Mercenary Martin David is hired by military biotech company, Red Leaf, to go to Tasmania and gather samples of a supposedly extinct marsupial, the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), with further instructions to kill all remaining tigers to ensure no competing organisation will get their DNA. Posing as a university biologist, Martin lodges in the home of the Armstrong family: Lucy and her two young children, Katie and Jamie. Lucy is perpetually benumbed from prescribed medication, taken after the disappearance of her environmentalist husband, Jarrah Armstrong. Speculation surrounds Jarrah's disappearance, particularly with regard to a longstanding conflict between the local loggers who are in desperate need of jobs, and the 'greenies', a group of environmentalists who have set up road blocks to the forest to prevent its deforestation. Martin goes into the bush for twelve days at a time, setting up various steel traps and makeshift snares, while waiting patiently to see if a tiger will surface. On each excursion, Martin leaves the family a map with his coordinates, to be used to search for him if he fails to return on schedule. During his short stays at the Armstrongs' to resupply, Martin slowly befriends the children, and discovers that Lucy's medication is delivered to her by Jack Mindy, who has been unofficially looking in on the family. Martin confiscates Lucy's medication, and bathes her while she is unconscious, after realising the detrimental effects of her dependency. During one return from the bush, Martin finds Lucy has recovered from the symptoms of her addiction. Jamie provides Martin with a clue as to the tiger's whereabouts: a drawing of the tiger near trees and small bodies of water. From the drawing, Martin is able to deduce the tiger's location on his map. On his next trip out, Martin stumbles across Jarrah's skeletal remains and discovers that he had been shot through the head. Martin gives him a proper burial, but does not reveal his findings to the Armstrong family. On his return to the Armstrong house, Lucy informs him that Red Leaf had initially contracted Jarrah to locate the tiger, a pursuit he eventually abandoned in favour of taking up an environmental cause to protect wildlife and that Red Leaf wanted Jarrah to find the tiger because they believed that it had a paralysing venom in its bite. While hiking to check his traps, Martin is ambushed by a rival Red Leaf operative sent to replace him. The man binds Martin's hands and instructs Martin to lead him to the tiger's cave, but Martin instead leads the operative past one of his steel traps. The operative steps on the trap, and its metal teeth bind his leg. The operative drops both rifles. Martin frees his hands, picks up one of the rifles, and kills the operative just as the operative frees himself from the trap and lunges for the other rifle. Searching the man's pockets, Martin finds the map he left with the Armstrong's, and realises the operative has been to their house. Martin returns to the Armstrong residence to find it burnt down. Confronting Mindy, he learns that Lucy and Katie had perished in the fire that Mindy claims broke out by accident, but Jamie survived and was taken by the authorities. Martin sets out into the bush once more to find the Tasmanian tiger and put an end to Red Leaf's pursuit. He finally finds the creature and reluctantly shoots it, then proceeds to cremate it in order to remove all traces of its existence. Martin returns to town and calls Red Leaf, informing them that what they are looking for is "gone forever". He then goes to a school where Jamie sits alone on a bench. When Jamie sees Martin, he runs excitedly toward him and the two embrace.

Nine years have passed since the failure of the Discovery mission to Jupiter in 2001, in which commander David Bowman and his crew were lost. Amid international tensions, the United States and Soviet Union each prepare separate missions to Jupiter. The Soviet spacecraft Leonov will be ready a year before the American Discovery Two, but only the Americans can reactivate the ship's sentient computer, HAL 9000, thought to be responsible for the disaster. Because Discovery will crash into Jupiter's moon Io before the Americans can reach it, the Soviets agree to bring along former NCA Director Heywood Floyd, Discovery engineer Walter Curnow, and HAL 9000 creator Dr. Chandra. Arriving at Jupiter, Leonov detects chlorophyll on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. A probe sent to investigate is destroyed by an energy burst upon reaching the source of the chlorophyll. Floyd suggests that this is a warning to stay away from Europa. After aerobraking in Jupiter's atmosphere, Leonov enters orbit around Io and encounters Discovery. Curnow and Cosmonaut Max Brailovsky spacewalk to and enter the derelict vessel. Both men suffer panic attacks for different reasons, bonding over the shared experience and becoming friends. Curnow restores Discovery ' s power and propulsion, and Chandra reactivates HAL. The ships move to investigate the giant monolith located at the Lagrange point between Jupiter and Io. Brailovsky approaches it in an EVA pod, but is killed when the pod is destroyed by an energy burst. On Earth, Bowman, now a noncorporeal being, appears through his former wife's television to say goodbye, telling her that "something wonderful" is going to happen. He then visits his comatose mother in a hospital, and she awakens, seemingly aware of her son's presence. The unseen Bowman brushes her hair, and after he departs, she dies peacefully. Chandra discovers the reasons for HAL's malfunction: the National Security Council ordered HAL to conceal information about the monolith from Discovery ' s crew. This conflicted with HAL's basic programming, causing the computer equivalent of a paranoid breakdown. When Bowman and co-pilot Frank Poole discussed deactivating the malfunctioning computer, HAL concluded that the human crew was endangering the mission, and terminated them. Chandra blames Floyd, who denies any knowledge of the order, although it bears his signature. A political crisis on Earth brings the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. The Americans are thus ordered to leave Leonov for Discovery. Both ships plan to leave Jupiter in the coming weeks, but Bowman appears to Floyd to warn him that everyone must leave within two days. Floyd returns to Leonov to convince Soviet captain Tanya Kirbuk to leave early. Neither ship has the fuel to reach Earth if they leave ahead of schedule, but Floyd proposes using Discovery as a booster rocket, then leaving it behind while both crews escape on Leonov. As they argue, the monolith suddenly disappears. Alarmed, Kirbuk agrees to Floyd's plan. An ominous black spot appears in Jupiter's atmosphere. HAL determines that the spot is a vast group of monoliths, multiplying exponentially and altering Jupiter's mass and chemical composition. He recommends halting the countdown to study the phenomenon. Floyd worries that HAL will prioritize his mission over the safety of the human crews, but Chandra reveals to HAL that the crew is in danger and that both ships could be destroyed. HAL thanks Chandra for telling him the truth, and proceeds with the escape plan. Once Discovery ' s fuel is exhausted, Leonov separates and fires its own engines. Bowman asks HAL to transmit a message to Earth. The monoliths engulf Jupiter, causing it to undergo nuclear fusion, and become a star. Before Discovery is destroyed, HAL sends this message: ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE USE THEM TOGETHER USE THEM IN PEACE Leonov survives the shockwave from Jupiter's ignition, and returns home. Floyd narrates how the new star's miraculous appearance, and the message from a mysterious alien power, inspire the American and Soviet leaders to seek peace. Under its infant sun, icy Europa transforms into a humid jungle, covered with life, and watched over by a monolith.

Initially narrated by the titular character through a flashback, Grendel (Peter Ustinov), the "Great Boogey", recounts how he first left his cave as a child and encountered the Danish King Hrothgar (Ed Rosser) and his thegns. After being rescued by his mother, Grendel ponders over the similarities he shares with the Danes, yet laments on their not being able to understand his language. He watches as Hrothgar's power and wealth grows, disgusted at his excesses and the royal Shaper 's (Keith Michell) revisions of history that present the king's underhanded and brutal achievements as glorious victories. Desperate to find meaning in life, Grendel encounters the dragon (Arthur Dignam), who informs Grendel that his sole purpose in life is to terrify humanity, thus stimulating human imagination and encouraging social cohesion. Grendel accepts his new role and regularly visits the king's mead hall to frighten Hrothgar's people and devour them. He stops short of killing the king himself and the warrior Unferth (Ric Stone), whose delusions of grandeur and passive opposition to the king amuse Grendel. Feeling sympathy for Hrothgar's miserable wife Wealhtheow, who is also the object of Unferth's secret affection, Grendel decides to finally kill Hrothgar and take her to his lair. Before Grendel can arrive, the meadhall is visited by the hero Beowulf (also voiced by Dignam), who kills Unferth on the increasingly paranoid Hrothgar's orders. Beowulf then ambushes Grendel and tears off his arm, leaving the monster to die outside, pondering over the accidental nature of his death.

In an Indian village, Buldeo, an elderly storyteller, is paid by a visiting British memsahib to tell a story of his youth. As a younger man, he recalls his village being attacked by Shere Khan the rogue Bengal tiger. The attack leads to the death of a man and the loss of the man's child. The child is adopted by grey wolves in the jungle and grows to be the wild youth Mowgli. Twelve years after, Mowgli is captured by the villagers and taken in by his mother Messua, despite Buldeo's prejudice towards him for being from the jungle. He learns to speak and tries to imitate the ways of humans, and becomes friendly with Buldeo's daughter, Mahala. When Mowgli and Mahala explore the jungle, they discover a hidden chamber in a ruined palace, containing fabulous wealth. Warned by an aged cobra that the wealth brings death, they leave, but Mahala takes one coin as a memento. When Buldeo sees the coin, he resolves to follow Mowgli to the site of the treasure. Mowgli fights and uses a jambiya knife to kill Shere Khan, with some last minute help from Kaa, the Indian python. As he is skinning the body, Buldeo arrives. He threatens Mowgli with his hunting rifle to take him to the treasure, but is attacked by Mowgli's friend Bagheera, the black panther. Buldeo becomes convinced that Bagheera is Mowgli himself, shape-shifted into panther form. He tells the villagers that Mowgli is a witch, as is his mother. Mowgli is chained up and threatened with death, but escapes with his mother's help. However, she and another villager who tries to defend her are tied up and threatened to be burned for witchcraft. Mowgli is followed by the greedy Buldeo and two friends, a pandit and a barber, to the lost city. They find the treasure and leave for the village with as much as they can carry. When they stop for the night, the priest tries to steal the treasure and murders the barber when the barber wakes up. The priest tells Buldeo that the barber had attacked him and that he had killed in self-defense, but Buldeo knows better. The next day, the priest attacks Buldeo while his back is turned, but Buldeo knocks him into the swamp where he is killed by a mugger crocodile. Mowgli tells Bagheera and Grey Brother to chase Buldeo from the jungle, and Buldeo flees for his life, jettisoning the treasure. His pride wounded, a half-crazed Buldeo tries to murder Mowgli and destroy the jungle by starting a forest fire. The wind turns and the fire threatens the village. The villagers flee, but Mowgli's mother and her defender are trapped. Mowgli brings the local elephants including their leader Hathi who help free the captives and rescue the jungle animals from the fire. He is invited to follow them to a new life downriver, but chooses to stay and protect the jungle. The scene returns to the present day, with the elderly Buldeo admitting that the jungle defeated his youthful dreams and destroyed his reputation. When asked how he escaped from the fire and what became of Mowgli and his daughter, Buldeo says that is another story.

In New York City, a breaking news report informs the world that a mission to stop an incoming 70-mile-wide asteroid known as "Matilda" has failed and that it will make an impact in three weeks, destroying all life on Earth. Dodge Petersen and his wife, Linda, listen to the broadcast parked on the side of the road. When he expresses indifference, she looks disgusted and abandons both the vehicle and their marriage. Dodge stops going to his job at an insurance company where one of his co-workers has killed himself. He also attends an end-of-the-world party at the house of his best friend, where he politely avoids offers of heroin and the amorous intentions of both a stranger and his best friend's wife (on the latter, he says he cannot cheat with a married woman, but she points out that marriage means nothing now that civilization is going to end). A drunk man tells him he has never bedded so many women as now nobody cares about getting pregnant or catching diseases. At home, Dodge reminisces about his high school sweetheart, Olivia and notices his British neighbor Penny crying on the fire escape. Penny just broke up with her boyfriend Owen over him making her miss her last opportunity to see her family in England. At her apartment, Penny gives Dodge three years' worth of his mail that was incorrectly delivered to her and, in the process, unwittingly tells him that his wife was having an affair. Dodge storms off into the night, guzzling codeine -laced cough syrup and window cleaner in a suicide attempt. Dodge wakes up in a park, with a dog tethered to his foot and a note on his sweater reading "Sorry", which becomes the dog's name. Dodge takes Sorry home, opens the old mail, and is surprised to discover a three-month-old letter from Olivia, which explains that he was "the love of her life". Later, a riot breaks out in their neighborhood. Dodge and Penny abandon the self-centered Owen amid the rioters, with Dodge explaining to Penny that he knows someone who could fly her to England if she helps him find Olivia. She agrees, and they set off with Sorry for Dodge's hometown in Delaware. Along the way, Dodge and Penny run out of gas, witness the bizarre death of suicidal motorist Glenn whose plan to pay an assassin to kill him without warning pays off, see the beginning of an orgy at a chain restaurant but leave hurriedly before the frenzied sex begins, have sex themselves in a pick-up truck, and spend a night in jail. They get a ride to Camden, New Jersey, where they meet Penny's ex-boyfriend, Speck, who is prepared for the apocalypse with a well-stocked underground bunker. Speck has a working satellite phone and lets Penny contact her family. Penny and Dodge borrow a car from Speck and eventually make it to Olivia's family home. They walk up to the door of the home but find no one home and then spend the day together; they realize a mutual affection. Penny discovers a letter from Olivia to her parents, which reveals her address. Penny and Dodge drive to Olivia's home, where Dodge leaves a letter for Olivia. Later, they go to the house of the man who Dodge promised could take Penny to England. The man turns out to be his estranged father, Frank. After making amends with Frank, Dodge puts a sleeping Penny into his father's plane, whispering to her that she is the real love of his life. Frank and Penny depart, leaving Dodge behind. After one final news broadcast reveals that Matilda will make an impact one week earlier than originally reported, meaning there is less than a day left, Dodge takes refuge in Penny's apartment and awaits his imminent death; she unexpectedly returns, upset that he allowed her to leave. They lie in bed and comfort each other as they feel the tremor of the asteroid's impact. Penny regrets not having met Dodge sooner, while he assures her that their meeting had been opportune. Penny smiles as everything fades to white.

Leading software engineer Kevin Flynn, formerly employed by technology corporation ENCOM, now runs a video game arcade, where he hacks into ENCOM's system with a program called CLU, hoping to find proof that he is the true author of ENCOM's best-selling videogame, 'Space Paranoids'. However, ENCOM's Master Control Program (MCP) halts his progress and deletes CLU. Within ENCOM, programmer Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, engineer Lora Baines, discover that the MCP has closed off their access to projects. When Alan confronts the senior executive vice president, Ed Dillinger, he asserts the security measures are an effort to stop the hacking attempts. However, when Dillinger privately questions the MCP through his computerized desk, he realizes the MCP has expanded into a powerful virtual intelligence and has been illegally appropriating personal, business, and government programs to increase its own capabilities. As Dillinger rose to the top of ENCOM by presenting Flynn's games as his own, the MCP blackmails Dillinger by threatening to expose his plagiarism should he not comply with its directives. Lora deduces that Flynn is the hacker, and she and Alan go to his arcade to warn him. Flynn reveals that he has been trying to locate evidence proving Dillinger's guilt. Together, the three form a plan to break into ENCOM and unlock Alan's "Tron" program, a self-governing security measure designed to protect the system and counter the functions of the MCP. Once inside ENCOM, the three split up, and Flynn comes into direct conflict with the MCP through a laboratory terminal. Before Flynn can get the information he needs, the MCP uses an experimental laser to digitize and upload him into the ENCOM gaming grid. There, computer programs are living entities appearing in the likeness of the human "Users" (programmers) who created them. The space is ruled by the MCP and its second-in-command, Sark (an avatar of Dillinger), who coerce programs to renounce their belief in the Users and force those who resist to compete in deadly games. Flynn is put into the games and plays well; between matches, he befriends two other captured programs, Ram and Tron. The three escape into the system during a round of Light Cycle (an arcade game Flynn created and is skilled at), but Flynn and Ram become separated from Tron by an MCP pursuit party. While attempting to help a badly injured Ram, Flynn learns that he can manipulate portions of the system by accessing his programmer knowledge. Just before Ram "derezzes" (essentially, being erased), he recognizes Flynn as a User, and encourages him to find Tron and free the system. Using his newfound ability, Flynn rebuilds a broken recognizer and disguises himself as one of Sark's soldiers. Tron enlists help from Yori, a sympathetic program and avatar of Lora, and at an I/O tower receives information from Alan necessary to destroy the MCP. Flynn rejoins them, and the three board a hijacked solar sailer to reach the MCP's core. However, Sark's command ship derezzes the sailer, capturing Flynn and Yori and presumably killing Tron. Sark leaves the command ship and orders its deresolution, but Flynn keeps it intact by manipulating the system again. Sark reaches the MCP's core on a shuttle carrying captured programs deemed powerful or useful. While the MCP attempts to absorb these programs, Tron, who is still alive, confronts Sark and critically injures him, prompting the MCP to give Sark all its functions. Realizing that his ability to manipulate the system might give Tron an opening, Flynn leaps into the beam of the MCP, distracting it. Seeing a break in the MCP's shield, Tron attacks through the gap and destroys the MCP and erases Sark, ending the MCP's control over the system, releasing all lockouts on computer access, and allowing the captured programs to communicate with users again. Flynn reappears in the real world, rematerialized at the terminal. A printed document proves Dillinger's guilt and Flynn as the original author of 'Space Paranoids'. The next morning, Dillinger enters his office to find the MCP deactivated and his theft exposed. Flynn is subsequently promoted to CEO of ENCOM and is happily greeted by Alan and Lora as their new boss.

In 1501, a city in Italy was taken by a coup d'état while its rightful ruler, Arnolfini, was away. Arnolfini promises some mercenaries 24 hours of looting if they succeed in retaking the city, and they do so, raping and killing those who stand in their way. In their revelry, Arnolfini decides that he wants the mercenaries gone. Hawkwood, the commander of the troops, cares for a young nun he mistakenly attacked during the siege. Arnolfini promises to get medical attention for her, while Hawkwood leads Arnolfini's cavalry, betraying his former lieutenant, Martin. The cavalry ejects the mercenaries from the city without their loot. Martin's son is later stillborn. Burying the infant unearths a wooden statue of Saint Martin of Tours —a saint with a sword. The mercenaries' chaplain views this as a sign from God to follow Martin as their new leader. Arnolfini's son Steven is betrothed to Agnes. They meet for the first time and eat from a mandrake to magically fall in love, and later the entourage is attacked and robbed by Martin's band. Arnolfini is seriously injured; Kathleen, Agnes' lady-in-waiting, is killed; and Agnes is hauled away, concealed among her valuable dowry. Martin discovers Agnes that evening as they strip the caravan of valuables. The men desire to rape her but Martin decides to take her himself. He rapes Agnes in front of the caravan while she at first taunts him, and then begs Martin's protection when he is finished. Martin prevents the rest of the men from raping her. The mercenaries come upon a castle where, unknown to them, the inhabitants are infected with the plague. They capture the castle with the help of Agnes. She induces Martin to fall in love with her and works on the other mercenaries to accept her. She appears to have given up on her former life. Determined to rescue her, Steven turns to Hawkwood. Hawkwood only wants to live a quiet life, married to the former nun. Steven, becoming as ruthless as his father, seizes her to force Hawkwood to help his pursuit of Martin. Steven's party locates Martin and the mercenaries. They do not have sufficient force to take the castle and lay siege to it. In the castle, Martin asks Agnes where her true loyalty lies; she is noncommittal, hinting that the winner takes all. Outside, the plague spreads among Steven's forces and infects Hawkwood. Steven builds a siege tower to storm the castle, and Martin destroys it with something Steven had tried earlier: gunpowder. Steven's soldiers are killed as Steven scales the tower's ladders, and falls into the castle grounds. The mercenaries capture Steven and shackle him in the courtyard; Agnes joins in his abuse. Using a new medical technique Steven learned (cutting the buboes on the infected body), Hawkwood cures his plague. He cannot continue the siege alone but, before leaving for additional troops, he and the physician, Father George, catapult pieces of an infected dog into the castle. One chunk lands near the chained Steven; he initially warns Martin of the danger of the dog, but flings it into the castle's water well after seeing Agnes acquiesce to Martin's sexual demands. Steven says that she can decide whether to tell the mercenaries. The mercenaries wish to leave the castle, fearing the plague, but Martin persuades them to stay. At the next meal, Agnes watches as they drink infected water. As Martin begins to drink, she slaps the cup from his hand, just as the mercenaries begin to show signs of the plague. The party blame Martin, and hurl him into the well. Agnes then joins in the abuse of Martin. After the throng departs, Steven needs Martin's key to escape from the shackles, and Martin needs Steven to get out of the well. The two cooperate, but upon seeing that Hawkwood and Arnolfini recovered from their wounds and returned with an army, Martin flees to the belfry. Using a lightning storm to strike the chain, Steven frees himself and, as the battle rages, races to find Agnes. During the fighting, the belfry catches fire. All the mercenaries, save Martin, Polly, Anna, and Little John, end up dead. Martin confronts Agnes, who claims that she loves him. He prepares to murder her rather than allow her to return to Steven. As Martin is strangling Agnes, Steven attacks. Martin overpowers Steven and almost drowns him, but Agnes strikes Martin on the head, and she and Steven flee the blazing castle and reunite with Hawkwood. As Agnes and Steven embrace, Agnes sees Martin over Steven's shoulder, escaping from the castle, a sack of loot on his shoulder. She says nothing.

One Thursday morning, Arthur Dent discovers that his house is to be immediately demolished to make way for a bypass. He tries delaying the bulldozers by lying down in front of them; however, Arthur's friend Ford Prefect convinces him to go to the nearby pub. While there, Ford explains that he is an alien from the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and a journalist working on the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a universal guide book. Ford warns that the Earth is to be demolished later that day by the extraterrestrial Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass. As the Vogon fleet arrives, Ford rescues Arthur by stowing them aboard one of the alien ships. The Earth is then destroyed. Arthur and Ford are promptly discovered and tortured with Vogon poetry before being ejected from the vessel and left for dead. However, they are picked up by the starship Heart of Gold, aboard which they meet Ford's "semi-cousin" Zaphod Beeblebrox, the newly elected President of the Galaxy. He has stolen the ship along with Tricia "Trillian" McMillan, an Earth woman whom Arthur had met previously, and Marvin, a clinically depressed android. Zaphod seeks the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything to match the disappointing answer once given by the ancient supercomputer Deep Thought: " 42 ". He believes the answer lies on the planet Magrathea, which is only accessible through trial and error using the Heart of Gold ' s improbability drives. During one attempt, the ship arrives at Viltvodle VI, where Zaphod's opponent, Humma Kavula, resides. Kavula offers the coordinates for Magrathea in exchange for Zaphod recovering the Point-of-View gun, a weapon created by Deep Thought that enables the target to temporarily empathize with the shooter. Believing she is responsible for Zaphod's kidnapping, the Vogons abduct Trillian. Arthur spearheads a rescue mission with the others, journeying to the Vogon homeworld, Vogsphere. Before her rescue, Trillian learns that Zaphod personally signed the order for Earth's destruction, mistakenly assuming he was giving a fan his autograph. The group escapes Vogsphere with Galactic Vice-president Questular Rontok and the Vogons in pursuit. The Heart of Gold arrives in Magrathea's orbit, triggering the planet's missile defense systems. Before they can strike, Arthur re-activates the improbability drive, which transforms the missiles into a bowl of petunias and a whale, allowing the Heart of Gold to land safely. Zaphod, Ford, and Trillian enter a portal leading to Deep Thought; however, Arthur and Marvin are stranded outside. Zaphod's party learns from Deep Thought that, after coming up with the Answer "42", Deep Thought's creators had it design another computer to come up with the Question: Earth. The group recovers the Point-of-View gun, and Trillian uses it on Zaphod to show him her resentment for his accidental destruction of the Earth. They are then captured by unknown entities. Meanwhile, on Magrathea, Arthur is met by Slartibartfast, a planet builder. Slartibartfast takes Arthur to a pocket dimension, where he shows that a new version of Earth is near completion. Slartibartfast takes Arthur to his recreated home. Inside, the others are enjoying a feast provided by the mice: hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings who created Deep Thought and commissioned the original Earth. With Arthur, who was on Earth up until its last minutes, the mice surmise that they can discover the Question by removing his brain. Arthur manages to escape and crush the mice under a teapot. Questular and the Vogons arrive outside the home and open fire; during the barrage, Marvin is shot. While Arthur and his companions take cover, Marvin reboots and uses the Point-of-View gun to force the Vogons into a crippling state of depression. The Vogons are taken away, and Zaphod reunites with Questular. Arthur decides to explore the galaxy with Ford and Trillian, allowing Slartibartfast to finalize the new Earth without him. The Heart of Gold crew decides to visit the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

On a foggy night in 1850, Mary Rutledge and retired Colonel Marcus Aurelius Cobb arrive in San Francisco Bay aboard the clipper ship Flying Cloud. She had come to wed a wealthy owner of a gold mine, but he had lost his mine at the roulette wheel when the ball landed on red 13 times at the Bella Donna, a gambling house and restaurant. The men at the wharf reluctantly inform her that her fiancé is dead, murdered most likely by Louis Chamalis, the powerful owner of the Bella Donna. Mary is upset, but quickly pulls herself together. Mary meets Chamalis and goes to work for him. Chamalis gives her the name "Swan" and showers her with extravagant gifts. Their relationship sours quickly because Swan is angered by Chamalis's destructive power-mongering. She does not, however, mind running a crooked roulette wheel and cheating the miners out of their gold. Colonel Cobb purchases a printing press, with the intention of starting a respectable newspaper for the people of San Francisco. His first issue includes an article criticizing an unpunished murder by Chamalis and his men. When Chamalis finds out, he threatens to destroy Cobb's printing press and burn down the building, but is halted by Swan. Chamalis demands that Cobb never print anything attacking him. The colonel unwillingly complies. Swan becomes disillusioned with her life in San Francisco. Her distant behavior irks Chamalis. One morning, she sets out on horseback. When it begins to rain heavily, she seeks refuge in a seemingly abandoned cabin, where she meets poet and gold miner Jim Carmichael. Swan is taken with him, but lies about her current situation after hearing his criticisms of the city. He gives her his book of poems as a memento. Carmichael decides to return to New York. Because of fog, the ship will not leave for a few days. He meets Chamalis's helper, Old Atrocity, who, seeing his bags of gold is happy to show him to the Bella Donna. Carmichael is surprised to find Mary working there. He is served drugged liquor and plays roulette at her table. He loses his composure, insults Swan and eventually loses his money. Carmichael wakes the following morning in the Bella Donna's kitchen. His eloquent speech impresses Chamalis, who hires him on the spot as a waiter. Carmichael's presence bothers Mary, who offers him money to depart. Carmichael refuses, wishing to earn the fare on his own. Cobb puts up a poster telling about a murder Chamalis ordered and how the Bella Donna cheats customers. Seeing it, Chamalis's henchman "Knuckles" Jacoby shoots both the man who put it up and the publisher when he tries to defend him. Dying, Cobb orders his assistant to print the truth. Vigilantes hang Knuckles. Devastated by Cobb's death, Mary acknowledges her love for Carmichael, and works the roulette table so that he wins back the gold he lost. Chamalis finds out and sets out to kill Carmichael. The lovers decide to leave together. They find a rowboat and attempt to board the ship in the harbor. They have trouble seeing in the fog, but can hear Chamalis pursuing them. He shoots and injures Carmichael, and corners them beneath a pier. Mary begs him, as proof of his love for her, not to kill Carmichael. Chamalis agrees, but tells her he does not want her anymore. The sheriff arrives with a mob, and Chamalis allows himself to be taken away. Mary returns to Carmichael's side aboard the ship as it prepares to set sail.

A man wakes inside a laboratory on an airship. A scientist, Estelle, tells him that his name is Henry, she is his wife, and he has been revived after an accident that left him amnesiac and mute. She replaces his missing limbs with cybernetic prostheses, but mercenaries led by the psychokinetic Akan raid the ship before she can replace Henry's voice. Akan claims all of Estelle's research as his corporate property. He kills Estelle's scientists, but Henry and Estelle flee in an escape pod, landing in Moscow. The mercenaries follow and abduct Estelle. Henry is rescued by a stranger named Jimmy, who informs him that his cybernetic limbs are running out of power, which will kill him if he cannot recharge. Jimmy is killed by corrupt police paid by Akan, but Henry escapes. He is joined by another Jimmy, now an alcoholic bum, who informs him that one of Akan's associates, Slick Dimitry, has a charging pump which Henry needs to recharge. The two are attacked, and again Jimmy is killed. Henry escapes, and hunts Dimitry through Moscow before capturing him. Just as Dimitry promises him information, he is killed by a sniper. Henry removes the pump from Dimitry's heart and receives a call from Jimmy, who directs Henry to a brothel. Henry meets two more distinct versions of Jimmy; one a nervous nerd, the other a drug-fuelled sex maniac, who replaces his pump. The brothel is attacked by Akan's forces. Akan taunts Henry about Estelle, who is being transported by an armored convoy, before ejecting Henry from the brothel. Outside, Henry encounters another Jimmy, a stoner, who transports him to Akan's convoy. Henry attacks the convoy and locates Estelle and Akan, who beats him with a baseball bat and has him buried in the woods. Jimmy finds Henry before he's buried and resuscitates him, only to be shelled by a tank. After killing the tank crew and fending off a helicopter, Henry finds another Jimmy, who leads him to an abandoned hotel and a hidden laboratory. Here, the original Jimmy—a quadriplegic scientist—reveals that he is seeking revenge against Akan, who crippled him after his own cyborg super-soldiers failed. The other Jimmys are actually clones based on aspects of the original Jimmy's personality that he can control via a headset. The clones sing and dance with Henry to the song " I've Got You Under My Skin ". Jimmy realizes that Henry has been unknowingly broadcasting his location to Akan, and the two fight their way out of the building against the opposing strike force. Jimmy and Henry drive to Akan's headquarters. They fight their way into an elevator, but the real Jimmy is mortally wounded. Before dying, Jimmy thanks Henry for being a friend, and removes a memory blocker, gradually restoring Henry's memories. Henry fights his way to the highest floor, where he is greeted by Akan and an army of cyborg super-soldiers with Henry's memories. On the roof, Henry wipes out the entire army to the song " Don't Stop Me Now ", before Akan severely wounds Henry. Estelle arrives and reveals that she is actually Akan's wife. Everything that happened was an elaborate ruse to field-test their ability to manipulate cyborg soldiers into doing anything to "rescue their wives", including committing terrorist acts. Akan and Estelle prepare to board a helicopter, leaving Henry for dead. Although Henry blacks out, a memory of his father soon revives him and motivates him to finish Akan. After a brutal fight, Henry jumps onto Estelle's helicopter, Akan's severed head in hand. Estelle asks him how he did it and he paints an "EZ" on the wall with his own blood to mock her. Enraged, she shoots Henry several times, and one of the bullets ricochets off of a barbed wire wrapped around his prosthetic hand and hits her, causing her to stumble out of the helicopter. As she tries to manipulate him into saving her, Henry slams the door on Estelle's hands, sending her plummeting to her death. During the credits, a recording from Jimmy tells Henry he has another thing to do.

A massive meteor shower destroys the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis before entering the atmosphere and bombarding Boston, Philadelphia, Moncton, Halifax, Newfoundland and New York City, the latter being extensively damaged. The meteors were pushed out of the asteroid belt by a collision from a rogue comet the size of Texas and NASA learns it will impact Earth in 18 days, wiping out all life on the planet. NASA devises a plan to drill a deep hole into the asteroid, into which they will insert and detonate a nuclear bomb to split it into two pieces that will each pass to one side of Earth. They recruit Harry Stamper, a third-generation oil driller and owner of an oil drilling company, who agrees to help but on the condition that he bring in his own team to do the drilling. He picks his best employees for the job: Chick Chapple, his best friend and right-hand man; geologists Rockhound and Oscar Choice; and drillers Bear Curlene, Max Lennert, Freddie Noonan, and A. J. Frost (who has been dating Harry's daughter Grace despite Harry's objections). Over twelve days, they are trained to become astronauts with astronaut Willie Sharp, who will pilot Freedom — one of the two super shuttles to fly to the asteroid, the other being the Independence. Before leaving, Chick apologizes to his ex-wife for wronging her and sees his son—who is unaware of his parentage—and Grace accepts A.J.'s marriage proposal, much to Harry's reluctant dismay; she later has her father promise to return home safe and with her fiancé. Following the destruction of Shanghai by another meteor strike, word of the asteroid becomes public to the world. Both shuttles take off without incident and dock with a Russian space station to take on fuel, but a broken pipeline sets the fuel pod ablaze. A.J. and Roscosmos cosmonaut Lev Andropov narrowly manage to board Independence before the space station is obliterated. Approaching the asteroid, Independence is damaged by debris and crashes, killing Oscar, Freddie, and the rest of the crew. The survivors—Lev, Bear, and A.J.—embark in the shuttle's mobile driller "Armadillo" to find the Freedom crew, which landed 26 miles (42 km) from its intended landing/drilling site. When the drilling goes slower than predicted, Sharp reports to Mission Control that it is unlikely they will reach the depth necessary to split the asteroid before "Zero Barrier", the point after which splitting the rock will not prevent the pieces from hitting and destroying Earth. The president of the United States decides to remotely detonate the bomb from Earth immediately, not understanding this will cause total mission failure. Sharp and Harry have a vicious argument, but agree to defuse the bomb and work together after Harry promises Sharp that he will accomplish the mission. They make up on lost drilling time, but a missed gas pocket causes their Armadillo and Max to be blown into space. Just as Harry, NASA, and the world believe the mission to be a failure, and another meteor destroys Paris, A.J. and the others arrive in the second Armadillo. A.J. successfully finishes the drilling, but a rock storm kills munitions officer Gruber and damages the bomb's remote detonator, forcing someone to stay behind and manually detonate it. They draw straws; A.J. is given the responsibility. Harry takes him down to the asteroid's surface, only to disconnect A.J.'s air hose and force him back into the shuttle's air lock, before telling A.J. that he is the son Harry never had, and he would be proud to have him marry Grace. From within the Armadillo, Harry tearfully gives Grace his blessing to marry A.J., and Grace says she is proud to be his daughter. After overcoming a malfunction, Freedom takes off, and just before Zero Barrier, Harry manages to detonate the bomb and saves the planet, sacrificing his life in the process. The astronauts land on Earth safely. A.J. and Grace are reunited, and Chick reconciles with his ex-wife and estranged son. During the credits, A.J. and Grace are married, with the portraits of Harry, Oscar, Max, and Freddie present in memoriam.

Draenor, homeworld to the orcs, is being torn apart by a force known as fel magic. Orc warlock Gul'dan unites the orc clans into the Horde, and creates a portal to another world, Azeroth, by using fel magic to drain the life out of captive draenei. Gul'dan leads a small warband through the portal to capture and sacrifice prisoners on Azeroth to bring the Horde. Durotan, chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, his pregnant mate Draka, and his friend Orgrim Doomhammer join this initial warband. On Azeroth, Draka goes into labor, and Gul'dan rescues Go'el, the dying baby, by draining the life out of a deer to revive and infuse him with fel magic. The orcs raid settlements throughout Azeroth. Anduin Lothar, commander of the human forces of Stormwind Kingdom, finds trespassing mage Khadgar investigating the bodies of the slain men. Khadgar notices the bodies contain traces of fel magic. Stormwind's king, Llane Wrynn, sends them to the stronghold Karazhan to inform Medivh, the Guardian of Tirisfal, of the fel magic's presence on Azeroth. Lothar, Khadgar, and Medivh join a scouting team following traces of fel magic, but are ambushed by orcs. Medivh uses a spell to kill the fel-corrupted orcs, leaving the Horde's warchief, Blackhand, to flee along with Durotan and Orgrim. The team takes a half-orc slave, Garona, as prisoner, but Llane releases her in exchange for loyalty to Stormwind. Garona leads the humans to spy on the orc camp, where they learn of Gul'dan's plan to bring the Horde to Azeroth. While studying a book found in Medivh's library, Khadgar realizes that Gul'dan had help from someone in Azeroth opening the portal. Despite Orgrim's objections, Durotan meets with Llane secretly to unite the Frostwolf Clan and the humans against Gul'dan, but the group is ambushed by Blackhand. Medivh forms a magical barrier to protect the humans' retreat, but Lothar's son Callan is separated from the group and killed by Blackhand. Medivh is weakened, and Garona and Khadgar take him back to Karazhan to recover. Khadgar eventually realizes that Medivh is the one who helped Gul'dan, having been corrupted by fel magic. At the orc camp, Blackhand purges the Frostwolf Clan. Orgrim helps Draka to escape. After sending Go'el down a river in a basket, Draka is found and killed. Durotan challenges Gul'dan to Mak'gora, a duel to the death for leadership of the orcs. During the fight, Gul'dan violates the honorable combat rules by draining the life out of Durotan with magic, killing him and earning the disapproval of the orcs watching. He then empowers Blackhand with the same magic. Medivh, now in a half-demonic state, starts to open the portal to Draenor, and Gul'dan begins sacrificing the captured humans to allow the rest of the Horde to enter Azeroth. Llane leads the human army in an assault on the orc camp, while Lothar and Khadgar fight Medivh and destroy the demon that began to manifest on the outside. Medivh is mortally wounded, and uses the last of his strength to close the portal to Draenor. He then opens a portal to Stormwind, allowing Llane to evacuate most of the freed prisoners. Medivh dies and the portal closes, leaving Llane, Garona, and a small number of human soldiers to fight the orcs. Llane secretly orders Garona to kill him, bringing her honor among the orcs and putting her in a position of power to bring peace between the two races. Garona reluctantly does so and is welcomed into the Horde by Gul'dan. Lothar arrives to retrieve King Llane's body, but is confronted by Blackhand, who challenges Lothar to Mak'gora, with Lothar defeating and killing him, avenging Callan's death. Against Gul'dan's demands, the orcs, bound by tradition, allow Lothar to depart with Llane's body. During Llane's funeral, the leaders of the other human nations, along with the high elves and dwarves, proclaim an alliance against the orcs and support Lothar as the leader of the Alliance. Elsewhere, Orgrim takes one of Durotan's tusks to one day give to Go'el. The basket containing Go'el is found by a human.