A cryptic message from the previous M leads MI6 agent James Bond to carry out a mission in Mexico City, foiling a bombing attempt at the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral during the Day of the Dead festival. Bond obtains a ring, stylised with an octopus, from deceased attacker Marco Sciarra and uncovers his connection to a secret organisation. In London, Gareth Mallory, the current M, suspends Bond for his unauthorised action. M is engaged in a power struggle with Max Denbigh (whom Bond dubs "C"), the Director-General of the new privately backed Joint Intelligence Service formed by the merger of MI5 and MI6. C campaigns for Britain to join the global surveillance and intelligence initiative "Nine Eyes" and shut down the '00' section. Bond, who was operating on a mission posthumously assigned by the previous M to eliminate Sciarra and track down his employers, goes rogue from MI6, with Eve Moneypenny and Q agreeing to aid Bond covertly. Following the previous M's instructions, Bond attends Sciarra's funeral in Rome and rescues his widow Lucia from assassins. Lucia reveals Sciarra's association with a terrorist network run by Franz Oberhauser, who has been presumed dead for twenty years. Using Sciarra's ring, Bond infiltrates a meeting, where Oberhauser targets the "Pale King" for assassination. Oberhauser recognises Bond, who flees across the city in a modified Aston Martin DB10, pursued by the network's top assassin Hinx. Moneypenny identifies the Pale King as Mr. White, a former member of the organisation's subsidiary Quantum. Bond tracks White down to Altaussee, where he is dying of thallium poisoning. Bond offers to protect White's daughter Madeleine Swann, a psychiatrist who possesses knowledge about "L'Américain". White commits suicide. Bond finds Swann, who is reluctant to trust him until Hinx and his forces abduct her. Bond rescues Swann, earning him her trust. Q reveals Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene, and Raoul Silva as agents of Oberhauser's organisation, which Swann reveals is named Spectre. Swann takes Bond to L'Américain, a hotel in Tangier, where a secret room directs them to Oberhauser's base in the Sahara. Hinx ambushes them en route to the base, but they fight him off and defeat him. Arriving at the base, Bond and Swann confront Oberhauser, who reveals Spectre's involvement in the Joint Intelligence Service and the Nine Eyes programme. C, complicit in Spectre's scheme, plans to give Spectre unrestricted access to intelligence gathered by Nine Eyes. After showing Swann a distressing recording of her father's suicide, Oberhauser subjects Bond to neurosurgical torture: he shares the discussion with Bond to Swann, revealing that they became adoptive brothers after Bond's parents died. Believing that his father loved Bond more than him, Oberhauser killed him and staged his death as well. Since then, he founded Spectre intending to target Bond and adopted the name Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Bond and Swann break free, stun Blofeld with an explosive wristwatch, and destroy the base before fleeing to London to prevent Nine Eyes from going online. In London, Bond, Swann, M, Q, Bill Tanner and Moneypenny gather to arrest C, but Swann and Bond are separately abducted by Spectre operatives, while the others proceed with the plan. After Q stops Nine Eyes from going online, a struggle between M and C results in C's death. Bond is taken to the ruins of the old MI6 building, scheduled for demolition after Silva's bombing, where Swann is held captive. Blofeld, who survived the Sahara base's destruction with heavy scarring to his face, gives Bond a three-minute ultimatum to abandon Swann or attempt a rescue and risk death. Bond finds a bound and gagged Swann, and they escape as the building collapses. Bond shoots down Blofeld's helicopter, which crashes onto Westminster Bridge. Blofeld survives and is arrested by M. Later, Bond receives his restored Aston Martin DB5 from Q and drives off with Swann.

Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, the First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to end the New Republic. The Resistance led by General Leia Organa opposes the First Order. Leia also searches for her lost twin brother Luke Skywalker. On the desert planet Jakku, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron receives a map to Luke's location. First Order stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren arrive and capture Poe. His droid, BB-8, escapes with the map and encounters Rey, a lone scavenger. Kylo tortures Poe using the Force and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, disillusioned with the First Order, saves Poe and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter. Upon learning that FN-2187 has no other name, Poe names him "Finn". As they head to Jakku to retrieve BB-8, a First Order Star Destroyer shoots them, and they crash-land. Finn survives and assumes Poe was killed after finding his jacket in the wreck. Finn encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. Rey, Finn, and BB-8 steal the dilapidated Millennium Falcon and escape Jakku. The Falcon is discovered and boarded by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Gangs seeking to settle debts with Han attack, but the group escapes in the Falcon. At the First Order's Starkiller Base, a planet converted into a superweapon, Supreme Leader Snoke approves General Hux 's request to use the weapon on the New Republic. Snoke questions Kylo's ability to deal with emotions surrounding his father, Han Solo, whom Kylo states means nothing to him. Aboard the Falcon, Han determines that BB-8's map is incomplete. He then explains that Luke attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order but exiled himself when an apprentice turned to the dark side of the Force, destroyed Luke's temple, and slaughtered the other apprentices. The crew travels to the planet Takodana and meets with cantina owner Maz Kanata, who offers help getting BB-8 to the Resistance. The Force draws Rey to a secluded vault, where she finds Anakin Skywalker 's lightsaber. She experiences disturbing visions, including a childhood memory of a ship leaving her on Jakku. Rey denies the lightsaber at Maz's offering and flees into the woods. Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping. Starkiller Base destroys the Hosnian star system, including the New Republic capital Hosnian Prime, leaving the Resistance without support. The First Order attacks Takodana in search of BB-8. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, who survived the crash. Leia arrives at Takodana with C-3PO and reunites with Han; it is revealed that she is Kylo's mother. Meanwhile, Kylo captures Rey, realizing she had seen the map and takes her to Starkiller Base, but she resists his mind-reading attempts. Snoke orders Kylo to bring Rey to him. Discovering she can use the Force, Rey escapes using a Jedi mind trick on a stormtrooper guard. At the Resistance base, BB-8 finds R2-D2, who had been in low-power mode since Luke's disappearance. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire again, the Resistance plans to destroy it by attacking its thermal oscillator. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the facility, find Rey and plant explosives. Han confronts Kylo, calling him by his birth name, Ben Solo, and implores him to abandon the dark side. Kylo seems to consider this, but ultimately kills Han. A devastated Chewbacca shoots Kylo, injuring him, and sets off the explosives, allowing Poe to attack and destroy the base's thermal oscillator. Kylo pursues Rey and Finn into the woods and incapacitates Rey. Finn uses the lightsaber to duel Kylo but is quickly defeated. Rey awakens, takes the lightsaber, and defeats Kylo in a duel, leaving him with a scar on his face. Snoke orders Hux to leave the base and bring Kylo to him to complete his training. Chewbacca saves Rey and the injured Finn and they escape aboard the Falcon. As the Resistance forces flee, Starkiller Base implodes and erupts into a star. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which points to the oceanic planet Ahch-To. Leaving Finn to recover from his wounds, Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 travel to Ahch-To on the Falcon. Rey finds Luke atop a cliff on a remote island and presents him with his lightsaber.

Evan Russell, a young American man, loses his mother to cancer. After her funeral, he gets into a physical altercation at the restaurant where he works and loses his job. On his friend's advice, Evan travels to Italy and meets a flirtatious girl named Louise. Interested in pursuing a relationship with her, he starts living in a small town in southern Italy, working at a local farm. Louise, who initially rejected Evan, finally has sex with him without using a condom. The next morning, she wakes up before he does and has a monstrous appearance. After leaving, she kills a cat. After a few dates where they explore the town together, Louise asks Evan about his family. Although he is reluctant to reveal details, he relents and asks Louise to tell him something about her. Louise takes out a contact lens from her right eye to show Evan that she has heterochromia. Evan sees the same condition reflected in the women on many of the paintings in the museum and also on the cover of a book. One night, Louise is having dinner with Evan when her skin condition becomes worse. She runs off the street and is followed by a tourist who mistakes her for a prostitute. Louise unwillingly kills him after she mutates into a reptilian creature. Evan, who has been working illegally on the farm, has to leave when immigration police arrive. With nowhere else to go, he visits Louise's house. The door is chain-locked, through which he sees blood on the floor and hears a strange voice. He breaks the chain to open the door and finds an octopus-like creature on the floor wearing Louise's dress, trying to reach a syringe. He quickly picks up the syringe and injects it into the creature's neck. Louise reveals to Evan that she is a 2,000-year-old mutant. She is the woman in all of the paintings of women with heterochromia. Every 20th spring, she finds a man to impregnate her, and her body uses cells in the embryo to recreate her while she changes into different creatures. Shocked, Evan leaves. Louise follows him and tells him more about the condition. She reveals that she avoided using a condom during intercourse to purposely get pregnant. She also reveals that if she falls in love, the hormones will stop the process and turn her mortal. Evan asks if she is in love with him; she replies she is not and would not give up her immortality for anyone. Evan asks her to spend her last 24 hours with him before she re-evolves. They spend all night talking to each other. In the early morning, Louise takes Evan to the ruins of Pompeii, where she was born, and tells him her family history. The time comes, and Evan makes one last attempt begging her not to change. Louise says she has no control over it and warns that she may attack him. He refuses to go, so Louise lies down with her head on his lap and listens to Evan talk about the experience of being mortal and all its positive aspects. As the sun rises, Evan calmly looks down at Louise as he hears a grotesque sound. However, he finds Louise still in her current human form while Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that resulted in the death of Louise's family, erupts in the background.

Will Sawyer, a Marine veteran turned Federal Bureau of Investigation 's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) leader, loses his left leg below the knee when he and HRT colleague Ben Gillespie encounter a hostage taker with a suicide bomb. Ten years later, Will, now a private security consultant, is recommended by Ben to review security for "The Pearl", a 3,500 feet (1,100 m) skyscraper located in Hong Kong that comprises 225 floors and is the tallest in the world. His wife Sarah and twin children Henry and Georgia stay with him on the not-yet-opened residential floors. Meeting with Ben, the Pearl's owner Zhao Long Ji, security director Okeke, and head insurance underwriter Pierce, Will reported that the computerized fire and security systems have passed his tests, though he needs to inspect the offsite security center. Zhao provides Will with a tablet that gives him complete control over the Pearl's systems. Will and Ben head to the offsite facility, but a mugger hired by international terrorist Kores Botha attempts to steal the tablet. Ben betrays and attacks Will for the tablet, resulting in Will killing Ben. Botha and a group of his men break into the Pearl and undermine the safety systems by using a water-reactive chemical to start a fire on the 96th floor, creating a barrier that renders it impossible to enter or exit from the upper 130 floors. Will tries to return to the Pearl, but is attacked by Xia, one of Botha's associates. Xia and her agents take the tablet, kill everyone at the offsite facility, and use the tablet to disable the fire-extinguishing systems in the Pearl and activate the air vents, spreading the fire to the upper floors. Zhao and Okeke send security guards to rescue Will's family, but the guards are killed in an explosion and the family is believed dead. Urged on by Pierce, Zhao orders the remaining personnel to evacuate by helicopter. Pierce, another of Botha's accomplices, kills all of them as Zhao escapes into his penthouse apartment and locks it down from any intrusion. Hong Kong Police Force Inspector Wu and his team attempt to secure the Pearl and capture Will, who is believed to be behind the incidents. Will evades them and makes his way into the Pearl above the fire barrier using a crane from an adjacent building. He kills Pierce before Pierce can kill his family, though Georgia is separated from the others. Will has Sarah and Henry ride through the fire barrier in a free-fall elevator before applying the emergency brakes, letting them escape safely; Sarah immediately explains the situation to Wu and that Botha's men will likely escape via parachute to a nearby landing zone. Will finds Georgia, but they are captured by Botha, who demands Zhao in return for Georgia. Will is forced to dangerously scale the outside of the building to access the security panel for Zhao's penthouse, then enters and confronts him. Zhao explains that Botha had extorted money from him during the $6 billion construction project by threatening to cripple his workforce, but he kept a detailed computer file of the transactions as insurance, which can reveal accounts and names of three crime syndicates Botha works for, so Botha instigated the attack to obtain the records since his employers threaten to kill him. Will brings Zhao to Botha at the top of the Pearl, acquiescing to the trade for Georgia. However, Zhao distracts Botha, allowing himself and Will to kill Botha's thugs. Botha grabs Georgia and threatens to drop her off the building, but Will outsmarts him, rescues Georgia, and leaves Botha to die in a grenade explosion as he falls. Wu leads an attack on the drop zone, securing Xia after Sarah subdues her and killing her thugs. Sarah recovers the tablet and uses it to restart the Pearl's systems, extinguishing the blaze. Will, Georgia, and Zhao are brought down safely by helicopter, and the Sawyer family happily reunites while Wu acknowledges and finally meets and greets Will. Zhao states his intention to rebuild the Pearl, shown to have massive fire damage extending from the 96th floor to the roof.

Ratna is an on premise maid employed by Ashwin and his girlfriend, Sabina. Ashwin has recently returned to Mumbai from New York, leaving behind his dream to be a writer, after learning his brother is not well. He stays back to support his family emotionally when his brother dies.Ratna is an independent person with self-respect. However, as a widow from a small village her prospects are extremely limited. She is working in Mumbai to be self-sufficient and also financially helps her family, and encourages her sister to study. It was her dream to study which she could not fulfill because of marriage and now she wants her sister to get educated. She also nurtures a dream to become a fashion designer. The movie opens with Ratna being called back for work as Ashwin has left his to-be wife, Sabina on their wedding day and has come back home. From the conversations with his friends and family we learn that Sabina had cheated on him and he wasn't really in love with her. He stays low spirited for days until Ratna, not able to see him unhappy, narrates her story of losing her husband after just 4 months when she was 19 years old but now she is an independent woman who is supporting her family. She says "life never stops", implying we should move on with our life whatever may come. She stays back to work at his house, defying the possibility of gaining a bad reputation for living with a man alone. We gradually learn that Ashwin is a nice person who does not care about class differences and respects Ratna like any other person in his life. He speaks up for her when an acquaintance of his scolds Ratna for accidentally spilling a drink on her. Over time Ashwin learns about Ratna's dream to become a fashion designer when Ratna asks Ashwin's permission to go to tailoring classes and expresses her wish to become a fashion designer. Ashwin initially thinks light of her desire, but immediately corrects himself and apologises to Ratna, saying 'everyone has the right to dream'. Ratna empathises with Ashwin as he is stuck in Mumbai for his family, and is not able to follow his dream to write. They sync emotionally. Ratna gifts Ashwin a handmade shirt for his birthday. He wears the shirt to work that same day, agreeing to Ratna's request not to tell anyone she made it for him. Meanwhile, Ratna learns that her sister is getting ready for marriage before completing her diploma. She is disappointed to know her sister is more enthusiastic to come to Mumbai than to complete her studies. But Ashwin consoles her by saying that the groom might be a good person, who wants his wife to be independent. He gives her some money as a gift for her sister's wedding even though she resists. He calls her when she is away for the wedding to check in with her. The attention makes her uncomfortable, and emotionally confused. Upon her return to work for Ashwin, the dynamic changes between them. Ashwin becomes enamoured with Ratna. He also gives Ratna a sewing machine as a gift. Soon after, on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Ashwin returns home to find a carefree Ratna dancing with a crowd of people celebrating the festival. After a silent but charged elevator ride up to his apartment, Ashwin expresses his feelings. Ratna allows Ashwin's advances for a moment while they share a kiss, then strongly expresses her will against any possible relationship. When Ashwin asks her to go out with him, she takes him to the building rooftop where they share some thoughts and have a conversation. Ashwin discourages her from calling him 'sir' while Ratna asks him to forget about their encounter that night. When Ashwin's friend learns of his feelings, he discourages him from being in a relationship with a maid and reminds him of the social repercussions of such a relationship. He says that for Ratna's sake, he should not act on his feelings. The next day, Ratna, as the maid, is asked to cook for a party at Ashwin's mother's place. Ashwin unintentionally makes Ratna uncomfortable by asking if he should wait for her to go back home, provoking mockery from other household employees. When they return to Ashwin's apartment, Ratna makes it clear that they cannot be in a relationship as she will not be welcome among his family and friends, and vice-versa, and that if her family came to know of their relationship, she would be forced to return to a restrictive village life. When he insists on being together, she decides to quit her job and leaves, despite Ashwin's request that he might help her in any way even if she no longer wants to be in the house. She tells him not to worry for her or contact her. Ratna moves to her sister's house, while Ashwin tells his father that he is in love with Ratna and will be moving back to New York. After some time, we see Ratna getting hired by Ashwin's friend who is a fashion designer, through Ashwin's recommendation. Ratna rushes off to Ashwin's house to see him but finds the door bolted and the flat vacant. Dejected, she goes to the rooftop, where she unexpectedly receives a call from Ashwin. Finally, understanding his insistence on seeing her as an equal, she reconciles with her identity crisis and responds to his call by addressing him by his first name "Ashwin". This also indicates that despite social differences, there can be love.

An African sorcerer conjures up a flying horse, which he shows to the Caliph. When the sorcerer refuses to sell it for any amount of gold, the Caliph offers any treasure he has. The sorcerer chooses Dinarsade, the Caliph's daughter, to her great distress. Prince Achmed, Dinarsade's brother, objects, but the sorcerer persuades him to try out the horse. The prince does not know how to control the horse, so it carries the prince away, higher and higher into the sky. The Caliph has the sorcerer imprisoned. When Achmed discovers how to make the horse descend, he finds himself in a strange foreign land, a magical island called Wak Wak. He is greeted by a bevy of attractive maidens. When they begin fighting for his attention, he flies away to a lake. There, he watches as Pari Banu, the beautiful ruler of the land of Wak Wak, arrives with her attendants to bathe. When they spot him, they all fly away, except for Pari Banu, for Achmed has her magical flying feather costume. She flees on foot, but he captures her. He gains her trust when he returns her feathers. They fall in love. She warns him, however, that the demons of Wak Wak will try to kill him. The sorcerer frees himself from his chains. Transforming himself into a bat, he seeks out Achmed. The prince chases the sorcerer (who has turned into a kangaroo) and falls into a pit. While Achmed fights a giant snake, the sorcerer takes Pari Banu to China and sells her to the Emperor. The sorcerer returns and pins Achmed under a boulder on top of a mountain. However, the Witch of the Flaming Mountain notices him and rescues Achmed. The sorcerer is her arch-enemy, so she helps Achmed rescue Pari Banu from the Emperor. Then, the demons of Wak Wak find the couple and, despite Achmed's fierce resistance, carry Pari Banu off. Achmed forces a captive demon to fly him to Wak Wak. However, the gates of Wak Wak are locked. He then slays a monster who is attacking a boy named Aladdin. Aladdin tells of how he, a poor tailor, was recruited by the sorcerer to retrieve a magic lamp from a cave. When Aladdin returned to the cave entrance, the sorcerer demanded the lamp before letting him out. Aladdin refused, so the sorcerer sealed him in. Aladdin accidentally released one of the genies of the lamp and ordered it to take him home. He then courted and married Dinarsade. One night, Dinarsade, Aladdin's magnificent palace, and the lamp disappeared. Blamed by the Caliph, Aladdin fled to avoid being executed. A storm at sea cast him ashore at Wak Wak. When he tried to pluck fruit from a "tree", it turned into a monster and grabbed him, but Achmed killed it. Achmed realizes the sorcerer had been responsible for Aladdin's fate, and is further enraged. He also reveals to Aladdin that his palace and the lamp were stolen by the sorcerer because of his obsession for Dinarsade. Then, the witch arrives. Since only the lamp can open the gates, she agrees to attack the sorcerer to get it. They engage in a magical duel, each transforming into various creatures (Sorcerer transforms into a lion, a scorpion, a vulture and a sea serpent and Witch transforms into a snake, a rooster and a whale). After a while, they resume their human forms and fling fireballs at each other. Finally, the witch slays the sorcerer. With the lamp, they are able to enter Wak Wak, just in time to save Pari Banu from being thrown to her death. A fierce battle erupts. A demon steals the lamp, but the witch gets it back. She summons creatures from the lamp who defeat the demons. One hydra -like creature seizes Pari Banu. When Achmed cuts off one of its heads, two more grow back immediately, but the witch stops this regeneration, allowing Achmed to kill it and rescue Pari Banu. A flying palace then settles to the ground. Inside, Achmed, Pari Banu, Aladdin, and the Caliph find Dinarsade. The two couples bid goodbye to the witch and fly home to the palace.

Junbao and Tienbo grow up together in a Shaolin Temple as monks, studying the Shaolin kung fu and generally getting into trouble. They are both expelled from the temple after Tienbo impulsively almost kills a fellow student who cheats in a fight against him. Aided in their escape by their sympathetic teacher, they receive final instructions regarding the potential paths of their different personalities, with a specific warning given to Tienbo. Junbao and Tienbo then go into the outside world to find their way in life. Meanwhile, a gang of henchmen are forcibly taking money from a local shop owner. A girl nicknamed Miss Li steals the money and returns it. Having noticed the money gone, the henchmen start to chase down Miss Li, who holds her own during the fight but soon gets outnumbered and into trouble. Junbao comes to her aid and defeats the gang, before Army reinforcements arrive to break up the fight and so the trio flee to escape capture. At this moment the eunuch governor Liu Jin travels through the town, roughing up the locals as he does so. Tienbo realizes that he wants to be as rich and powerful as the governor, but Miss Li warns him that the governor has "the heart of a viper". Miss Li then shows the two sworn brothers to a pub for food. Inside the pub, they find a young woman named Siu-lin, who is searching for her lost husband, during which she supports herself by playing on a sanxian that said husband gave to her as a wedding gift. She finds him inside the pub as the new husband of the governor's sister, who picks a fight with Siu-lin. Siu-lin gets the upper hand in the duel, but the husband, eager to please his wealthy new wife, hits and injures Siu-lin on the head with a stool. Junbao comes to Siu-lin's rescue by fighting off the governor's sister's bodyguards before fleeing. The next day, while Junbao and Tienbo are making money with their amazing kung fu skills, the governor's second-in-command spots them and is impressed with Tienbo's abilities (and his eagerness to kow-tow to authority). He offers him a position in the army, which Tienbo readily accepts. However, Junbao is more reluctant to do so and declines going with Tienbo, and so the two brothers part ways. Later, some soldiers come to the pub to collect taxes (which have increased due to the governor's greedy nature), but Junbao and the rebels (who have stolen great valuables from the governor to give back to the poor) fight and kill them one by one. One soldier escapes alive and starts off towards the army's camp to warn them about the rebels with Junbao in pursuit. Just in front of the army encampment, Tienbo kills the soldier before he warns the rest of the army about the rebels whereabouts. Tienbo warns Junbao to stay clear of the rebels as they'll get him into trouble. Now knowing where the rebels are hiding however, Tienbo takes this unique opportunity to gain a promotion. He sets a trap for Junbao and the rebels by telling them that the army is on patrol and when would be the best time to attack them. Junbao and Siu-lin collect all the rebels from the region and go to the army camp (thus, falling for Tienbo's trap). A big battle occurs where most of the rebels die. Tienbo captures Miss Li and Siu-lin. In the end, the only escaped survivors are Junbao and a few rebels. Because of the trap, the governor promotes Tienbo to Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenant. Tienbo kills Miss Li to prove his devotion to the governor, and with his new authority (and some poignant advice from the governor) holds Siu-lin as bait so that he can lure Junbao to defect. Junbao shows up to confront Tienbo and rejects his offer, and after a fierce fight manages to rescue Siu-lin. However, due to the injury he receives and the fact that his best friend betrayed him, Junbao's mind snaps and he goes crazy. While recuperating in the countryside safehouse with the help of Siu-lin, he has a sudden epiphany that regains his mental health, and begins using natural phenomenon as inspiration to create a new style of martial arts which uses "soft" movements to offset power, speed and strength. While the governor is traveling to Beijing to see the emperor, Junbao and Siu-lin intercept the convoy, defeat his sister and guards and captures the governor as a hostage, before going to the army camp to confront Tienbo. Due to his arrogance, Tienbo declines and starts to fight Junbao, thinking the latter is still the inferior fighter. To Tienbo's surprise, however, Junbao is now fighting using the heretofore unseen style, which he calls tai chi, and is able to fend off Tienbo's superior strength with ease. Out of frustration, Tienbo kills the governor in order to gain complete control over the troops surrounding them. Siu-lin intervenes and convinces them not to listen to Tienbo, as he just betrayed their leader. Seeing this (and also the brutal way Tienbo utilizes his troops as battle fodder), the troops back off and leave Tienbo's fate to Junbao. After a stunning series of parries and blows by Junbao, Tienbo is defeated and eventually killed when he falls upon a bundle of spears. After the fight, Junbao parts way with Siu-lin, and returns Tienbo's ashes to the Shaolin Temple, before establishing his own school at Wudang Mountains.

Popular Democratic U.S. President Andrew Shepherd prepares to run for re-election. The president and his staff, led by Chief of Staff and best friend A. J. MacInerney, attempt to consolidate the administration's 63% approval rating by passing a moderate crime control bill. However, support for the bill in both parties is tepid: conservatives reject it, and liberals think it is too weak. If passed, however, Shepherd's re-election is presumed to be guaranteed. Shepherd resolves to announce the bill, and have the Congressional support to pass it, by his State of the Union Address. When the widowed President's cousin Judith is sick and unable to act as hostess at a state dinner for the French president, Shepherd realizes his staff's public portrayal of him as lonely widower is true. Soon after, Shepherd meets and is attracted to Sydney Ellen Wade, a lawyer employed by an environmental lobbying firm working to pass legislation to substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He invites Sydney to act as hostess (and his date) at the state dinner, where she charms the guests and shares a dance with Andy. During a meeting, Shepherd strikes a deal with Wade: if she can secure 24 votes for the environmental bill before his State of the Union Address, he will deliver the last ten. MacInerney believes Wade will fail to obtain enough votes, thus releasing Shepherd from responsibility if the bill fails to pass. Shepherd and Wade begin seeing each other and fall in love. Republican presidential hopeful Senator Bob Rumson steps up his attacks, focusing on Wade's activist past and maligning Shepherd's ethics and family values. The President's refusal to refute Rumson's aspersions lowers his approval ratings and erodes crucial political support that threatens the crime bill. Wade is dejected after her failed meeting with three Michigan congressmen to discuss the environmental bill. When she tells Shepherd about the meeting, she inadvertently mentions that the only bill the congressmen want to defeat more than the President's crime bill is Wade's environmental bill. Shepherd and MacInerney are conflicted about how they obtained this sensitive information. However, they are unable to ignore the opportunity to pass the crime bill, even if it means the President going back on his deal with Wade. Eventually, Wade secures enough votes for the environmental bill while Shepherd is three short. He can only obtain them by shelving the environmental bill to solidify the three Michigan congressmen's votes for the crime bill, which he reluctantly agrees to do. Wade's firm fires her for failing to achieve their objectives and for seemingly jeopardizing her political reputation. She goes to see Shepherd to end their relationship and says she has a job opportunity in Hartford, Connecticut. While he defends the crime bill as his top priority, she criticizes it as weakly worded with little chance of preventing crime. Prior to the State of the Union Address, Shepherd makes a surprise appearance in the White House press room and rebukes Rumson's attacks on his values and character, as well as his relentless innuendos that Wade prostituted herself for political favors. He declares he will send the controversial environmental bill to Congress with a massive 20% cut in fossil fuels – far more than the 10% originally proposed. Furthermore, he is withdrawing the crime bill for a stronger one that among other things, bans the purchase of handguns by private citizens. Shepherd's passion galvanizes the press and his staff. Shepherd and Wade are reconciled, then she walks him to the doors of the House chamber where he enters to thunderous applause as he is about to deliver the State of the Union Address.

The mid-19th-century patriarch of the Hungarian-Jewish Sonnenschein (meaning "Sunshine" in German) family is a tavern owner who makes his own popular distilled herb-based tonic in Austria-Hungary. The tonic, called Taste of Sunshine, is later commercially made by his son, Emmanuel, bringing the family great wealth and prestige. He builds a large estate where his oldest son, Ignatz, falls in love with his first cousin, Valerie, despite the disapproval of Emmanuel and Rose, his wife. Ignatz, while studying in law school, begins an affair with Valerie. Ignatz graduates and later earns a place as a respected district judge, when he is asked by the chief judge to change his Jewish surname to a Hungarian one in order to be promoted to the central court. The entire generation – Ignatz, his physician brother Gustave and photographer cousin Valerie – change their last name to Sors (meaning "fate" in Hungarian). Ignatz then gets promoted when he tells the Minister of Justice a way to delay the prosecution of corrupt politicians. In the spring of 1899, when Valerie becomes pregnant, she and Ignatz happily marry before the birth of their son, Istvan. Their second son, Adam, is born in 1902. Ignatz continues to support the Habsburg monarchy, while Gustave pushes for a communist revolution. Both brothers become officers in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. Emmanuel dies on the same day as the Emperor Franz Joseph I. In the days after the war, Valerie briefly leaves him for another man, the old monarchy collapses, and Ignatz loses his judicial position under a series of short-lived socialist and communist regimes in which Gustave is involved. When a new monarchy emerges and asks Ignatz to oversee trials of retribution against the communists, he declines and is forced to retire. His health deteriorates rapidly and he dies, leaving Valerie as the head of the family. Istvan and Adam both join the Jewish-run Civic Fencing Club. Adam becomes the best fencer in Hungary, and General Jakofalvy invites him to convert to Roman Catholicism in order to join the nation's top military, non-Jewish, fencing club. While Adam and Istvan are converting, Adam meets Hannah, who is converting at the request of her fiancé and woos her into marrying him. Adam wins the national fencing championship two years in a row and goes on to lead the national team to the 1936 Olympic gold medal in Team Sabre in Nazi Germany, becoming a national hero in Hungary. Istvan's wife, Greta, pursues Adam until they start a secret affair. New Hungarian laws are passed discriminating against people with any near Jewish ancestors, and the Sors family is initially shielded by the exceptions in the laws. However, Adam is soon expelled from the military fencing club. Greta finally convinces the family that they must emigrate to save their children, but they are too late to get exit visas. When Germany occupies Hungary, Valerie and Hannah are immediately moved into the Budapest Ghetto. Valerie escapes and hides in a friend's attic, but nobody knows how or where Hannah died. Adam and his son Ivan are sent to a labor camp, where Adam is beaten, stripped naked, and hosed with water until he freezes to death. Istvan, Greta, and their son are summarily shot by Nazis. After the war, the surviving Sors family returns to the Sonnenschein estate. The elderly Gustave returns from exile and is invited into the communist government, Valerie manages the household, and Ivan becomes a state policeman, working for police Major General Knorr and rounding up fascists from the wartime regime. Ivan rises quickly in the communist ranks and begins an affair with Carole, the wife of a high-ranking communist official. Later, Army General Kope asks Ivan to start vigorously arresting Jews, including Knorr, who are suspected of inciting conspiracies against the current government. After Gustave dies, Kope informs Ivan that his uncle would have been next to be investigated. When Stalin dies in 1953, Ivan feels guilty for helping Kope and not saving Knorr. He leaves the police force and swears to fight the communist regime. In the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he steps up as a leader but is imprisoned after it fails. Released at the end of the decade, he returns to live together with Valerie in a single room of the former family estate. She falls ill while they search for the tonic recipe. After she dies, he continues the search but accidentally disposes of the book while cleaning out the apartment. While searching, he uncovers an old letter written by Emanuel to Ignatz telling him never to make being accepted by others his main goal in life. Inspired, Ivan goes to the legal office to change his name from Sors to Sonnenschein. He concludes his storytelling after the end of the communist regime in 1989. While walking down the street afterward, he feels free for the first time in his life.

Daniel Morales is a highly talented but reckless driver living in Marseille, France, and is in a loving relationship with his girlfriend Lilly. Leaving his job as a delivery man at local pizza parlor "Pizza Joe," he becomes a taxi driver. He drives a white 1997 Peugeot 406, customized with various concealed racing modifications. Young bumbling police inspector Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec lives with his widowed mother, and has just failed his 8th driver's test. No one takes him seriously at work, including police sergeant Petra, his unrequited crush. Commissioner Gibert briefs the officers on a German gang behind a series of high-profile robberies throughout Europe, who has now arrived in Marseille. The gang is known for their efficiency, skilled driving, and their use of red Mercedes-Benz 500E cars as escape vehicles. Anticipating the gang's next move, Gibert places police officers around the targeted bank. After the robbers enter the bank, Émilien accidentally causes a multi-vehicle collision and a gun fight with the French Minister's escort convoy, allowing the robbers to escape. The next day, Émilien decides to take a taxi to work and rides with Daniel. Not knowing his fare's occupation, Daniel shows off his car and breaks several traffic laws. Émilien detains Daniel, but then asks for his help with catching the German gang in exchange for returning Daniel's license, desperate for respect and Petra's attention. Looking at photos of the getaway cars, Daniel concludes that the tires come from a garage owned by Kruger, the only German mechanic in town. Staking out the garage, they spot the German robbers. Émilien tries to interrogate Kruger, who opens fire at the duo and escapes. The police locate the gang's next target and manage to attach a tracking device to one of the cars. However, the gang stops at a secluded garage and repaints the cars silver, inadvertently sabotaging the tracking device and allowing them to escape again. Émilien then learns that he had left the stove on at his flat and burned it down, forcing him and his mother to stay at Daniel's place. Eager to get rid of Émilien, Daniel correctly deduces the gang's repaint strategy, and through a friend, he tracks the robbers to a racetrack. Daniel provokes the gang into a race and wins, later inspiring Émilien to approach Petra romantically. The duo then become friends, and devise a plan to finally catch the gang red-handed. The next day, having duplicated the control keys to twenty traffic lights throughout the city, Émilien provides Daniel with a closed radio line. Daniel recruits his old co-workers from Pizza Joe, to whom Émilien distributes the keys and walkie-talkies. After the gang drives away from another robbery, Daniel follows them and successfully taunts the Germans into another race. As the delivery men use the traffic lights to clear a path for the cars, the cars drive onto the freeway. Daniel then speeds towards a bridge that is under construction, and slams on the brake; the gang's cars jump over the gap and lands on the other side, only to discover that they are trapped on an incomplete bridge section. After the gang is arrested, Daniel and Émilien are given medals by the police commissioner, and Émilien begins dating Petra. The film ends with Daniel competing at the French Grand Prix in a Formula 3000, sponsored by (to Daniel's dismay) the Marseille Police.

In 1971, a policeman pulls over Elmo McElroy, a recent college graduate with a degree, for driving under the influence of marijuana. Due to his arrest and conviction, McElroy cannot find work as a pharmacologist. In the present day, drug lord "the Lizard" calls a meeting of his colleagues, hoping to sell a new substance invented by Elmo. During the meeting, in a bid to escape from the Lizard's manipulation, Elmo blows up the building, killing everyone but the Lizard. Enraged, the Lizard contacts contract killer Dakota, who previously killed the only witness in a case against the Lizard. Dakota reluctantly accepts when the Lizard offers to clear her gambling debts and give her a $250,000 bonus. Felix DeSouza, a local " fixer " in Liverpool, has been sent by Leopold Durant, head of a local criminal organization, to collect Elmo from Manchester airport, in exchange for two tickets to a sold-out football match between Liverpool and Manchester United. En route to the airport, Felix enters a pub full of Manchester United supporters and antagonizes them before letting off a rocket flare inside; the United fans give chase but his friends rescue him in their car. Elmo lands in Manchester, is greeted by Felix and is taken to the meeting with Durant. At the meeting, Elmo pitches POS 51, a synthetic drug that can be produced with minimal facilities and is 51 times as potent as other drugs. A second opinion from Pudsey, Durant's chemist, confirms Elmo's claims, and Durant gives him over a million dollars in bonds. Since it is $18 million short of the agreed payment, Elmo refuses to sell. On a roof across the street, Dakota is about to shoot Elmo in the head when the Lizard calls cancelling the hit; not wanting to kill Elmo until he has the formula. Instead of killing Elmo, she is to kill anyone who meets with him. She ends up killing everyone but Durant, Elmo, and Felix, who is shot in the buttocks. As Elmo and Felix leave the hotel, skinheads who want the drug attack them. Elmo protects them with a golf club. Detective Virgil Kane and his partner Arthur arrive on the scene and give chase. They are soon lured into a game of chicken by Elmo, who escapes. Kane and Arthur return to the crime scene and Kane demands 50% of Durant's deal with McElroy. A miscommunication leads to Durant's death. Felix contacts a gun dealing club owner and drug distributor named Iki, promising him the formula for £20 million. As Elmo and Felix acquire the ingredients necessary for the drug's manufacture, all of which are over-the-counter products, the now-armed skinheads take them hostage. The skinheads claim they have a lab, though it turns out to be a broken-in animal testing facility. Elmo makes two batches of the drug; one blue and one red. Elmo claims that the red pill is the stronger version, and after he takes one, the skinheads try it. While they are partying, waiting for the effect of the drug, Elmo secretly spits out his red pill. He tells Felix it is a powerful laxative; Elmo and Felix leave after throwing rolls of toilet paper at the incapacitated skinheads. At Iki's rave club, Elmo initiates his deal and delivers the drug to the waiting crowd. Kane and the police interrupt the deal and arrest Felix. After appearing, Dakota reveals that her real name is Dawn and that she and Felix were domestic partners. She abducts Elmo, leaving with him via the roof. Elmo overpowers her, suspending her over the edge of the roof. Having no choice, she strikes a deal with him and they escape Kane. Meanwhile, Kane blackmails Felix during an interrogation and forces himself into the deal with Iki, which Felix sets up for him. Felix, Elmo and Dawn meet Iki in a private viewing box at the football match at Anfield. This time, the deal is interrupted by the Lizard, who kills Iki and demands the formula to POS 51. The Lizard celebrates with a drink, as Elmo reveals that the drug is a placebo and POS stands for Power of Suggestion. Kane interrupts them as Elmo's cocktail, an explosive ingested by the Lizard, takes effect, killing the Lizard. Kane is knocked unconscious and arrested by Arthur, while the main three exit unscathed. Dawn and Felix settle down together, and Elmo purchases the Scottish Highland castle of the Chief of Clan McElroy, while explains that he has spent the movie wearing a kilt with "the tartan of my slave master", but that Elmo now claims both the Castle and the Tartan as his own.

In the fictional town of Spurbury, Vermont, four Vermont state troopers patrol a 50-mile (80 km) section of highway and compete for prominence with the local police department. Although they are warned that their station risks being shuttered due to low productivity, the troopers – Lieutenant Arcot Ramathorn, "Rabbit" Roto, "Mac" Womack, and Carl Foster – delight in playing practical jokes on unsuspecting motorists and each other, rather than enforcing the law. They particularly enjoy tormenting fellow trooper Rodney Farva, a cocky and overzealous officer who has been suspended from the road for an incident involving a school bus and school children. The troopers, led by Captain John O'Hagen, are called to investigate an abandoned Winnebago off the highway, only to find the Spurbury police have already arrived. Entering the RV the police and troopers discover the body of a murdered woman. Claiming the investigation, the Spurbury police chief, Bruce Grady, hopes to force the closure of the troopers' station, thereby securing increased funding for his agency. The animosity leads to a brawl between the assembled officers. The troopers observe a tattoo on the dead woman depicting a monkey. During a routine traffic stop of a semi-truck shortly after, Foster and Womack discover a large shipment of marijuana marked with stickers depicting the same monkey. The troopers suspect the dead woman and the marijuana are related. However, Chief Grady laughs off the claim and refuses Captain O'Hagen's suggestion that the troopers and local police cooperate on the investigation. Foster begins a relationship with Spurbury police officer Ursula Hanson and, while attempting to have sex with her in the now-impounded Winnebago, discovers hidden bundles of marijuana, all bearing the same monkey sticker. Foster conspires with Ursula, who hates her coworkers and is stuck manning the front desk, to reveal the bust at an upcoming visit by the governor, thereby proving the troopers' suspicions and embarrassing the local police. Meanwhile, Farva is reinstated to patrol and partnered with an exasperated Ramathorn. However, Farva attacks a restaurant cashier and is arrested by the Spurbury police. Chief Grady offers Farva a job with his department in exchange for information about the drug investigation, but Farva refuses. Farva is subsequently reprimanded by an infuriated O'Hagen, who re-suspends Farva. The governor arrives in Spurbury; Ramathorn and Foster break into the police impound and steal the Winnebago, planning to reveal the marijuana discovered by Foster at a press conference. They barely make it in time, only to discover the marijuana has already been seized by the Spurbury police, with Chief Grady claiming credit. Foster accuses Ursula of revealing the location of the marijuana in exchange for a favorable assignment. Having nothing to show for their efforts, the state troopers expect their station to be shut down. Back at the station, the troopers find Farva dressed in a Spurbury police uniform; Foster realizes that it was Farva, not Ursula, who betrayed the location of the marijuana. The troopers, including Captain O'Hagen, handcuff Farva to a toilet and drunkenly vandalize Chief Grady's house. Ursula offers to help the troopers get back at Grady and tips them off to intercept a drug-running truck. As they attempt to pursue it, the troopers encounter an escaped Farva, who holds them at gunpoint and berates them for not taking him seriously as a cop. O'Hagen intervenes and the troopers convince Farva to help them stop the drug smugglers. Following the truck to a nearby airfield, the troopers observe it being loaded with marijuana from a Canadian-marked plane. Chief Grady and several Spurbury officers then arrive, and the troopers realize that the local police are running protection for the smugglers. After creating a diversion, the troopers brawl with the Spurbury officers and smugglers, ultimately arresting them. Some days later, the governor sends Captain O'Hagen a letter thanking him for his efforts, but telling him the station will still be shut down. Three months later, Ramathorn and Rabbit, as deliverymen, find themselves bringing a keg of beer to a party hosted by underage college students they previously arrested. As the teenagers torment the seemingly powerless ex-troopers, they remove their deliverymen's uniforms to reveal that they are Spurbury police officers, having replaced their corrupt predecessors.