ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995              TAG: 9512230002
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1    EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

NO CHILLS, NO THRILLS VAN DAMME FLICK IS FORMULAIC, AND FUNNY WHEN IT DOESN'T MEAN TO BE

"Sudden Death" begins with two self-imposed strikes against it.

It all hinges on terrorists taking the Vice President hostage at a hockey game. Even if these guys followed through with their fiendish plot, who would care? About the game or the VP?

Like the non-nail-biting premise, the body of the film has all the flaws of a played-out formula. At times, the action is almost humorous. One of the first fight scenes pits our hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme, against a team mascot, a guy dressed up in a big penguin suit. It's not supposed to be funny, but moments like that venture close to "Naked Gun" parody.

The setting is Pittsburgh, where fire inspector Darren McCord (Van Damme) has brought his cute kids (Whittni Wright and Ross Malinger) to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Evil villain Powers Booth and his henchmen take over the owner's skybox, and demand billions from the government before the end of the game. If the funds aren't transferred, the VP gets it, and they blow up the bombs they've planted in the coliseum.

McCord sallies forth to save the day.

Writer Gene Quintano and director Peter Hyams slavishly follow the formula set by "Die Hard," "Under Siege," etc., but they generate no excitement. The bad guys are colorless. Van Damme's martial arts scenes are pedestrian, though he's relaxed and comfortable with his young co-stars. The business of defusing the bombs is about as suspenseful as changing lightbulbs. And at one preview screening, the big special-effects conclusion got a lot of unintentional laughs.

Sudden Death *

A Universal release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 110 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, locker room nudity.

LENGTH: Short :   45 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Darren McCord, an 
          ex-firefighter with a troubled past, who comes to the rescue when a 
          group of terrorists strike during the Stanley Cup Finals. color.