is transfered to his various bank accounts by different times. But when his daughter is kidnapped, Darren springs into action and becomes a dangerous one man army against the ruthless terrorists.

Around the time this came out, the Die Hard formula had been churned out a few times and although most of the spin-offs were pretty good, perhaps action fans were getting a little tired of the same old plot line being used again and again. And so Sudden Death received a load of bad reviews and did poorly at the box office. But in their haste what a load of people probably didn't notice was the original angle to the movie, in that many of the hostages aren't aware of their predicament or even that they're hostages. And it's not just from this angle that SD works- the film itself is simply great fun from beginning to end. Director Peter Hyams sustains an impressive sense of tension and suspense from beginning to end and never lets up on the big thrills. Performances wise, VD tries his hand at some emotional acting in this one (he's much better at it than Seagal) as well as performing his usual martial arts stunts and fight scenes (including one scene involving a fight in a kitchen with a 7 foot penguin!) Boothe is an effectively cold and creepy villain and all do their part to keep things flowing along nicely.

Overall then, one of VD's last great theatrical films, up to a standard I hope he achieves again sometime. ****