In the year 10,191, the known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. The most valuable substance in the empire is the spice melange, which extends life and expands consciousness. The spice also allows the Spacing Guild to fold space, allowing safe, instantaneous interstellar travel. The Guild's leader demands Shaddam clarify a conspiracy that could jeopardize spice production. Shaddam reveals that he has transferred power and control of the planet Arrakis, the only source of the spice, to House Atreides from their archenemies, House Harkonnen. However, once the Atreides arrive, the Harkonnens will eliminate them with aide from Shaddam's own Sardaukar troops. Shaddam fears the Atreides due to reports of a secret army that they are amassing. Lady Jessica, the concubine of Duke Leto Atreides, is an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit, an exclusive sisterhood with advanced physical and mental abilities. As part of a centuries-long breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, a mental "superbeing" whom the Bene Gesserit would use to their advantage, Jessica was ordered to bear a daughter but disobeyed and bore a son, Paul Atreides. Paul is tested by Reverend Mother Mohiam to assess his impulse control and, to her surprise, passes the test. The Atreides leave their homeworld Caladan for Arrakis, a barren desert planet populated by gigantic sandworms. The native people of Arrakis, the Fremen, prophesy that a messiah will lead them to freedom and paradise. Duncan Idaho, one of Leto's loyalists, tells him that he suspects Arrakis holds vast numbers of Fremen who could prove to be powerful allies. Before Leto can form an alliance with the Fremen, the Harkonnen launch their attack. Leto's personal physician who is also secretly a Harkonnen double-agent, Dr. Wellington Yueh, disables the shields, leaving the Atreides defenseless. Idaho is killed, Leto is captured, and nearly the entire House of Atreides is wiped out by the Harkonnen. Baron Harkonnen orders Mentat Piter De Vries to kill Yueh with a poisoned blade. Leto dies in a failed attempt to assassinate the Baron using a poison-gas tooth implanted by Yueh in exchange for sparing the lives of Jessica and Paul, killing Piter instead. Paul and Jessica survive the attack and escape into the deep desert, where they are given sanctuary by a sietch of Fremen. Paul assumes the Fremen name Muad'Dib and emerges as the messiah for whom the Fremen have been waiting. He teaches them to use Weirding Modules —sonic weapons developed by House Atreides—and targets spice mining. Over the next two years, spice production is nearly halted due to Paul's raids. The Spacing Guild informs the Emperor of the deteriorating situation on Arrakis. Paul falls in love with young Fremen warrior Chani. Jessica becomes the Fremen's Reverend Mother by ingesting the Water of Life, a deadly poison, which she renders harmless by using her Bene Gesserit abilities. As an after-effect of this ritual, Jessica's unborn child, Alia, later emerges from the womb with the full powers of an adult Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. In a prophetic dream, Paul learns of the plot by the Emperor and the Guild to kill him. When Paul's dreams suddenly stop, he drinks the Water of Life and has a profound psychedelic trip in the desert. He gains powerful psychic abilities and the ability to control the sandworms, which he realizes are the spice's source. The Emperor amasses a huge invasion fleet above Arrakis to wipe out the Fremen and regain control of the planet. He has the Baron's older nephew Glossu "The Beast" Rabban beheaded and summons the Baron to explain why spice mining has stopped. Paul launches a final attack against the Harkonnen and the Emperor's Sardaukar at Arrakeen, the capital city. Riding atop sandworms and brandishing sonic weapons, Paul's Fremen warriors easily defeat the Emperor's legions. Alia assassinates the Baron while Paul confronts the Emperor and fights the Baron's younger nephew Feyd-Rautha in a duel to the death. After killing Feyd, Paul demonstrates his newfound powers and fulfills the Fremen prophecy by causing rain to fall on Arrakis. Alia declares him to be the Kwisatz Haderach.

The Ark spacecraft escapes from the planet Cybertron carrying an invention capable of ending the war between Autobots and Decepticons, and crash-lands on the dark side of Earth's Moon in 1962. NASA detects the crash, and President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to put a man on the Moon as a cover for investigating the spacecraft. In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and secretly inspects the Ark before returning to Earth. In the present day, three years after the battle of Egypt, the Autobots assist humanity in preventing major conflicts. During a mission to the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster to investigate suspected alien technology, the Autobots are attacked by Decepticon scientist Shockwave and his giant worm Driller. After the two escape, Optimus Prime discovers that the technology is a fuel cell from the Ark. The Autobots travel to the Moon and discover Sentinel Prime, the Autobots' leader before Optimus, in a comatose state along with five Pillars he created as a means of establishing a "Space Bridge", a wormhole able to teleport matter between two points. On Earth, Optimus uses the energy of the Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel. Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky lives with his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer, but is unable to work with the Autobots. At his new job, co-worker Jerry Wang gives him information about the Ark, before being assassinated by the Decepticon Laserbeak. Sam contacts Seymour Simmons to investigate the Decepticons' murders of people connected to the American and Soviet lunar space missions. They locate two surviving cosmonauts, who show photos of hundreds of Pillars on the Moon, and realize that the Decepticons raided the Ark long before the Apollo 11 mission and left Sentinel and the five Pillars for the Autobots to find, knowing that Sentinel was the key to activating the Pillars. Meanwhile, Sam and the Autobots fight off three pursuing Decepticons — Hatchet, Crankcase, and Crowbar — and return Sentinel to their base. Revealing that he made a deal with Megatron to ensure Cybertron's survival, Sentinel betrays the Autobots and kills Ironhide. Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the Moon to Earth. Dylan Gould, Carly's boss, is revealed to be working with the Decepticons, and captures Carly with the help of Soundwave, who was disguised as Carly's car. At the demand of the Decepticons, the Autobots are exiled from Earth, but Starscream destroys their ship as it takes off. The Decepticons invade Chicago while placing Pillars around the world to begin transporting Cybertron to the Solar System, planning to enslave humanity and use Earth's resources to rebuild their homeworld. Sam teams up with former NEST soldier Robert Epps to go into Chicago to save Carly and arrest Dylan. They are nearly killed by the Decepticons before the Autobots, who survived their ship's destruction, intervene. Sam, along with NEST teams led by Lennox and Navy SEALs, rescue Carly and begin fighting the Decepticons. During the battle, the Autobot Que is executed, and Bumblebee kills Soundwave, while Optimus fights Sentinel. Laserbeak, Starscream, Shockwave, and the Driller are also killed in the ensuing battle. Meanwhile, Wheelie and Brains sneak onboard and sabotage the Decepticon mothership. Carly convinces Megatron that he will be replaced by Sentinel as leader of the Decepticons. Sam fights Dylan and knocks him into the Pillar, which electrocutes and kills him. Bumblebee destroys the Control Pillar, closing the Bridge and causing the partially transported Cybertron to implode. Sentinel overpowers Optimus, but is incapacitated by Megatron, who is determined to regain his leadership. Megatron offers a truce, but Optimus refuses and kills Megatron by tearing off his head, before executing Sentinel for his betrayal. Sam and Carly are reunited, and the Autobots remain on Earth as their hopeful home.

After the "World Crash of '79", massive civil unrest and economic ruin occurred. The United States government is restructured into a totalitarian regime under martial law. To pacify the population, the government has created the Transcontinental Road Race, where a group of drivers race across the country in their high-powered cars, and which is infamous for violence, gore, and innocent pedestrians being struck and killed for bonus points. In 2000, the five drivers in the 20th annual race, who all adhere to professional wrestling -style personas and drive appropriately themed cars, include Frankenstein, the mysterious black-garbed champion and national hero; Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, a Chicago gangster; Calamity Jane, a cowgirl; Matilda the Hun, a Neo-Nazi; and Nero the Hero, a Roman gladiator. Joe, the second-place champion, is the most determined to defeat Frankenstein and win the race. A resistance group led by Thomasina Paine plans to rebel against the regime, currently led by a man known only as Mr. President, by sabotaging the race, killing most of the drivers, and taking Frankenstein hostage as leverage against Mr. President. The group is assisted by Paine's granddaughter Annie Smith, Frankenstein's navigator. She plans to lure him into an ambush to replace him with a double. Despite a pirated national broadcast made by Ms. Paine herself, the Resistance's disruption of the race is covered up by the government and instead blamed on the French, who are also blamed for ruining the country's economy and telephone system. At first, the Resistance's plan seems to bear fruit: Nero the Hero is killed when a "baby" he runs over for points turns out to be a bomb, Matilda the Hun drives off a cliff while following a fake detour route set up by the Resistance, and Calamity Jane, who witnessed Matilda the Hun's death, inadvertently drives over a landmine. This leaves only Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe in the race. As Frankenstein nonchalantly survives every attempt made on his life during the race, Annie comes to discover that Frankenstein's mask and disfigured face are merely a disguise; he is, in fact, one of many random wards of the state who are trained exclusively to race under that identity, and each time they die or are brutally mutilated, they are secretly replaced so that Frankenstein appears to be indestructible. The current Frankenstein reveals to Annie his plan to kill Mr. President: when he wins the race and shakes hands with Mr. President, he will detonate a grenade which has been implanted in his prosthetic right hand. However, the plan goes awry when Machine Gun Joe attacks Frankenstein, and Annie is forced to kill him using Frankenstein's "hand grenade". Frankenstein is declared the winner after successfully outmaneuvering the rival drivers and the Resistance. However, he is wounded and unable to carry out his original "hand grenade" attack plan. Annie instead dons Frankenstein's costume and plans to stab Mr. President while standing in for him on the podium. Before she can do so, Thomasina shoots "Frankenstein", convinced that he killed Annie. The real Frankenstein takes advantage of the confusion and rams Mr. President's stage with his car, finally fulfilling his lifelong desire to kill him. Frankenstein becomes the new president, marries Annie, and appoints Thomasina the Minister of Domestic Security to rebuild the state and dissolve the dictatorship. Junior Bruce, the announcer of the Transcontinental Road Race, opposes the race's abolition and impertinently claims that the public needs performances of violence. Annoyed by his complaints, Frankenstein hits Bruce with his car and drives off with Annie to the cheers and applause of the crowd.

In 2002, young Quinn Abercromby is visiting a London Underground construction project. Construction workers penetrate a cave and a dragon emerges from hibernation, incinerating the workers with its fire breath. The only survivor is Quinn, whose mother Karen, the project engineer, dies protecting him. The dragon flies out of the Underground and soon more dragons appear. The world's militaries fail to stop the spread of the dragon population and target large populated areas with nuclear weapons, leaving humans nearly extinct. 18 years later, in 2020, the dragons are dying off but have become increasingly aggressive in search of food. Quinn, along with his best friend Creedy, leads a community of survivors at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland where he plans to outlast dragons until they return into hibernation; as insurance, he shares his notes and plans with Jared, an orphan he rescued and is mentoring to take over as community leader. The community is short on supplies, causing unrest pending the harvest of their meager crops. Eddie and some of his followers steal a truck to harvest the crops for food but are attacked by a dragon. Quinn, Creedy, and Jared repel the dragon, which burns most of the crops, leaving the community without food. A group of heavily armed Americans led by Denton Van Zan then arrive in an armored convoy. Quinn is initially sceptical and suspects they are marauders, but Van Zan convinces him to let them stay when he reveals the dragons' main weakness: poor vision during twilight. With Quinn's help, Van Zan and his team slay the dragon who destroyed the crops. Van Zan introduces Quinn to Alex Jensen, his team's helicopter pilot and intelligence officer, and briefs Quinn on their mission. After killing hundreds of dragons, Alex discovered they were all female; she postulates that they reproduce quickly because the species relies on a single male to fertilize all the eggs en masse. Having tracked the spread of the dragons, they believe that the male is in London and that if they kill it, the dragons will no longer be able to reproduce, effectively eradicating the species. Quinn, suspecting that the male dragon is the same one that killed his mother, refuses to help, knowing that London is infested with dragons and that if they fail, the dragons will track them back to their shelter. Van Zan drafts the castle defenders, despite Quinn's objections. Van Zan, Alex, and some of the castle's men then depart for London, but true to Quinn's warnings, their caravan is attacked by the male dragon. Everyone except for Van Zan and Alex are killed. The dragon then finds the castle and attacks, killing many of its inhabitants. Quinn gets the survivors to an underground bunker, but they are trapped by rubble when the dragon returns; during this attack, Creedy is killed. Van Zan and Alex return and free everyone trapped in the bunker. Quinn leaves Jared in charge and decides to help Van Zan and Alex hunt down the male dragon. They fly to London and find hundreds of female dragons; one is cannibalized by the much larger male out of hunger. This scatters the female dragons and leaves the male alone. Van Zan coordinates a plan: split up, bait the male into attacking, ground him with explosive crossbow bolts, and shoot one into his mouth once he is ground level. The plan initially works, but the dragon detonates the first explosive bolt early with its fire breath and Van Zan is swallowed whole. Quinn and Alex gather the last explosives and lure the dragon to ground level, where Quinn fires an explosive down the dragon's throat, killing it. Three months later, Quinn and Alex erect a radio tower on a hill overlooking the North Sea, having seen no dragons since the battle in London. Jared arrives and reveals they have contact with French survivors who want to speak to the group's leader. Quinn declares Jared the new community leader and dedicates himself to rebuilding civilization with Alex.

Maax, the high priest of a cult in the city of Aruk, is warned by witches of a prophecy, which foretells his death at the hand of King Zed’s unborn son.Maax sends a witch to magically abduct the child from his mother. The witch brands the child and prepares to sacrifice him, but a passing traveler rescues him. The traveler names the child Dar and takes him to the nearby village of Emur to raise as an adoptive son. While growing up, Dar develops an unusual ability to telepathically communicate with animals, which his father warns him to keep secret. Emur is destroyed by the Junds, a horde of savage barbarians, leaving an adult Dar as the only survivor. Dar sets out for Aruk with his father’s weapons to seek revenge against the Junds. Along the way, several animal companions join him: the golden eagle, Sharak; the ferrets, Kodo and Podo; and the black panther, Ruh. Dar also meets Kiri, a young woman who is a slave to the cult of Ar. One night, Dar encounters a race of sinister bird-like people. The bird-folk surround Dar, but upon realizing that he travels with Sharak, they give him a medallion and allow him to pass. Dar reaches Aruk to find Maax and his cultists in control of the city. Dar rescues a young girl from imminent sacrifice and returns her to her father, Sacco. From Sacco, Dar learns that Maax, who is allied with the Junds, has imprisoned King Zed in the temple, and he is sacrificing their children to his god Ar. Realizing that Kiri is among those to be sacrificed, Dar leaves Aruk to find and save her. He is joined by the warrior Seth, and Zed’s younger son, Tal. The three rescue Kiri, who reveals she is Zed’s niece and recruits Dar to help rescue the king. While Seth leaves to gather rebel forces, Dar helps Kiri and Tal enter the temple and free Zed. The group flees Aruk with the help of Sacco. At the rebel camp, Zed devises a plan to attack Aruk and defeat Maax. Dar warns Zed that the small rebel force cannot defend the city against the Junds. Zed senses Dar’s gift with animals and angrily denounces him as a freak and coward; Dar leaves the rebel camp. Seth learns that Maax has been magically spying on the group and warns Zed the plan is compromised. Zed, lusted for revenge, disregards Seth’s warning. The next morning, Dar learns the attack failed, and Zed and the others were captured and are to be sacrificed. Dar rushes to Aruk and fights his way to the top of the temple, where Maax reveals Dar’s parentage before murdering Zed. Dar defeats Maax, however Maax is healed by a witch’s magic. Kodo leaps onto Maax and causes him to fall into the sacrificial flames, killing them both. The Junds ride to Aruk and attack at nightfall. Dar gives Sharak the medallion of the bird-folk, who flies away with it. Aruk's defenders manage to trap many Jund warriors in a flaming moat of tar, however the Junds eventually surround the defenders. The Jund chieftain, recognizing Dar from Emur, challenges him to single combat; Dar defeats him. As the remaining Junds close in, the bird-folk appear and devour the remaining Junds. The next day, as Dar prepares to leave Aruk, Seth recognizes his branding and realizes Dar is the firstborn of Zed, and therefore the rightful king of Aruk. Dar declines the kingship, insisting that Tal will make a good king. Dar continues his travels alongside Kiri, Sharak, Ruh, and Podo, as well as two baby ferrets.

Sergeant Chris Vaughn is a former Green Beret who returns to his small hometown in Kitsap County. Looking for work, Chris finds that the local cedar mill was closed down three years earlier by its owner, Jay Hamilton, who opened a casino that now accounts for the majority of the local area's revenue. Hamilton, who was Chris' school friend, invites him to a night of fun at the casino. While checking out the VIP lounge, Chris stumbles upon his childhood friend Deni, who is now working as a stripper. He notices the craps dealer using loaded dice and demonstrates this to the patrons. When the floorman refuses to pay out, Chris instigates a fight. Although Chris beats most of the security guards, he is subdued with a cattle prod. In the basement, Hamilton's head of security, Booth, cuts Chris' torso with a utility knife and leaves him for dead. After recovering, Chris attempts to press charges, but Sheriff Stan Watkins refuses, saying the casino is untouchable. Chris learns that his nephew Pete has overdosed on meth, which was sold to his friends by the casino security guards. Furious, Chris arrives at the casino and, using a piece of lumber as a club, destroys casino property and brutally beats the security guards. Sheriff Watkins and his deputies apprehend Chris as he drives away. In the ensuing trial, Hamilton's security and staff testify against Chris. When the judge allows Chris to present his defense, he fires his appointed attorney, whom he suspects of working for Hamilton. Chris gives a civic speech about the town's former glory and promises to clean it up if acquitted. To further emphasize his plea, Chris reveals the grotesque scars on his torso. Chris is acquitted and wins the sheriff's election. Upon taking office, Chris summarily dismisses the entire police force and deputizes his friend Ray Templeton. Being a former drug addict, Ray teaches Chris about narcotics. Chris and Ray crack down on a supply spot and take Booth into custody. Despite stripping his truck into pieces in front of him, Booth reveals nothing. Chris assigns Ray to stand watch over his house in case Hamilton targets his family. Chris remains at the sheriff's office to supervise Booth. Deni visits him, brings him food, and reveals that she quit her job. The next morning, Watkins and his deputies arrive at Chris' office, blow up his truck, and fire upon the building with machine guns. Recognizing his dangerous predicament, Booth pleads for Chris to let him out of his cell. Chris uses the situation as leverage, and Booth reveals that the drug lab is in the cedar mill. Booth is killed immediately by the attackers' indiscriminate fire, but Chris kills the attackers with Deni's help. Chris' parents' house is also attacked, but Ray and Chris' father dispatch the gunmen. After ensuring their safety, Chris heads for the mill. Hamilton, calmly waiting in a control room, attempts to kill Chris with the mill equipment. Chris drags Hamilton through a trap door with him, and the two fall through a chute. Chris, whose leg is injured, tends to his injury in a nearby forest before Hamilton attacks him with an axe. Chris cripples Hamilton and arrests him. With Ray's assistance, Chris shuts down the casino and reopens the cedar mill.

Jonathan Moore, an 18-year-old veterinary student at UCLA, is an expert at "Gotcha", a popular Assassin -like game where students chase each other on campus using paintball guns. Jonathan and his roommate Manolo travel to Paris during spring break. While alone in a café, Jonathan meets Sasha Banicek, a 24-year-old Czechoslovak woman, and later loses his virginity to her. Instead of going to Spain with Manolo, Jonathan accompanies Sasha to West Berlin to spend more time with her. In their hotel room, Sasha tells Jonathan that she has to go to East Berlin to pick up a package, as she works as a courier. One night, after arriving in East Berlin, Sasha sneaks out of their hotel room while Jonathan is asleep and meets with a German man, who tells her the location of the pickup of her package. Unknowingly, Sasha is monitored by Vlad, a Soviet agent. The next day, Sasha tells Jonathan that if she ever instructs him to meet her at the Café Friedrichstrasse, it means that he must immediately leave East Berlin, and hands him a package with a strudel. Noticing that Vlad is following them, Sasha tells Jonathan to meet her at a butcher shop near their hotel in one hour. Vlad chases her, but she escapes. She is ordered by the German man to use Jonathan to get the package over to West Berlin. Sasha meets Jonathan at a subway station, slipping an object into his backpack and saying that she will meet him back at the hotel. However, she later calls him and tells him to meet her at the Café Friedrichstrasse. That night, while Jonathan rushes to Checkpoint Charlie to cross into West Berlin, Sasha is caught by Vlad and the East German secret police; she is strip-searched by the Soviets, but nothing is found on her. Vlad arrives at the border crossing to search for Jonathan, who has crossed the border safely before he could be captured. Once in West Berlin, Jonathan finds that his hotel room has been ransacked and his traveler's checks have been stolen. Vlad and his henchmen eventually find Jonathan at the Spandau Citadel, the location Sasha gave him, where he meets a woman who asks for the object Sasha gave him. She is confused when he gives her the strudel, before Vlad shoots her. The agents chase Jonathan through the Citadel. Jumping into a water canal, Jonathan escapes and stumbles upon a German punk rock band headed for Hamburg, who offer him a ride to the airport. Soon after Jonathan safely makes it back to Los Angeles, a band of Soviet agents led by Vlad also arrives. Jonathan finds the object planted by Sasha, a film canister, in his backpack. He visits his parents and tells them what happened in Germany, but they do not believe him and instead accuse him of being a drug addict. Jonathan calls the CIA for help, telling them about Sasha and the film. Temporarily arrested for ramming a car, Jonathan returns the next morning to find his apartment broken into and looted. The CIA tells Jonathan to bring them the film canister. At the CIA's Los Angeles headquarters, Jonathan is surprised to find Sasha working there. Jonathan arranges a meeting with Sasha at UCLA and uses Manolo's help to separate her from the CIA agents. Sasha admits that she is actually Cheryl Brewster, a CIA agent from Pittsburgh, before Vlad and his henchmen appear and chase the pair through the campus. During their flight, Jonathan seizes a tranquilizer gun from the veterinary sciences building and uses it to incapacitate their pursuers. The Soviets are arrested and the CIA agents thank Jonathan for his help in obtaining the film. Cheryl/Sasha tells him she wants to continue their relationship, and they kiss. After they part, Jonathan talks to an attractive student who previously rebuffed him, and she coldly turns him down. As she walks away, he aims the tranquilizer gun and shoots her in the rear.

In Champion City, the amateur superhero team of Mr. Furious, the Shoveler, and the Blue Raja attempt to make a name for themselves, but their inexperience, infighting, and dubious abilities generally result in frustration while the city's powerful but arrogant superhero, Captain Amazing, consistently upstages them. However, Amazing's prowess has made his job obsolete and his corporate sponsorships are drying up. To create a need for his services, Amazing uses his alter ego, billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of his supervillain nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein, from an insane asylum. But, once released and reunited with his henchman Tony P and his Disco Boys, Casanova blows up the asylum, captures Amazing, and prepares to unleash the "Psycho-frakulator" machine to destroy the city. On a stakeout of Casanova's mansion, Furious witnesses Amazing's capture and informs his team. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the three realize that they need more allies and recruit Invisible Boy, the Spleen, and the Bowler. Emboldened, they vandalize Casanova's limousine. In retaliation, the Disco Boys nearly kill them, but the Sphinx, an enigmatic superhero, saves them and agrees to train them. Furious grows annoyed by the Sphinx's unconventional team-building exercises and antimetabolic rhetoric and quits, while the others flourish under his tutelage. To improve their chances, they seek non-lethal weaponry invented by Doc Heller. Encouraged by Monica, his new girlfriend, Furious rejoins the team. The group break into Casanova's mansion during a summit of the city's gangs to free Amazing. However, they become confused by his instructions and condescending attitude and inadvertently set off the Psycho-frakulator, killing him. The team despairs until the Shoveler inspires them to continue. Through a combination of surprise, teamwork, maximizing their powers, and Heller's weapons, the team successfully assault Casanova's mansion and defeat his henchmen. However, Casanova takes Monica hostage and activates the Psycho-frakulator, which begins to wreak havoc upon the city. While the team works to disable the machine, Furious unleashes his powers and throws Casanova into the Psycho-frakulator's core, killing him. The others help the Bowler destroy the machine and escape the mansion as it implodes. Afterward, the team is swarmed by reporters demanding to know their group's name, sparking an argument amongst themselves.

In the late 20th century, unexplained apocalyptic disasters devastate the world. Most knowledge and technology from the past has apparently been lost, and the former United States reverts to an unconnected pre-industrial society. In 2013, a nomad traveling to St. Rose, Oregon wanders the Western U.S., trading performances of long-forgotten Shakespearean plays for food and water. In one town, the nomad is impressed into the Holnists, a neo-feudalist militia obsessed with a misinterpreted self-help book that serves as the region's tyrannical authority, led by General Bethlehem. The nomad, dubbed "Shakespeare" by Bethlehem, faces harassment by Captain Idaho, who mentions Colonel Getty once challenged Bethlehem for leadership; Bethlehem won the fight and mutilated Getty. The nomad is sent to kill a lion, but he escapes by jumping into a river. Idaho arrives and forces the nomad and another conscript to fight to the death. Idaho kills the conscript, but before he can shoot the nomad, the lion kills him. The nomad flees and takes refuge in an abandoned United States Postal Service Jeep DJ, burning letters and wearing the long-deceased postal carrier's coat to stay warm. Now donning the postal uniform and mail bag, the nomad arrives in the town of Pineview and is held at gunpoint by their leader, Sheriff Briscoe. To avoid execution, the nomad claims to be a "Postman" from the newly-restored U.S. federal government, presenting a letter addressed to elderly villager Irene March as proof. The Postman inspires teenager Ford Lincoln Mercury, who he swears in as a postal carrier and helps reactivate Pineview's abandoned post office. That evening, the Postman is approached by Abby and her husband Michael, who is sterile, to conceive a child for them. The following morning, the Postman leaves for the town of Benning, taking Pineview's mail and packages with him. The postman delivers letters to Benning, bringing the residents hope. Meanwhile, during a raid on Pineview, Bethlehem learns of the Postman's claim of a restored government in Minneapolis. Fearing his loss of power if word spreads, Bethlehem has the post office razed, kills Michael, and abducts Abby. Benning repels a raid by Bethlehem, and the Postman offers to negotiate for them; however, General Bethlehem does not recognize the Postman, refuses to negotiate, and orders him killed. The Postman and Abby flee into the surrounding mountains, where they recover over the winter in an abandoned cabin. In the spring, they leave and encounter another postal carrier, who reveals that Mercury has kept the Postal Service alive by recruiting other carriers and opening more post offices, connecting settlements across the former U.S. and forming a quasi-society in the "Restored United States". Bethlehem, threatened by the rise of the Restored U.S., persecutes and publicly executes postal carriers. Wracked by guilt for their deaths, the Postman reads a fake announcement from the President of the Restored U.S. ordering the Postal Service to disband, and writes a confession to Bethlehem admitting that the Restored U.S. was a lie. Bethlehem orders the execution of Mercury and another postal carrier, and redoubles his efforts to hunt down the Postman. The Postman, Abby, and a group of young postal carriers travel to Bridge City, tailed by Holnist scouts, who reveal Bethlehem is looking for the Postman. The Postman organizes a Restored U.S. Army to face the Holnists in a pitched battle. Unwilling to allow further bloodshed, the Postman reveals to Bethlehem that he is "Shakespeare" and challenges him to a one-on-one duel for power with their troops as witnesses; per Holnist traditions, Bethlehem accepts. The Postman wins the hand-to-hand fight, but spares Bethlehem's life to maintain morale. Bethlehem tries to shoot the Postman as he turns away, but is shot dead by Getty, who disarms the Holnists. Thirty years later in 2043, the Postman dies at the age of 70. His adult daughter Hope speaks at a ceremony unveiling a memorial honoring his efforts in St. Rose, part of the Restored U.S., with the implication that modern society and technology have returned following the country's reestablishment.

Moscow City Police officers Ivan Danko and Yuri Ogarkov lead a sting operation against Georgian mafia kingpin Viktor Rostavili, who manages to evade capture and in the ensuing firefight kills Ogarkov, before fleeing to the United States. There, Rostavili is arrested for a minor traffic violation in Chicago and Danko is subsequently dispatched to America to retrieve the felon, under strict orders not to reveal the true nature of Rostavili's extradition. Upon arriving in Chicago, Danko is met by Chicago Police Department detectives Art Ridzik and Max Gallagher. As he is interrogating Rostavili, Danko confiscates a mysterious key from him. While Rostavili is being transported to the airport, the group is ambushed by several men, and Gallagher is shot and killed, allowing Rostavili to escape. Against the wishes of the American authorities, Danko remains in Chicago to apprehend Rostavili, and Ridzik is assigned to be his minder. Through an informant, Danko and Ridzik learn that Rostavili is working with local drug dealers called The Cleanheads under the guidance of imprisoned criminal kingpin Abdul Elijah, to purchase and smuggle cocaine into the Soviet Union. The duo confront Rostavili's American wife, dance school instructor Cat Manzetti, but are led into an ambush where Rostavili demands that Danko return his key, forcing the pair to retreat. Danko and Ridzik go to the hospital to interrogate one of Rostavili's henchmen who was injured during the earlier ambush, but he is killed by another one of Rostavili's accomplices disguised as a nurse. Danko subsequently shoots and kills the assassin. Ridzik's superior, Commander Lou Donnelly, confiscates Danko's gun, as he is not licensed to carry one in the United States, and orders him to cease the investigation. Ridzik, who still wants to avenge his partner's murder, secretly gives Danko his spare gun. Manzetti is then murdered by Rostavili. Returning to his hotel, Danko is attacked by Rostavili's men. While Danko kills them off, Rostavili sneaks into his room and steals the key. Ridzik takes Danko to visit a locksmith, where they match the key to ones produced for lockers at a bus terminal. Rostavili uses the key to retrieve his drug shipment, and steals an empty bus just as Danko and Ridzik arrive. Chasing him in another bus, Danko and Ridzik cause Rostavili to crash into an oncoming freight train. As Rostavili crawls out of the wreckage, he kills the engineer, and is killed by Danko in the process. Later, Ridzik takes Danko to the airport. As a token of their new friendship, they exchange wristwatches. Danko tells Ridzik they are policemen, not politicians, so it is okay for them to like each other. The scene closes with Danko saluting while in Red Square in Moscow.