In 1961, the Men in Black (MIB) organization was founded after secretly making first contact with extraterrestrials. The MIB designates Earth as a neutral zone for alien refugees who live in secret among humans. Agents monitor alien activity and use memory-erasing neuralyzer devices to maintain secrecy. In 1997, MIB Agents K and D disrupt a border patrol operation at the Mexico–United States border to capture a Samurian named Mikey. When Mikey becomes violent, K uses a MIB gun to kill him and neuralyzes the patrol officers. D, feeling too old to continue, asks K to neuralyze him so he can retire. Soon after, NYPD officer James Darrell Edwards III apprehends a suspect, unaware that he is an alien. The alien warns of a coming threat before committing suicide. K, impressed by James' performance, recruits him into the MIB. After completing a series of tests, James becomes Agent J, and his previous identity is erased from public records. Meanwhile, a hostile alien known as a "Bug" crash-lands in upstate New York. The Bug kills a farmer named Edgar and uses his skin as a disguise. K and J, tipped off by a tabloid news article, question Edgar's wife. They learn that the Bug has killed two aliens who were living on Earth in disguise. Their bodies, along with their pet cat, are sent to a morgue overseen by coroner Laurel Weaver. At the morgue, the alien tells J and Laurel that "the galaxy is on Orion's Belt " before dying. After neuralyzing Laurel, K identifies the alien as Rosenberg, a prince from the Arquillian Empire. K and J visit Frank the Pug, an alien informant, who explains that Rosenberg was protecting a miniature galaxy. The galaxy is a powerful energy source that the Bug wants to use to destroy the Arquillians. An Arquillian warship soon arrives in Earth's orbit and demands that the MIB return the galaxy, or they will destroy the Earth. J and the Bug both realize the galaxy is on the collar of Rosenberg's cat, Orion, which is now with Laurel. The Bug captures her and swallows the galaxy. As the Arquillians prepare to destroy Earth to stop the Bug, the MIB locks down all transportation. J guesses the Bug will head to the New York State Pavilion, where the MIB hid flying saucers during the 1964-65 World's Fair. At the site, the Bug tries to escape with Laurel, but she briefly breaks free. K and J shoot down the ship, which crash-lands in Corona Park. The Bug sheds his human skin, revealing his true form and swallowing the agents' weapons. K allows himself to be eaten so he can retrieve his weapon from inside. J distracts the Bug until K shoots the Bug apart from within. Laurel uses J's gun to finish the Bug off. After returning the galaxy to the Arquillians, K reveals that he was training J to take his place. J neuralyzes him so he can retire. Later, J continues his work with Laurel, who has joined the MIB as Agent L.

Lawrence Jamieson is a sophisticated and affluent British con artist operating in the town of Beaumont-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. Aided by his manservant Arthur and amoral police official Andre, Lawrence seduces wealthy women and cons them for high-value sums by posing as an exiled prince raising money for his country's freedom fighters. While returning from a trip to Zurich, Lawrence encounters Freddy Benson, an unsophisticated American hustler who brags of conning women out of relatively meager amounts with stories of his sick grandmother. After Freddy inadvertently interferes with Lawrence's latest target, Lawrence tricks him into leaving town. However, after meeting one of Lawrence's former victims and realizing Lawrence is a fellow con artist, Freddy returns and blackmails Lawrence into training him. Lawrence teaches Freddy his refined style of deception—with limited success—and develops a new con in which Freddy portrays his mentally disabled brother to drive away women once Lawrence has their money. Freddy quits after Lawrence refuses to pay him a portion of the ill-gotten gains. Unwilling to share his territory with Freddy, the pair agree to a bet: the first to con $50,000 from a selected victim wins and the other leaves town. They choose newly-arrived tourist, the naive "United States Soap Queen" Janet Colgate. Lawrence attempts his usual con but Freddy intervenes, posing as a U.S. Navy veteran and psychosomatic parapalegic who needs $50,000 for treatment from psychiatrist Dr. Emil Schaffhausen. In response, Lawrence poses as Schaffhausen and agrees to treat Freddy if Janet pays him $50,000 directly. The pair compete for Janet's attention, with Lawrence tormenting Freddy under the guise of treatment, and Freddy manipulating her with a fake suicide attempt. One night, in a club, Lawrence dances with Janet and taunts Freddy which upsets some nearby British sailors. Freddy convinces them that Lawrence stole Janet from him and the sailors agree to Shanghai Lawrence. Later, Lawrence learns that Janet is not wealthy—having won her holiday and title in a soap company competition—yet has liquidated all of her assets to help Freddy. Touched by her genuine kindness and generosity, and adhering to his personal code of never taking advantage of the poor or virtuous, Lawrence calls off the bet. Freddy counters with a new bet: the first to seduce Janet wins. Lawrence refuses to participate but agrees that if Freddy succeeds, he wins. After Lawrence is abducted by the sailors, Freddy returns to Janet's hotel room and demonstrates his "love" for her by walking. Lawrence, who is also in the room, declares Freddy cured, having appeased the sailors by revealing his status as a Royal Naval Reserve officer. He leaves Freddy with the sailors who haze him until the morning while Lawrence puts Janet on an airplane home. However, Janet returns to her hotel room to find Freddy waiting and declares her love for him. Andre informs Lawrence who prepares to accept his defeat until Janet arrives at Lawrence's villa in tears, revealing that Freddy stole the $50,000 she had collected for him. Lawrence gifts her a bag containing $50,000 of his own money and returns her to the airport, instructing Andre to arrest Freddy. Before her plane departs, Janet returns the bag to Lawrence, saying she cannot accept it. Andre arrives with Freddy who claims that Janet stole his wallet and clothes. Lawrence opens the bag and finds the money replaced with a note revealing that Janet is the Jackal, a prominent American con artist. Freddy is furious but Lawrence takes delight in having been so skillfully deceived. A week later, Freddy and Lawrence contemplate their loss at Lawrence's villa. A group of wealthy tourists arrive led by Janet, who is posing as a high-value real estate agent. While the tourists head to the villa, Janet tells Lawrence and Freddy that, while she made millions in the last year, taking their money was the most fun. Lawrence and Freddy assume their roles in Janet's plot as the trio prepares to scam their latest victims.

In the fall of 1959, Todd Anderson begins his junior year of high school at Welton Academy, an Episcopal all-male preparatory boarding school in Vermont. He is assigned one of Welton's top students, Neil Perry, as his roommate, and meets Neil's friends: Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, Gerard Pitts, and Charlie Dalton. On the first day of classes, the boys meet their new English teacher, John Keating, a Welton alumnus who studied English literature at the University of Cambridge. Keating teaches them the Latin expression carpe diem, encouraging them to "seize the day". During his classes, he has the students take turns standing on his desk to demonstrate ways to look at life differently, tells them to rip out the introduction of their poetry books that explains a mathematical formula for rating poetry, and invites them to make up their own style of walking in a courtyard to form their individualism. These unusual methods attract the attention of strict headmaster, Gale Nolan. Upon learning that Keating had been a member of the unofficial Dead Poets Society during his time as a student, Neil restarts the club. He and his friends sneak off campus to a cave to read poetry. Keating's lessons and the conversations in the club encourage them to live on their own terms. Knox pursues Chris Noel, a cheerleader who is dating Chet Danburry, a football player whose family is friends with his. Neil discovers his love of acting and wins the role of Puck in a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream despite the disapproval of his authoritarian father, who wants him to attend medical school. Keating helps Todd come out of his shell when he takes him through an exercise in self-expression, resulting in his spontaneous composition of a poem in front of the class. Charlie publishes an article in the school newspaper on behalf of the Dead Poets Society recommending that girls be admitted to Welton. In response, Nolan paddles Charlie, attempting to force him to reveal the names of the other members of the Dead Poets Society; Charlie refuses. Keating gently admonishes him, advising the boys that one must assess all potential consequences of one's actions. On the eve of the play's opening performance, Neil's father discovers his involvement and demands that he quit. Neil performs in the play, but his father retaliates by telling him he plans to withdraw him from Welton and enroll him in Braden Military School in preparation for Harvard Medical School. Lacking support from his mother and unable to explain his feelings to his father, a devastated Neil commits suicide. At Neil's parents' request, Nolan investigates his death. Cameron shifts blame onto Keating to avoid punishment for his role in the Dead Poets Society, and he names the other members of the group. Charlie punches him for his betrayal and is expelled. Each of the boys is called to Nolan's office to sign a letter confirming Cameron's false allegations. Todd reluctantly signs under his parents' pressure, and Keating is fired. Nolan takes over Keating's English class. As Keating interrupts the class to gather his belongings, Todd confesses that the boys were pressured into signing the letter that led to his dismissal. Keating assures Todd that he believes him. Nolan threatens to expel Todd and anyone else who speaks out of line. Despite the threat, Todd stands up on his desk and says, " O Captain! My Captain! ". Several other members of the Dead Poets Society, along with several classmates, follow suit. Touched by their support, Keating proudly thanks the boys and departs.

A medical breakthrough in the 1950s has, by the late 1960s, extended human lifespan beyond 100 years. In 1978, the young Kathy H, along with her friends Tommy D and Ruth C, spent their childhood at Hailsham, a traditional boarding school. The teachers, called guardians, encourage students to be health-conscious and create artwork, the best of which is accepted into The Gallery run by the mysterious Madame. They have little contact with the world beyond the school fences. Miss Lucy, a new guardian, tells her class they exist to be organ donors and are destined to die, or complete, early in their adulthoods; she is fired by the headmistress, Miss Emily. Kathy grows attracted to Tommy, but Ruth wins him for herself despite having teased him. Seven years later, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, now young adults, are rehoused in the Cottages on a farm. They are allowed to drive on day trips, but remain reclusive, lacking social skills and resigned to their fate. They meet others from similar schools who claim that Hailsham students are privileged, and it is revealed that they are all clones. They discuss rumours of organ donations deferrals that might be granted to clones in love, and the nature of the people they were cloned from, whom they unsuccessfully search for in books and out at the seaside. Tommy, still partnered with Ruth, is convinced that The Gallery serves as verification for deferrals since artwork reveals the soul, and he laments his lack of creativity. Ruth spites a lonely Kathy, claiming that Tommy never thought of her as more than a friend. Kathy leaves, enlisting as a post-operative carer for fellow clones. Nine years on, Kathy has watched many donors gradually die as their organs are harvested. Having not seen Ruth or Tommy since she left the Cottages, she comes across Ruth, frail after two donations. They seek out Tommy to make a nostalgic seaside trip. Ruth reveals that she only seduced Tommy because she was afraid to be alone; she is consumed with guilt and wishes to help Tommy and Kathy seek a deferral. She leaves them with the address of Madame, whom she believes has the power to help them, and later dies on the operating table. Kathy and Tommy enter a relationship, and Tommy explains to Kathy, now his carer, that he has been creating artwork in the hope of earning their deferral. The couple bring it to Madame, but she remains distant, and invites Miss Emily to speak. They reveal that deferrals are indeed a myth, and that the gallery was created to affirm the basic humanity of clones as an appeal for their ethical treatment. Hailsham, now shut down, was the last institution to value young clones as "all but human". Kathy and Tommy leave in silence, but Tommy explodes with grief and anger mid-journey, as he used to as a child. Tommy dies on his fourth donation, leaving Kathy alone as hers begin. Contemplating the ruins of her childhood, she questions in voice-over how different her life has been from that of normal people.

Young USAC racer Cole Trickle is recruited by Chevrolet dealership tycoon Tim Daland to race for his team in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, bringing former crew chief and car builder Harry Hogge out of retirement to lead Cole's pit crew (Harry had left NASCAR a year prior to avoid investigation involving the death of driver Buddy Bretherton). After Cole sets a fast time in a private test at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Harry builds him a new chassis and hires him onto his team. Cole makes his first start at Phoenix, where he has difficulty adjusting to the larger NASCAR stock cars and communicating with his crew, while being intimidated on the track by Winston Cup Champion and dirty driver Rowdy Burns; these obstacles, combined with numerous crashes and blown engines, prevent Cole from finishing the next three races at Bristol, Dover, and Rockingham. Cole confesses to Harry that he does not understand any common NASCAR terminology, leading Harry to put him through rigorous training. This pays off at Darlington, when Cole uses a slingshot maneuver from the outside line to overtake Rowdy and win his first race. The rivalry between Cole and Rowdy intensifies throughout the season until the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, where both drivers are seriously injured after being caught in a massive crash. Recovering in Daytona Beach, Cole develops a romantic relationship with Dr. Claire Lewicki, a doctor at a local hospital. NASCAR President Big John brings Rowdy and Cole together in a meeting and warns them that he and his sport will no longer tolerate any misbehavior from the two rivals. The two bitter rivals soon become close friends after having dinner and settling their differences by smashing rental cars in a race on the beach, per Big John's persuasion. Daland hires another hotshot rookie, Russ Wheeler, to fill Cole's seat until Cole returns, and then expands his team, with Daland now fielding two cars – the second car driven by Russ, despite Harry's disapproval. Though Cole shows signs of his old self, he falls into a new rivalry with Russ, leading to an engine failure at Atlanta. Daland offers no help to Cole or his crew, as he is defensive of his newest driver. At North Wilkesboro, Russ blocks Cole's path during their pit stop, and later forces Cole into the outside wall on the last lap to win the race. Cole retaliates by crashing into Russ' car after the race, leading to a fight between Harry, Daland, and both of Cole and Russ's pit crews, with Daland firing both Cole and Harry in the process. Rowdy learns he has to undergo brain surgery to fix a broken blood vessel, and asks Cole to drive his car at the Daytona 500 so his sponsor will pay for the year. Cole reluctantly agrees and convinces Harry to return as his crew chief. Hours prior to the race, Harry discovers metal in the oil pan, a sign of engine failure, and manages to procure a new engine from Daland, who still believes in his former driver's promise. During the race, Cole's car is spun out by Russ and suffers a malfunctioning transmission, but the combined efforts of Harry's and Daland's pit crews manage to fix the problem and get Cole back on the lead lap. On the final lap, Russ predicts that Cole will attempt his signature slingshot maneuver from outside, but Cole tricks him with a crossover, overtaking him from the inside to win his first Daytona 500. Cole drives into Victory Lane, where he and his pit crew celebrate with Claire. He approaches Harry, sitting alone, who is impressed by Cole's performance. Cole asks Harry to walk with him and Harry agrees, challenging him to a foot race to Victory Lane.

New York prizefighter Terry Malloy's career was cut short when he purposely lost a fight at the request of mob boss Johnny Friendly. Terry now works for Friendly's labor union as a longshoreman while his older, more educated brother Charley is Friendly's right-hand man. Terry is coerced into luring fellow worker Joey Doyle onto a rooftop, where he believes Friendly's henchmen want to talk Joey out of testifying to the Waterfront Crime Commission. When they instead murder Joey by throwing him off the roof, Terry confronts Friendly, but is threatened and bribed into acquiescence. Joey's sister Edie and priest Father Barry try to inspire the dockworkers to stand up to Friendly. Terry attends the meeting as a snitch, but when it is violently broken up by Friendly's men, he helps Edie escape and misses Father Barry convincing one worker to testify. After the testimony, the worker is killed in a staged workplace accident. Terry's unwillingness to testify is softened by his growing feelings for Edie, and her and Father Barry’s pursuit of justice. He confesses his role in Joey's death to both. Shocked by this, Edie distances herself from him. Friendly sends Charley with a job offer to keep Terry quiet. Knowing refusal will get Terry killed, Charley urges him to comply. When Terry expresses regret about throwing his best fight and blames Charley for setting up the fix, Charley hands him a gun and tells him to run. Terry finds Edie and they kiss. After hearing someone in the street, they find Charley murdered. Determined to kill Friendly, Terry is convinced by Father Barry to instead testify in court. Following the hearing, Friendly loses his powerful connections and faces indictment. When he is excluded from the next hiring call at the harbor, Terry confronts Friendly together with the other workers, saying that he is proud of testifying and no longer betraying himself. After seeing Terry get beaten severely by Friendly’s thugs, the longshoremen refuse to work without him and renounce Friendly, wishing to run the union "on the up-and-up". Encouraged by Edie and Father Barry, Terry stumbles to the warehouse. The men follow him inside and the door closes, leaving Friendly outside, ignored by the workers and shippers.

The film opens with a montage of pollution, which, as implied by the narrator, is the cause of a virulent new disease arising in Asia, a virus that strikes all members of the grass family, including wheat, rice, and maize. It spreads to Africa, Europe and South America, bringing starvation, anarchy and cannibalism in its wake. Hundreds of millions die. The Chinese use nerve gas on their own population, killing 300 million, in their desperate attempts to survive. A year after the start of the disaster, John Custance, his family and his daughter Mary's boyfriend, scientist Roger Burnham, leave London during rioting just before roadblocks are set up. They head for his brother David's farm in the north. They stop at Mr. Sturdevant's shop to obtain firearms. When Sturdevant refuses to sell them any without the proper permits, John and Roger overpower him, but are held at gunpoint by his assistant, Andrew Pirrie. However, when John explains the situation to Pirrie, he shoots his employer, and he and his wife Clara join them. To get past an Army roadblock, they are forced to shoot three soldiers. Later, the party become separated when Roger and Pirrie race each other in their cars. John's car is stopped by a gate at a train crossing. He is knocked out, and his wife and 16-year-old daughter are taken away and raped by three men. John and the others find them and shoot two of the men, but one gets away. Later, they are stopped by vigilantes guarding their settlement and robbed of everything useful, including their vehicles and guns. Fortunately, they are only 50 miles (80 km) away from their goal. Now on foot, they come upon an isolated farmhouse. They kill the farmer and his wife and take their guns. While staying in an abandoned factory Pirrie's wife Clara attempts to seduce John and is shot by her husband. Mary and Pirrie become close, as Mary believes Pirrie can protect her. Next, they encounter a larger group trudging the other way. John offers to take them along to his brother's easily protected valley. Their leader objects and goes for his gun, so Pirrie shoots him. The others decide to join John's party. As they walk beside a road, a motorcycle gang rides by. John's wife Ann recognizes one of them as the escaped rapist. The armed gang mount a series of mounted attacks, but are killed in the ensuing gun battle, as are some of John's people. When they finally reach David's place, they see that it is well protected by a stone wall and a machine gun. David tells John privately that he cannot let such a large number of people in – the valley cannot feed so many – and suggests John sneak away from his group in the night with his family and Roger. Instead, John mounts a night attack. Pirrie shoots David, who is manning the machine gun, but is himself also killed. The attack is successful, and John takes charge of the valley.

In 1972, Russell Stevens Jr. witnesses his drug-addicted, alcoholic father getting shot and killed while robbing a liquor store. Traumatized by his father's death, Stevens swears that he will never end up like him. Nineteen years later, Stevens is a Cincinnati police officer. He is recruited by DEA Special Agent Gerald Carver to go undercover in Los Angeles, claiming that his criminal-like character traits will serve him better in this capacity than they would as a uniformed cop. Stevens poses as drug dealer "John Hull" in order to infiltrate and work his way up the network of the West Coast 's largest drug importer, Anton Gallegos, and his uncle Hector Guzmán, a South American politician. Stevens relocates to a cheap hotel and begins dealing cocaine. One day, Stevens is arrested by the devoutly religious LAPD Narcotics Detective Taft and his corrupt partner, Hernández, as he buys a kilogram in a set-up by Eddie Dudley, Gallegos's low-level street supplier. At his arraignment, Stevens discovers that he bought baby laxative instead of cocaine and his case is dismissed. His self-appointed attorney David Jason, who is also a drug trafficker in Gallegos's network, rewards Stevens's silence with more cocaine and introduces him to Felix Barbosa, the underboss to Gallegos. Felix kills Eddie when he finds out he's working with the LAPD and enlists Stevens as his replacement. Stevens develops a romance with Betty McCutcheon, the manager of an art dealership which is a front to launder Jason's drug money. When one of Stevens's dealers is murdered by a rival dealer, he is informed by Jason that if he doesn't retaliate, other street dealers will view it as a sign of weakness and in turn murder him. Stevens follows the rival dealer to a nightclub, corners him in a bathroom and kills him. Jason then partners with Stevens in his new business: distribution of a synthetic chemical variant of cocaine. It is revealed that Felix is a confidential informant working with Hernández. After a falling out, Jason becomes more sadistic, and Stevens correctly deduces that Felix wants Jason killed to eliminate his competition. Felix immediately gives up Stevens, Jason and Betty to Hernández, and wants Jason killed during the arrest. Carver knows about this but refuses to interfere, forcing Stevens to violate orders and stop the murder himself by exposing Felix, which results in a vengeful Jason killing him. The killing results in Betty reneging on the drug business, with Stevens's protection. Gallegos comes to meet with Stevens and Jason, informing them that they have inherited Felix's debts to him. Later that day, Stevens meets with Carver to tell him about his meeting with Gallegos. Instead, Carver pulls a gun on Stevens and orders him to surrender his weapon and get in his car. Angrily, Stevens disarms Carver and forces him to admit that the State Department has decided to leave Gallegos alone because Guzmán may someday be useful as a political asset to them; Carver has decided to play along in exchange for career advancement. Disillusioned, Stevens abandons his undercover status and vows to take down Gallegos and Guzmán alone. Stevens and Jason learn that Gallegos is going to kill them anyway, so they kill him first and steal a van storing over $100 million in cash. They then invite Guzmán to a shipyard and offer to return 80% of Gallegos's money if he agrees to invest the remaining 20% in their synthetic cocaine operation. Taft, who has been tailing Stevens, interrupts the deal and has his gun taken by Guzmán’s men. Since he is unable to arrest Guzmán because of his diplomatic immunity, Guzmán leaves. Taft orders Stevens to surrender but is shot by Jason after attempting to brandish his backup weapon, forcing Stevens to reveal himself as a police officer as he tries to radio in for an ambulance to help Taft. Stevens tries to reason with Jason as the latter tries to convince him to just take the money and go rogue. Jason shoots Taft in the chest, killing him. Throwing all reason out of the window and seeing no other alternative, Stevens attempts to arrest Jason. When Jason shoots at him, a tearful Stevens returns fire and kills Jason in self-defense as the cops arrive. Afterward, Carver coerces Stevens into testifying in favor of him and the DEA in return for not charging Betty with money laundering. He produces a videotape of the incriminating conversation with Guzmán at the shipyard during his testimony to the House Judiciary Subcommittee, ruining the State Department's intentions along with Guzmán and Carver's careers. Later, he contemplates what to do with the $11 million of Gallegos's money he secretly kept.

Rancher Cole Hillman seeks the help of college president Elgin Clark to combat thousands of rabbits that have invaded the area after their natural predators, coyotes, were killed off. Elgin asks for the assistance of researchers Roy and Gerry Bennett because they respect Cole's wish to avoid using cyanide to poison the rabbits. Roy proposes using hormones to disrupt the rabbits' breeding cycle and takes some rabbits for experimentation. One is injected with a new serum believed to cause birth defects. However, the Bennetts' daughter Amanda loves the injected rabbit, so she switches it with one from the control group. Amanda is then given the injected rabbit as a pet, but it soon escapes. While inspecting the rabbits' old burrowing areas, Cole and the Bennetts find a large, unusual animal track. Meanwhile, Cole's son Jackie and Amanda go to a gold mine to visit Jackie's friend Billy, but find him missing. Jackie finds more of the animal tracks in Billy's shed, while Amanda goes into the mine and runs into an enormous rabbit with blood on its face. Screaming in terror, she runs from the mine. Mutilated bodies begin to crop up around town, including those of Billy, a truck driver, and a family of four. Elgin, the Bennetts, Cole, and Cole's two ranch hands Frank and Jud go to the mine to try to kill the rabbits with explosives. As Elgin and Frank set charges on top of the mine, Roy and Cole enter the shaft to get pictorial evidence. Outside, a rabbit surfaces and attacks Jud before Gerry can shoot it. Roy and Cole escape the rabbits in the mine and run outside as the explosives are detonated. The explosives fail to kill the rabbits, and that night they attack Cole's ranch, killing Jud while Cole, Frank, Jackie, and Cole's housekeeper Dorothy escape into the storm shelter. The rabbits make their way to the general store, killing shopkeeper Mildred and eating and killing everyone else they find in the small town of Galanos before taking refuge in the buildings for the day. In the morning, Gerry and Amanda leave to avoid the coming press, but get stuck along a sandy stretch of road. Roy and Elgin update Sheriff Cody on the situation and, after realizing the rabbits have escaped the mine, call in the National Guard. As night falls, the rabbits leave Galanos to continue their rampage, making their way to the main town of Ajo and eating and killing everyone in their path. Cole proposes using a half-mile wide stretch of electrified railroad track as a fence to contain and kill the rabbits. They recruit a large group of people at a drive-in theater to help herd the rabbits with their car lights, with assistance from the machine gun fire of the National Guard. Thousands of rabbits make their way into the trap, where they are shot and electrocuted. At the film's ending, Cole tells Roy that normal rabbits, as well as coyotes, have returned to the ranch.

Dave Kovic runs a temporary employment agency in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and, as a side job, capitalizes on his remarkable resemblance to President Bill Mitchell by comically impersonating him at events. Secret Service agent Duane Stevenson recruits him to impersonate Mitchell after a speech, ostensibly as a security precaution, but actually to allow Mitchell to meet Randi, a White House staffer with whom he is having an affair. Dave's appearance goes well, but Mitchell suffers a major stroke while having sex with Randi. His Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander, is inspired to ask Dave to continue in his role. Bob's scheme is to force Vice President Gary Nance to resign by embroiling him in a savings and loan scandal; then Dave, acting as Mitchell, will appoint Bob vice president; then Dave will fake a more serious stroke and Bob will become president. Communications Director Alan Reed is initially hesitant, but eventually acquiesces and tells the press corps the stroke was minor. Claiming that Nance is mentally unstable, Bob and Alan convince Dave he must continue impersonating Mitchell for the good of the country. Meanwhile, Nance is sent on a goodwill tour of Africa. Dave's charm and enthusiasm improves Mitchell's image and popularity. First Lady Ellen Mitchell, who has been estranged from her husband for years, initially suspects nothing and treats Dave with contempt on the few occasions they see each other. When she sees Dave's empathy towards a shy boy at a homeless shelter for which she is a staunch advocate, she begins to soften towards him. Her fury returns, though, after Bob forges Mitchell's signature on the veto of a bill that included funding for the shelter. Dave, after consulting his accountant friend Murray Blum, works with the Cabinet to restore the funding through a series of cuts and reinvestments. A furious Bob threatens to destroy Dave, but Alan vows to expose their scheme if he does and all three of them will end up in jail. Ellen, having witnessed Dave's considerable efforts to save the shelter, tricks him into admitting he is an impostor and asks to see her husband. Dave has Duane escort them to a secret hospital room beneath the White House, where Mitchell remains in a coma. They are told he will not recover. They both resolve to leave the White House, but after spending a night out alone together, they begin to fall in love. Ellen tells Dave she has gone along with the charade of a happy marriage because she thought that as First Lady, she could help people. Dave tells her he wishes he could. The next day, Dave, still as Mitchell, calls a press conference, making Bob furious that Dave is no longer obeying him. Dave fires Bob, who in turn tries to fire him, but Dave dares Bob to tell the press about the switch. At the press conference, Dave announces both his firing of Bob and a monumental plan to provide a job to every American who wants one. Nance returns from Africa and confronts Dave for trying to frame him for crimes of which Bob and the real Mitchell are actually guilty. In retaliation against Dave, Bob reveals evidence implicating Mitchell in the scandal, which Alan admits is true. Despite talk of impeachment, Dave refuses to back off his jobs plan, while Bob quietly begins to garner support for a presidential run. During a joint session of Congress, Dave admits that Bob's allegations are true and produces proof, provided by Alan, that shows that Bob was the scandal's mastermind, and that Nance is innocent. After Dave apologizes to Nance and the country, he fakes another stroke; switching places with Mitchell, he resumes his previous life. The hospital pronounces the "second" stroke as major, and Mitchell continues to lie in a coma for five more months before dying. As acting president and then president, Nance backs the jobs plan, which becomes law. Bob and several Mitchell administration officials are indicted, but not Alan, who now serves under Nance. Dave runs for the D.C. city council with the help of Murray and his employment agency staff. Dave is surprised one day when Ellen visits. To the shock of his staff, he escorts her into his office, where they share their first kiss. Dave closes the shades to give them privacy and Duane, wearing one of Dave's campaign buttons, steps in front of the door.

Henri Charrière is a safecracker nicknamed "Papillon" because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest. In France, he is wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp in 1933 and is sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana. On the way, he meets a fellow convict, Louis Dega, an infamous forger and embezzler. Papillon offers to protect Dega if he will fund the former's escape once they reach Guiana. Enduring the horrors of life in a jungle labour camp, the two become friends. One day, Papillon defends Dega from a sadistic guard and escapes into the jungle but is captured and sentenced to two years in solitary confinement. In gratitude, Dega has extra food smuggled to Papillon. When the smuggling is discovered, the warden screens Papillon's cell in darkness for six months and halves his rations, but Papillon refuses to give up Dega's name. He is eventually released and sent to the infirmary in St-Laurent-du-Maroni to recover. Papillon sees Dega again and asks him to arrange for another escape attempt. Dega helps him meet an inmate doctor who offers to secure a boat on the outside with the help of a man named Pascal. Fellow prisoner Clusiot and a gay orderly named André Maturette join the escape plot. During the escape, Clusiot is knocked unconscious by a guard. Dega subdues the guard and reluctantly joins Papillon and Maturette, climbing the walls to the outside. The trio meet Pascal, and they escape into the night. In the jungle the next day, Pascal delivers the prisoners to their boat, but after he leaves, the convicts discover it is fake. They encounter a local trapper who has killed the bounty hunters waiting for them. He guides the three to a leper colony, where they obtain supplies and a seaworthy boat. The trio lands in Colombia and are accosted by a group of soldiers, who wound Maturette. He is captured along with Dega, while Papillon evades the soldiers and lives for a long period with a native tribe. He awakens one morning to find them gone, leaving him with a small sack of pearls. Papillon pays a nun to take him to her convent, where he asks the Mother Superior for refuge, but instead, she turns him over to the authorities. Papillon is returned to French Guiana and sentenced to another five years of solitary confinement. He emerges a graying old man, along with Maturette, whom he sees just before the latter dies. Papillon is moved to the remote Devil's Island, where he reunites with Dega, now a farmer who has long given up hope of being released. From a high cliff, Papillon observes a cove where he realizes the waves are powerful enough to carry a man out to sea and to the nearby mainland. Papillon persuades Dega to join him in another escape, and the men make two floats from bagged-up coconuts. Dega then decides not to escape and begs Papillon not to either. Papillon embraces Dega, then leaps from the cliff and is carried out to sea. A narrator states that Papillon lived the rest of his life a free man, while the prison was closed some time before he died and ultimately reclaimed by nature.

In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee's father Lee Hoi-chuen awakens from a nightmare about a phantom, known as the Demon, haunting his young son. He subsequently enrolls him in Chinese martial arts training with instructor Yip Man. As a young adult, Bruce fights British sailors who are harassing a young Chinese woman. As a result, he must flee Hong Kong. His father insists he go to the US. In the US, Bruce works as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant until he gets in a brawl with four of the cooks. The restaurant owner Gussie Yang fires him but also lends him money and encourages him to go to college. While studying philosophy in college, Bruce begins to teach martial arts classes, where he meets Linda, a white American. Bruce marries Linda in defiance of her racist mother, Vivian. Linda suggests Bruce establish a martial arts school, but his Chinese peers demand he train only Chinese people. When Bruce refuses, they challenge him to settle the matter in combat. Bruce defeats a challenger named Johnny Sun in a secret, no-holds-barred match but Johnny attacks Bruce after he has admitted defeat, and Bruce sustains a debilitating back injury. While Bruce is temporarily paralyzed, Linda helps him write the martial arts book Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Linda gives birth to their first child, Brandon, and the couple reconcile with her mother. Some months later, during a martial arts tournament run by Ed Parker, Johnny challenges Bruce to a rematch. Bruce defeats and humiliates Johnny, earning the respect of the audience. Bruce is unaware that Johnny becomes crippled from his injuries in the fight. After the match, Bill Krieger, who later becomes Bruce's manager, offers him the role of Kato in the television series The Green Hornet. Bruce and Krieger also create the idea for the television series Kung Fu, agreeing that Bruce will feature in the lead role. At a cast party, Linda says she is pregnant with their second child, Shannon. Shortly afterwards, the cancellation of The Green Hornet is announced. Kung Fu later makes it to television but much to Bruce's frustration, it stars the white actor David Carradine. Bruce believes Krieger has betrayed him. Bruce returns to Hong Kong for his father's funeral. Philip Tan, a Hong Kong film producer, hires Bruce to star in the film The Big Boss. During the filming of the final scene, Johnny's brother Luke attacks Bruce in revenge for Johnny's humiliating defeat and subsequent disability; Bruce narrowly wins the fight. The Big Boss is a success and Bruce makes several more films, working as an actor, director, writer and editor. This causes a rift between Bruce and Linda, as Linda wishes to return to the US. Krieger offers Bruce a chance to work on a big-budget Hollywood film, to which Bruce agrees, partly because of Linda's wish to return home. On the 32nd day of filming Enter the Dragon, during the "room of mirrors" sequence, Bruce has a terrifying vision of the Demon that has haunted his and his father's dreams. This time, after being beaten and then shown his own grave, Bruce sees his son urging Bruce to save him. The Demon pursues Brandon, spurring Bruce to fight back, save Brandon and break the Demon's neck with a pair of Nunchaku. Bruce later films another scene from Enter the Dragon, the film that would make him an international star. In a voice-over, Linda tells the audience Bruce fell into a mysterious coma and died shortly before the film's release and says while many people want to talk about how he died, she prefers to remember how he lived.