Published Jun 10, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT
A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he’s an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, ’70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, ’90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they’re good, and maybe even more when they’re bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed “Canuxploitation.”
An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.
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Jean-Claude Van Damme’s beloved action thriller **Sudden** Death is currently available on 4K UHD from Kino Lorber, and fans can pick up the two-disc collector’s edition at a substantial discount. Originally released on August 27, 2024, the set is now on sale through Kino Lorber for $26.57, down from its original retail price of $39.95.
Often described as “**Die Hard **at a hockey game,” the 1995 action thriller remains one of Van Damme’s most entertaining films and a favorite among both action and sports movie fans. Van Damme stars as Pittsburgh Penguins fire marshal Darren McCord, who finds himself battling a group of terrorists during Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Led by rogue government agent Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe), the group takes the Vice President of the United States hostage and threatens to destroy Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena unless their demands are met. With the championship game heading into sudden-death overtime, McCord races against the clock to stop a disaster.
Directed by Peter Hyams, Sudden Death makes full use of its unique hockey setting. The film’s most memorable sequences include a fight against a henchman disguised as the Penguins mascot Iceburgh and an improbable but unforgettable moment that puts McCord directly on the ice during the game’s final moments. A number of notable NHL players have cameos in the film, including Markus Naslund, Bernie Nicholls, and Ken Wregget, as well as Penguins staff members, including anthem singer Jeff Jimerson and commentators Mike Lang and Paul Steigerweld, who appear as themselves.
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
The concept for Sudden Death originated with producer Karen Baldwin, whose husband Howard Baldwin owned the Pittsburgh Penguins. The production was designed around the distinctive features of Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena, including its famous retractable roof, which plays a major role in the film’s explosive climax.
Despite production challenges caused by the 1994-95 NHL lockout, the filmmakers successfully recreated a Stanley Cup Finals atmosphere using minor-league hockey teams and appearances from several NHL personalities. The result was a unique blend of sports spectacle and high-concept action. While it never reached the cultural heights of Die Hard, Sudden Death earned $64.4 million worldwide against a reported $35 million budget and has become one of Van Damme’s most enduring cult classics. More than three decades later, the film remains a standout entry in both the action and sports movie genres.
Sudden Death was remade in 2020 as Welcome to Sudden Death, starring Michael Jai White. The remake moved the action to a basketball game, which rendered the title meaningless as basketball does not feature sudden death overtime. Proof that some classics should remain off the docket for remakes.
The two-disc set includes both a 4K UHD presentation and a Blu-ray loaded with supplemental features.
Sudden Death is now available at a discount on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
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