Frank Oz

Brothers Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny (Jonah Bobo) never get along with each other, or with their older sister, Lisa (Kristen Stewart). One day, when their father sets off for work, they quarrel yet again while Lisa is in her bedroom upstairs. Danny is banished into the house's basement by older brother Walter for hitting him in the face with a baseball. There he discovers a clockwork-driven space-themed board game called "Zathura". It is a race game, and the objective is to reach a space location called Zathura. At each turn, one of its two markers moves along or back on its track, and the game issues a card (all of which are read primarily by Walter, as Danny cannot read properly) of which the effects happen immediately. The boys start playing the game. When he starts playing, the game produces a card that warns of a meteor shower. After an actual meteor shower occurs in the living room, Walter and Danny realize the game is affecting reality and discover the house floating in outer space. On looking out, one of them sees that it has become night, and that the house is no longer on Earth but on a small rock floating in space. According to the instructions, the house will not return to Earth until the game is finished. During the story, the brothers must overcome their ill will toward one another to survive. Danny and Walter try to tell Lisa, who is in bed, about what happened, but she believes that it is nighttime and refuses to believe the two. When Danny takes his next turn, they receive a card saying that Lisa is frozen in Cryonic sleep, leaving the two brothers to fend for themselves. When Walter takes a turn, a toy-sized robot is brought into existence, but grows larger and becomes programmed to attack him. After being chased through the house, the robot becomes disabled falling into the basement as the house falls into the gravitational field of a star. Without explanation, the house stops falling into that star. When Danny takes another turn, Zorgons, which are lizard-like aliens, appear in a ship from nowhere and attack the house. Amid the chaos, Walter receives a 'Reprogram' card (which he tries to use on the Zorgons to no effect), and Danny receives a card "Rescue stranded astronaut". An Astronaut (Dax Shepard) appears and must be rescued. The Astronaut helps the two to get rid of the Zorgons by turning off all heat in the house, as the Zorgons' vision is thermal and therefore can only see heat signatures. The Astronaut sets a couch on fire and pushes it into space and the Zorgons leave to follow it. The astronaut tells them of the dangers of Zorgons and telling them that they travel the universe to find heat. After an argument, Danny allows the Astronaut to stay to help the two through the rest of the game, much to Walter's disappointment. Returning to the game, Walter notices Danny has illegally moved his piece forward and accuse him of cheating. He forcibly moves it back while berating Danny, resulting in two arguments one before the move and another after that. The game interprets only Walter's action as cheating and the game punishes him by getting him sucked out into space, but he is rescued by the Astronaut, who has a jet-pack. The incident increases the tensions between the two brothers. When Walter takes another turn, he receives a '"Shooting star, make a wish as it passes"' card -which triggers yet another argument ending with Danny angrily throwing the game down- and Walter wishes for a football signed by Brett Favre. Having feared that Walter wished for Danny to not exist, the astronaut tells the two that he played the game with his brother many years ago, and him and his brother also despised each other. The Astronaut received a "Shooting star, make a wish as it passes" card, and wished for his brother to never be born, therefore leaving him stuck in the game. This story prompts both Danny and Walter to reconcile, and the Astronaut promises to protect the two from any future threats in the game. By now, Lisa has come out of her Cryonic stasis. The boys and the Astronaut see her turning up the thermostat to heat the house because she felt cold, and the resulting heat and light draw Zorgon ships back. The Zorgons shoot at the house, further damaging it, and anchor to it with grapples, and suck the game into their ship along with miscellaneous house debris, which they shovel into their ship's engine in order to use them as fuel. Lisa, now knowing what has happened, joins the trio. Danny, Walter, Lisa, and the Astronaut take refuge in a small room upstairs, which was at that point the safest area in the house as the Zorgons boarded the house in the basement. The Astronaut heads downstairs to try to retrieve the game but is forced to return upstairs in vain. Danny reluctantly decides to retrieve the game by heading down the basement via a dumbwaiter, which is large enough for only him (out of the four of them) to fit into, and riskily going through a boarding passage into the Zorgon ship where he frees a group of four-eyed goats to distract one of the Zorgons. He rescues the game at the last moment before it would have been shoveled into a furnace. Meanwhile, a Zorgon arrives upstairs to inspect that part of the house, and at the same time, another Zorgon spots Danny getting into the dumbwaiter. The Zorgon alerts the others and a group of them attacks Danny as he tries to head upstairs. Danny is rescued by Walter, but the two are surrounded on the stairway by Zorgons. The robot, having revived, tries to attack the boys. Walter uses the "Reprogram" card (which he had drawn earlier) on the robot, which then attacks the Zorgons. Of the two Zorgon spaceships, one flees, and another explodes. One Zorgon survives the robot's kamikaze attack and sneaks up behind Walter and Danny as they are wondering where Lisa is. Before the Zorgon can kill them, Lisa crushes and kills it by shoving Danny's piano down on it. Walter, drawing another "Shooting star, make a wish as it passes" card, wishes that the Astronaut had his brother back. A copy of Danny appears. The Astronaut apologizes to the copy of Danny, who appears to be his brother. It is revealed that the Astronaut and his brother are Walter and Danny from an alternate time-line which started when Walter at the first wish card wished otherwise: "I wish my brother had never been born." The Astronaut's brother disintegrates into sparks which enter Danny when the two touch. The Astronaut thanks Walter and tells him to take care of Danny, then touches Walter and turns into a copy of him, which smiles at him and disintegrates into sparks which enter him. Thus, the two time-lines merge, and the future caused by Walter wishing Danny away is erased. Lisa is alarmed to find that she had fallen for an older version of her brother, Walter. In the last throw of the game, the Zorgons, who are now on the warpath against the humans, return with a large fleet, and start blasting the house. Danny scores a move which brings his marker to Zathura, and the Zorgons stop firing. Zathura turns out to be a black hole, which sucks up the Zorgons along with the house, Lisa, Walter and Danny. Moments later, the house is back on Earth, whose structure and furnishings are as they were before the game began and in perfect condition. As the trio's mother arrives to take them to her house, Lisa orders Walter and Danny to never speak of what happened but as they leave, Walter's bike which appeared floating in space several times drops onto the lawn.

After a career setback, Joanna and her husband move their family from Manhattan to Stepford, a quiet suburb. But her fresh start is threatened by a dark secret behind the women of Stepford.

After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-cracker Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his Montreal jazz club. Nick was robbing a necklace from a safe in a rich mansion, which was the venue of a party downstairs. 2 random guests walked into the room to have sex, and Nick barely managed to hide in time. The guy left after the woman changed her mind, but then she noticed Nick's equipment lying on the ground. Nick manages to control her before she raised an alarm and had her back facing him, so she did not see his face. Nick escaped in his van and then crossed over into Canada in a boat. Nick has an elaborate set up to keep his clandestine life completely isolated from his regular identity as a club owner in Montreal. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence Max (Marlon Brando). Max says that the buyer for the necklace died and now it would take more time to pay Nick his cut and offers him $4 million for his next job. Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief. Nick was very reluctant as the job is in Montreal Customs House and he lives in Montreal. Nick is approached by the job's mastermind Jack. Nick sends his associate Burt (Gary Farmer) to intimidate Jack into leaving town, but Jack gains the upper hand and arrives at Nick's home to change his mind. Nick agrees to join the heist in exchange for total control of the operation. The job, negotiated to a $6 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and detained at the Montreal Customs House. The scepter was recovered from a termite infested piano, when it was being burned down, and then kept in safekeeping in the vault room. The vault room itself has no cameras inside. Teller has infiltrated the Custom's House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick accesses the vault room through the sewage network of the city and finds that the vault room has a camera and an alert system. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom Houses' security system to obtain the bypass codes allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. The security system was set up by a private company named Ironclad. Steven is caught, however, by a corrupt Ironclad system's administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. The administrator arranges to meet in a public park, bringing his cousin for protection; tensions arise when the cousin and Jack each reveal they have brought a gun, to Nick's displeasure, but the exchange is made. The safe inside the vault is itself a new model and it tamper proof. If Nick tries to drill through it to gain access, the safe will trigger safety bolts and after that it can only be pried open with a blow torch. After seeing a pressurized beer keg burst open in the street, Nick concocts a plan to defeat the Customs House's impregnable safe. He frustrates Jack by urging patience and refusing to let him be part of the hand-off with Max, despite Jack's insistence. Advised by Burt that the job may be too risky, Nick confronts Max, who confesses that he is deeply in debt to a mob boss but is secretly selling the scepter for $30 million. Max implores him to finish the job, and Nick reluctantly agrees. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their timetable after the Custom's House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV cameras to monitor it while they make preparations to return it to its rightful owners. Jack arrives for his graveyard shift with his gun hidden inside a portable radio. Burt, posing as a garbage truck driver, delivers computer components that Jack uses to bypass the security system. Nick uses a sewer system tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. A fellow janitor stumbles upon Jack, who locks him in a closet at gunpoint. Jack, pretending to be Brian, keeps the guards and other janitors occupied while Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water and inserts and then detonates a depth charge to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double crosses him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire compound to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick manages to elude the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels and escapes. After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat and is shocked to discover that Nick has in fact double crossed him by handing him a carrying case containing a fake scepter. Taunting Jack that "every cop in the city" is now looking for him, Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an "unknown" accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him

B movie film producer Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has saved up to direct a movie for his entire life-he now has $2,184 to pay for production costs. He is deep in debt, but an extremely positive outlook towards life. He is a master at doing things on a budget, using his connections. He has a script ("Chubby Rain" (because the aliens come to earth in rain drops) penned by an accountant, Afrim (Adam Alexi-Malle), and a camera operator, Dave (Jamie Kennedy) (who is also a parking lot attendant and loans Bowfinger expensive cars for his meetings with producers and stuff), with access to studio-owned equipment. Bowfinger then lines up several actors who are hungry for work (including Daisy (Heather Graham), a Hollywood wannabe and Carol (Christine Baranski) who considers herself a serious actress), along with a crowd of illegal Mexican immigrants for a camera crew; the only other thing he needs is access to a studio in order to distribute his masterwork. He extracts a promise from a high-ranking Universal Pictures executive, Jerry Renfro (Robert Downey Jr.), that Universal will distribute the film if it includes currently hot action star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy). Ramsey-a pompous, neurotic, and paranoid (he thinks there is a conspiracy in Hollywood to deliver all the good lines to white actors) actor-refuses to act in Bowfinger's film, so Bowfinger constructs a plan to covertly film all of Ramsey's scenes without his knowledge. The actors, told that Ramsey is method acting and will not be interacting with them outside of their scenes, walk up to Ramsey in public and recite their lines while hidden cameras catch Ramsey's confused reactions. Daisy is very comfortable giving sexual favors to get what she wants and starts by showering Slater (Kohl Sudduth) (the supporting actor) with her affections. The plan goes well at first: Ramsey (who is a member of an organization called MindHead, whose mentor Terry Stricter (Terence Stamp) is counseling Kit on his paranoia about being chased by aliens and against his urge to flash females in public) swallows the movie's alien invasion premise and believes he is genuinely being stalked by aliens, resulting in an exceptionally genuine and intense performance. Daisy wants more scenes with Kit and asks Slater for it. Slater suggests speaking to Afrim, since he is the screenwriter. Daisy sleeps with Afrim and he changes the script. Afrim informs Daisy that its up to Bowfinger if the scenes actually make it into the final movie or not. So, Daisy moves on to Bowfinger. Bowfinger steals Daisy's credit card to fund the equipment to film the rest of the movie. However, the strain on Kit's already-precarious mental state leads him to go into hiding (He moves into the Mindhead facility for solitude) in order to maintain his sanity, stalling the film's production. Bowfinger resorts to hiring a Ramsey lookalike named Jiff. Jiff is kind, amiable and rather clueless. He even runs through a gauntlet of "stunt drivers" racing along a major freeway when asked. During a chat with the other cast members, Jiff mentions that he is Kit Ramsey's brother, explaining the likeness. Using this new knowledge, Bowfinger has Jiff find out Kit Ramsey's movements and the final scene to the film is readied for shooting. Also, Daisy moves on to having sex with Jiff to get an intro to Kit. The final scene is at an observatory. Though otherwise pleased with Ramsey's unscripted dialogue, Bowfinger considers his character's final line "Gotcha suckers!" to be the key moment of the film and directs one of the actors to guide Ramsey through the scene under the guise of showing him how to get rid of the aliens. During the filming, Ramsey becomes terrified and struggles to deliver the final line. At this point, Ramsey's mentor at MindHead, Terry Stricter (Terence Stamp), has discovered evidence (A guard at Dave's studio is a MindHead member and tells Terry everything) that Kit's "aliens" may not be just in his head. MindHead officials track Bowfinger to the observatory and shut down production. Bowfinger's camera crew show him B-roll footage of Ramsey they were filming off-set, just in case they saw anything they could use. The footage shows Ramsey donning a paper bag over his head and exposing himself to an amused Laker Girl Cheerleading Squad, something MindHead specifically discouraged him from doing. Bowfinger blackmails MindHead with the footage, threatening to release it and ruin Ramsey's career (which would also endanger MindHead's finances as Ramsey is a major donor to their operations). MindHead advises the star to finish the project. Bowfinger finally gets to sit at the premiere of a film he himself directed and is awed (Daisy attends the premier as Kit's guest, suggesting that she is now sleeping with him). Following the arguable success of the film, Bowfinger receives a rare Fed-Ex envelope-an offer to film a martial arts film called "Fake Purse Ninjas" starring himself and Jiff Ramsey.

Eighteen years after the events of the original Blues Brothers movie, Elwood Blues is released from prison. He patiently stands by the road, waiting for Jake to pick him up, but Jake never comes. After Elwood waits a whole day, the warden notices him and informs him that Jake died while Elwood was in prison. Instead, a woman named Matara comes to pick up Elwood. Matara works for the Blues Brothers' former drummer Willie, who is now the owner of a strip club. Willie is happy to see his old friend free again and offers him a job as a house musician, but refuses when Elwood asks him if he is interested in reuniting the band. Elwood goes to visit the "penguin", Sister Mary, who now works in a hospital. She tells him that the old orphanage has closed, and that Curtis, the orphanage's custodian and father figure to Jake and Elwood, has died. Elwood wallows in self-pity, now knowing he has no family left, no past, no future, nothing. Sister Mary is having none of it, though. She tells Elwood that Curtis had an affair with a married woman and sired an illegitimate son, so Elwood still has, in a way, a foster brother. However, she says this man knows nothing of his real father and advises Elwood against contacting him. She also introduces Elwood to Buster, a 10-year-old troubled orphan, and suggests that he be his mentor. Neither Elwood nor Buster are enthusiastic about the idea. Elwood visits a used car lot and spots a former police car, this one a black and white Ford Crown Victoria. The owner, Melvin Gasperon, asks five hundred dollars for the car. Elwood, with Buster accompanying him, goes looking for his foster brother, against Sister Mary's advice, hoping he will lend him the money. Elwood finds the man, Cabel Chamberlain, to be a commander in the Illinois State Police. He tells Cabel about Curtis, offending him. He also asks him for a loan and asks if he is interested in joining his band. Cabel calls his mother to ask her about Curtis, and she is taken by surprise and does not deny it. Cabel, upset by the news about his real father and outraged by the requests made by Elwood with his long criminal record, throws Elwood out of his office. Outside the building, Buster steals Cabel's wallet. Elwood returns the wallet, but keeps the cash it contained. While Cabel files papers to have Elwood arrested for the theft, Elwood returns to Melvin's car lot to buy the car, which is to become the new Bluesmobile. Melvin says he's moving to New Orleans, and the two men wish each other well. At Willie's strip club, Elwood notices Russian mobsters picking up "protection" money. He remarks to Willie later that this is not right. Willie sympathizes, but does not dare challenge the mobsters. One night, when Willie is not at the club, Elwood and the bartender Mac get the Russian mobsters falling down drunk, then steal their clothes and leave them bound and gagged in an alley with a note warning them to stop shaking down Willie. When the mobsters are reunited with the rest of their gang, they vow to destroy the strip club in retaliation for the slight. Another night, Elwood invites Mac on stage with him, to Willie's mild chagrin, but Mac proves to be a talented singer. At that moment, several members of the Russian mob show up with machine guns and order everyone out of the building. They then shoot up the place and set it on fire. Elwood, with Buster still in tow, escapes along with Mac and Willie through a rear window. As they climb into the Bluesmobile, one of the mobsters recognizes Elwood, and they chase him in another car with their machine guns. Mac drops some nails out the window, puncturing the Russians' tires and causing their car to crash. Willie has now lost his livelihood, and agrees to play music with Elwood. Elwood goes to look for the rest of the band members. Mac and Buster, now with suits like Elwood's, come along for the ride. They locate Matt, the guitarist, and Blue Lou at Matt's Mercedes dealership. This time, Matt's wife approves, if somewhat grudgingly, of Matt and Lou rejoining the band. They find Murph at a call center, and three other members working at a radio station, and they readily agree to rejoin the band. The last member is Mr. Fabulous, now a funeral director. They find him in a cemetery, holding a funeral for one of the Russians. Mr. Fabulous initially resists rejoining the band, but Elwood and Mac loudly make remarks that make the Russian mobsters think that he is planning to rob the grave. The Russians draw their guns, and Mr. Fabulous flees with the rest of the band members. With all surviving members reunited, plus Mac and Buster, the band goes to see their former booking agent, Maury Sline. Maury suggests they enter an upcoming Battle of the Bands contest in New Orleans, and sets up a gig for them to play on the way there, at a county fair in Cynthiana, Kentucky. In the Bluesmobile and an additional car, the band leaves Chicago. Meanwhile, no one at Sister Mary's hospital has seen Elwood or Buster for a week, and they start to think Elwood has kidnapped Buster. They go to the police, and the FBI gets involved. Elwood's description gets passed to police agencies in neighboring states. The band stops for dinner at Bob's Country Kitchen (the former Bob's Country Bunker) in Kokomo, Indiana. A trooper with the Indiana State Police happens to spot the car there. The police enter to arrest Elwood, but he is able to create a diversion and escape with Mac and Buster. The rest of the band shrugs off Elwood's antics, but they quickly leave when Bob starts to recognize them from their stunt in the original movie. Gradually, Elwood and Buster begin to warm up to each other. Elwood is able to elude the policemen that night, but the police set up a massive roadblock at a bridge over the Ohio River the next day, where Elwood would have to cross to get to Kentucky. Elwood sees the police, and drives the Bluesmobile straight through the river, as if it was a submarine. When they reach the Kentucky side, they interrupt a meeting of a redneck militia group and accidentally destroy their boat, which was filled with explosives. The police are looking for Elwood's car in Cynthiana, so they paint it white before arriving at the county fair. The rest of the band, in the other car, arrives before Elwood's car and only then discover that they are expected to play not blues, but bluegrass. Unseen by either the band or the police, one of the Russian mobsters also comes to the fair and climbs a scaffold, intending to shoot Elwood from it. Elwood, seeing all the policemen, invites the spectators to come out of the bleachers and crowd the stage, which hinders the police. The band begins playing "Ghost Rider", to the delight of the spectators. While they are playing, a heavy thunderstorm arrives over Cynthiana. The wind knocks over tents, the sudden driving rain interferes with the Russian mobster trying to aim his gun and washes the hastily applied white paint from the Bluesmobile. Buster grabs a harmonica and plays, and for the first time, Elwood is impressed with him. However, the police are still moving in, so Elwood uses a remote control to guide the Bluesmobile to the stage. As soon as they are done playing, they cram into the car and flee, abandoning their instruments. Lightning strikes the Russian mobster's scaffold, ending any chance he had to shoot Elwood. The band continues south, but they run out of gas somewhere in Mississippi. Some of the band members walk toward the nearest town, and find a tent revival meeting, where Reverend Cleophus James, from Chicago, will be preaching. Elwood knows Cleophus and hopes to ask him for gas money, so they sit down for the service. Meanwhile, one of the other band members goes in a different direction and is able to obtain gas by himself. The police catch up to the band at the tent, Cabel Chamberlain among them, intending to arrest Elwood. Cleophus's music causes Cabel to have a religious awakening; the music is in his blood. He decides to join the band rather than arrest them. The other policemen think Cabel has been brainwashed somehow. The remaining band member brings the freshly gassed Bluesmobile to pick up the rest of the group. Dozens of police cars from at least four states chase them. At a road construction site, Elwood jumps over some heavy equipment in the Bluesmobile, but the pursuing police cars crash into it, allowing the band to escape. The band finally arrives in New Orleans, and goes to the mansion of Queen Mousette to audition for the Battle of the Bands. Queen Mousette was reputed to be ancient, ugly, and cannibalistic, but the band discovers she is none of these. She asks them to play Caribbean music. Elwood protests that music is not part of their repertoire, but Mousette puts a spell on them and they play the music requested. Mousette is impressed and invites them to compete the next day, but Elwood, Mac, and Cabel are transformed into zombies until their turn comes up. A large crowd enters the mansion to see the Battle of the Bands. The band that goes before the Blues Brothers is called the Louisiana Gator Boys, and they include, among others, Melvin Gasperon, the man who sold Elwood the car. After they play their number, the zombie spell is removed from Elwood, Mac, and Cabel, and the Blues Brothers take their turn. The emcee asks the audience to cheer for their favorite band, and the Gator Boys are declared the winners. Just then, the Russian mobsters and the redneck militia both arrive at the mansion looking for Elwood, but since neither armed group has yet met the other, each considers the other group potentially hostile, and they turn on each other. Mousette intervenes and casts a spell, turning both the Russians and the rednecks into rats. The Blues Brothers and the Gator Boys jam together. Sister Mary arrives next, with more policemen, to find Elwood, Mac, Buster, Cabel, and the rest of the band still jamming. Cabel assures them that he is all right, but the police still suspect Elwood of kidnapping Buster. While the rest of the band members continue to play, Elwood and Buster slip out and drive away in the Bluesmobile, still pursued by police, toward an unknown fate.

On his ninth birthday, Omri receives an old cupboard from his brother Gillon (Vincent Kartheiser) and a little Native American "Indian" figure made of plastic from his best friend Patrick (Rishi Bhat). That night, Omri goes through his mom's box of old keys and finds that a gold-colored key with a red ribbon tied to it (given to his mother by her grandmother) actually fits the keyhole of his cupboard. He then looks for an object to lock in the cupboard and settles for the Indian figurine. The next morning, he hears a small tapping noise coming from the cupboard. Omri opens the cupboard and finds a small living person hiding in the corner. It is actually the Indian figure who has magically come to life in human form. Frightened by his large acquaintance, the Indian pulls out a dagger and points it at Omri. Shortly afterward, Omri's father comes in the room to help Omri get ready for school, forcing Omri to lock the cupboard and keep the Indian a secret. When Omri arrives home from school, he is upset to discover that the Indian has returned to its original toy form. When he goes to bed, Omri once more hears the tapping noise he heard that morning. He opens the cupboard to find the Indian alive once more. The Indian is again initially frightened of Omri but warms up to him, thinking Omri is a great spirit in a child's form, as the two begin talking, slowly forming a friendship. The Indian reveals himself as an English-speaking, 18th-century Iroquois Indian named Little Bear (Litefoot) who was fighting in the French and Indian War on the side of the British. During Little Bear's stay with Omri, Omri learns a lot about the Iroquois. Omri also learns that Little Bear is a widower. Then Omri takes Little Bear outside, but Little Bear gets hurt by a pigeon, forcing Omri to bring to life his brother's First World War British Army medic named Tommy Atkins (Steve Coogan) to treat Little Bear's wound. After Omri gives Little Bear tools, sticks and some paper, Little Bear crafts a longhouse and eagerly talks of hunting and sharing stories with Omri over a fire, as he does with his own people. Omri decides to surprise Little Bear with another Indian figure (resembling a Chieftain), saying Little Bear can have the Chieftain's longbow. Little Bear watches in excitement as Omri brings the figure to life. However, before Omri can send the Chieftain back, he suffers a heart attack out of fear. Omri is frightened as he has never seen someone die. Little Bear is confused as to why a spirit would be frightened at the sight of death, coming to the realization that Omri really is a child. Little Bear tells Omri to send the man back, but Omri is reluctant, worried that no one will find his body if he was alone when Omri summoned him. Little Bear yells at Omri, saying that he, Little Bear, had been guiding his nephew through the woods to teach him how to be a man when Omri had taken him away and that Omri shouldn't tamper with magic he doesn't even understand. This upsets Omri. Omri locks the dead Chieftain in the cupboard, making him plastic once more, before leaving the angry Little Bear to answer his dad calling him downstairs. Omri's dad is upset when, after asking Omri where his saw blades went, Omri tells him that he buried them and can't remember where (Omri lied to protect Little Bear's existence). Omri's dad forgives him, saying he can just buy another set. Due to a combination of guilt and wanting to prove his maturity, Omri volunteers to go buy the new set of blades on his own. While Omri goes to the store, Little Bear is preparing the Chieftain's body, presumably still in its plastic form, for burial. As Omri leaves the hardware store, another slightly older kid knocks him into a wall and roughs him up, stealing the change Omri had left. Visibly shaken from the incident, Omri suddenly runs into Patrick, who has a plastic cowboy on a horse to go with the Indian. Patrick's mother is nearby. She notices that Omri is upset, so she and Patrick take Omri home. Eventually, Omri reveals his secret to Patrick. However, after they find Little Bear, who had been hiding from Omri's older brothers, Little Bear begs Omri to send him home. Ignoring Omri's protests, Patrick brings to life a cowboy from 1879 called "Boohoo" Boone (David Keith). Boone and Little Bear are initially hostile toward one another, but are forced to behave themselves when Omri reluctantly accepts Patrick's request to bring them to school. Their cover is nearly blown when Patrick almost shows Boone and Little Bear (now friends) to some classmates, and he and Omri began arguing in the hallway. When Patrick childishly asserts that he could reveal the men and Omri would be powerless to stop him, Omri drives home the point that the time travelers are not living toys that exist for their amusement, but people just like them. As the truth sinks in for Patrick, one of their teachers tries to mediate, and when he realizes that an object in Patrick's fanny pack is the subject of contention, orders him to open it and show him. Boone and Little Bear pretend to be plastic toys thanks to Omri's hints and laying woodenly in Patrick's hand, successfully fool the teacher. Back home, Omri shows a female Indian figure to Little Bear, which he intends to bring to life to give Little Bear a new wife. Just as he is about to lock the figure in the cupboard, he and Patrick (who is spending the night) are puzzled to find the cupboard is missing. Omri's brother confesses he hid the cupboard in the downstairs crawlspace as means of getting back at Omri for hiding the ball his brother keeps his pet rat in. When Omri retrieves the cupboard, he discovers that the key is gone. That night, Omri and Patrick, along with Little Bear and Boone, watch a program on TV that shows a relentless slaughter of Indians by cowboys. Boone is enthusiastic at the sight of his "boys" killing the helpless Indians, while Little Bear watches in horror at the sight of his "people" being massacred. Upon hearing Boone fire his revolver into the air with delight, Little Bear becomes confused and fires an arrow into Boone's chest. Making matters worse, Omri's mother warns that Omri's brother's pet rat has escaped and is hidden somewhere under the wooden floors. Later that night, Omri and Patrick find the key jammed between two floor boards and accidentally push it down out of sight while trying to retrieve it. Little Bear goes under the floor and manages to return the key to Omri just before he is nearly killed by the pet rat. With the key back, Omri brings Tommy Atkins back to life, so he can treat Boone's wounds. While the still unconscious cowboy is being examined, Omri realizes it is time to return Little Bear and Boone to their respective time periods where they belong. Shortly after Omri sends Tommy Atkins back to his own time, Boone awakens and forgives Little Bear. Later that night, as Patrick sleeps, Omri goes to bring the female Indian to life, but Little Bear realizes what Omri is doing, and stops him. Omri says he doesn't want Little Bear to be alone when he goes back, but Little Bear says that the Indian woman probably has people of her own, maybe even her own family, and forcing her to be with Little Bear would sadden her and in turn, sadden him. Omri agrees not to bring her to life. The next morning, Omri and Patrick say their goodbyes to their little friends before locking them back in the cupboard and sending them home. Just before saying goodbye, Omri has a vision of a life-sized Little Bear telling him that when he returns to his own time, he will take Omri on as his nephew. The film ends with Omri at school reading a journal entry where he assures everyone that although he will never know where or how Little Bear may be, he does not worry about him anymore.

Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine) is a cultivated and suave British master con artist who operates in the deluxe hotels along the French Riviera under the watchful and approving eye of French Inspector Andre (Anton Rodgers), the resident chief of police who receives a cut of his take. Their only concern is a mysterious, anonymous character known only as "The Jackal" who has been preying on other wealthy victims of late. When small-time American hustler Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) decides to search for easy marks in Beaumont-Sur-Mer, Lawrence's home base, Lawrence recognizes that the Jackal has shown his face. He briefly has Andre arrest Freddy for conning a gold digger and release him on the promise of a bribe, but Freddy encounters one of Lawrence's past victims on his plane and realizes who Lawrence really is. Freddy returns to Beaumont-Sur-Mer and confronts Lawrence, demanding training in his art of the con in exchange for keeping silent. Lawrence agrees, but only as a way to get rid of Freddy since Lawrence does not want a lowly competitor infringing on his territory. Freddy's roles in subsequent cons are limited, and much to his chagrin, he is forced to play Lawrence's mentally disabled younger half-brother, Ruprecht, whose extremely socially subnormal traits are used to repel women that Lawrence has recently conned, and to whom they believe they will be wed. When Freddy decides that he's had enough of Lawrence's humiliating tutelage and wants to go out on his own, the two agree to a challenge to see who will remain in Beaumont-Sur-Mer, since there is not enough room for the two of them in the same small town. The first one to con $50,000 out of a selected mark will be allowed to stay, while the other must leave and never return to Beaumont-Sur-Mer. The two select Janet Colgate (Glenne Headly), a naive and wealthy American heiress, as their target and embark on their separate strategies while at the same time ruthlessly sabotaging each other. Freddy poses as a Psychosomatically crippled soldier who needs to borrow $50,000 for treatment by a celebrated Liechtenstein psychiatrist, Emile Shauffhausen. But when Lawrence discovers this scheme, he pretends to be Dr. Shauffhausen, insisting Freddy's condition is one he can cure with the stipulation that Janet pay the $50,000 fee directly to him. Lawrence discovers that Janet is not wealthy after all but on vacation as a contest winner. She plans to sell the remainder of her prizes and combine the proceeds with her father's savings to finance Freddy's treatment. Lawrence has always taken advantage of wealthy and corrupt members of society, but he does not take advantage of the poor and virtuous. Impressed and emotionally touched by Janet's innate goodness, Lawrence calls off the bet. Freddy suggests they change the challenge and make Janet herself the bet, with the first to bed her declared the winner. Lawrence refuses to try to "win," agreeing only to bet that Freddy will fail to do so. Scheming with a group of sympathetic English sailors (who pity Freddy and think he really is disabled), Freddy has Lawrence abducted and taken to a transport plane to Honduras. He goes to Janet, who admits that she is in love with him. This "cures" Freddy of his disorder. Lawrence is in the bedroom hidden from view, and Janet reveals that he had told her how to handle Freddy's return, and that he would be 'cured'. Once a member of the Royal Naval Reserve, Lawrence had told the sailors the true story. Frustrated at being played for fools, they strong-arm Freddy into joining their party and glue his palm to a wall to stop him from escaping while Lawrence puts Janet on the next plane out of France. Despite being trapped, Freddy enjoys the party greatly. The next day however, Janet does not board her flight. She instead returns to her hotel room to find a remorseful Freddy there. They kiss, close the door and begin to undress. The news reaches Lawrence as he swims, and he accepts his defeat with grace. He is later seen struggling to retain composure as he waits for Freddy to return and gloat over his victory. Janet later goes to Lawrence in tears. She tells him that Freddy has stolen the money her father sent. Lawrence compensates her with $50,000 of his own and takes her to the airport. At the last minute before she boards the plane, Janet tells Lawrence that she cannot take the money and gives the bag back to him. As the plane leaves, Freddy, in handcuffs, appears claiming that Janet robbed the both of them. Puzzled, Lawrence finally opens up the bag and finds a note from Janet instead admitting that she indeed took the $50,000 and that she was The Jackal all along. Freddy rants his head off, while Lawrence smiles in admiration at Janet's cleverness. Freddy and Lawrence assess their loss. They are about to part company forever when Janet, under a new disguise (as a loud New Yorker named Paula), suddenly arrives at Lawrence's villa with a yacht filled with wealthy people. While the guests refresh themselves, Janet takes the two men aside and announces that as The Jackal she has made a fortune, but she had great fun during her time with Lawrence and Freddy. Joining arms, they set out to fleece their latest victims.

The narrator (Stanley Jones) tells of an event that once threatened the existence of the entire human race. It occurred in "the most seemingly innocent and unlikely of places", Skid Row, in New York. Three teenage girls (Michelle Weeks, Tisha Campbell-Martin, and Tichina Arnold) appear throughout the film as a Motown-singing Greek chorus. They set the scene at the unassuming Mushnick's Flower Shop ("Little Shop of Horrors"). Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), the meek, clumsy employee of Mr. Mushnick (Vincent Gardenia), lives a dreary life among the other unfortunate residents of Skid Row ("Skid Row/Downtown"). Taken in by Mushnick as a young orphan, Seymour lives in a tiny room below the flower shop and is treated fairly poorly by his employer. The light of his life is his co-worker, Audrey (Ellen Greene), a fragile, battered woman stuck in an abusive relationship. The flower shop is making virtually no money, and Mr. Mushnick is on the verge of closing it for good when Audrey mentions the strange and interesting new plant Seymour has been developing, and suggests that if it is properly advertised, it might attract more business. Seymour presents the plant, a large bud surrounded by layers of leaves. Mushnick is pleasantly surprised when customers begin flocking in after seeing the little plant in the window. Seymour has no idea what kind of plant it is, but explains how he got it ("Da Doo"): While he was shopping for odd new plants, his hobby, a solar eclipse occurred. After daylight returned, the strange plant seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Seymour bought it for cheap and brought it home to examine. He shyly admits that he named it "Audrey II." The shop is doing record business until the plant begins to wither. Seymour frantically tries to nurse it back to health, though water, sunlight, fertilizer, and minerals have done no good ("Grow For Me"). When he pricks his finger on a rose thorn and draws blood, Audrey II responds vigorously. Seymour realizes what it lives on, and reluctantly gives it a few drops. Audrey II has a dramatic growth spurt and business picks up, with Seymour becoming a local celebrity ("Some Fun Now"). He does not reveal the secret behind the plant's health. Audrey's boyfriend, Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin), is a sadistic dentist with a leather jacket, motorcycle, and ducktail haircut. He adores his profession because of the constant opportunities to inflict pain on others ("Dentist!"). He enhances his pleasure through his habit of huffing nitrous oxide, or "giggle gas", for a euphoric high. Seymour and Mushnick are concerned, as Audrey often comes to work with injuries or a black eye. Orin arrives at the shop one night to pick up Audrey, and Seymour sees first hand how roughly he treats her. Audrey, meanwhile, secretly dreams of an idyllic suburban life with Seymour ("Somewhere That's Green"), but is too frightened to leave Orin. Seymour angrily paces around the empty shop at night, venting his frustrations to Audrey II, who is now roughly the size of an armchair. To Seymour's great surprise, Audrey II responds with a human voice (Levi Stubbs) and demands more food. Knowing that the plant can no longer live on mere droplets of blood (partially because it is too big, and partially because Seymour is now weak and anemic from feeding the plant from his bleeding fingers), Seymour is reluctant to provide it with bigger portions. The smooth-talking Audrey II promises Seymour money, fame, and the girl of his dreams if he continues to nourish it with human blood ("Feed Me (Git It)"). Seymour initially refuses to murder for the benefit of Audrey II, reasoning that he doesn't know anyone "who deserves to get chopped up and fed to a hungry plant." Audrey II directs him to the window, where he sees Orin assaulting Audrey across the street. Filled with rage, Seymour agrees to bring back a specific meal for the plant. The next day, Seymour goes to Orin's office with a gun in his coat pocket. The patient before him, Arthur Denton (Bill Murray) is a gleeful masochist who frustrates Orin by actually enjoying the oral torture he receives. After Denton's departure, Orin drags Seymour into his office to get the sadistic fix he had been craving. Though he wants to spare Audrey further pain and has promised Audrey II fresh blood, Seymour is terrified of shooting Orin. Conveniently, Orin dons his special gas mask, which provides him with constant nitrous oxide and increases his sadistic pleasure. The mask malfunctions and Seymour watches his nemesis asphyxiate before his eyes. Seymour drags the body back to the flower shop, where he reluctantly chops it up with an axe and feeds it piece by piece to Audrey II. Seymour is understandably shaken by the incident, and sees the police speaking with Audrey the next morning about Orin's disappearance. He tries to comfort Audrey, telling her that she had deserved a better man all along. While Audrey admits that her low self-esteem kept her tied to Orin, she feels partially responsible for his fate because she had been silently wishing him out of her life. Though he does not reveal the truth about what became of Orin, Seymour promises to stand by Audrey no matter what ("Suddenly Seymour"). Invigorated from finally winning Audrey's love, Seymour returns to the flower shop. He is confronted by Mushnick, who had seen Seymour dismembering Orin's body the night before. Mushnick assumes that Seymour's devotion to Audrey caused him to murder the cruel dentist, but does not suspect that Audrey II is involved, and knows nothing of its grisly diet. Mushnick leads Seymour upstairs at gunpoint, planning to turn him in to the police. He then offers Seymour a proposition: Seymour leaves town forever, and Mushnick keeps the money-making plant. As Audrey II coaxes Seymour to sacrifice Mushnick to clear his own name ("Suppertime"), Seymour nervously backs Mushnick into the gaping maw of the hungry plant, killing two birds with one stone. With Audrey II grown to enormous proportions, Seymour's celebrity increases ("The Meek Shall Inherit"). However, he is miserable and terrified of the plant's eating habits getting out of hand. He begins to fend off the media and turn down large sums of money, feeling guilty for his part in the secret deaths of Audrey II's meals. He finally puts his foot down, denying the plant any further feedings. He and Audrey plan to run away that night and get married, escaping Skid Row forever. However, he buckles when Audrey II seemingly agrees to accept some meat from the butcher instead of a human corpse. Seymour falls for the ruse and leaves the shop. The plant, with its fully mobile tendrils, uses the phone to call Audrey's apartment across the street, begging for water. Audrey, in her wedding dress, comes to oblige, and is amazed that the huge plant can talk. As she fetches the watering can, the plant wraps its vines around her legs and drags her into its mouth ("Suppertime II"). Seymour returns just in time to save Audrey from being devoured. Outside the shop, he explains how dangerous the plant is, and how he only kept it because he thought Audrey would cease to like him if he were no longer rich and famous. Audrey assures Seymour that she loved him from the moment she met him, and still does. They are interrupted by a salesman (James Belushi) who shares with Seymour his idea of collecting trimmings from the plant and marketing miniature Audrey IIs all over the country. Seymour deducts that this was the plant's plan all along: It was an alien that came to earth during the solar eclipse and was bent on world domination. He rushes back into the shop for a final showdown with Audrey II. The plant thwarts Seymour's efforts at killing it, and begins to taunt him as its branches destroy the building and new buds begin to bloom ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"). Emerging from the rubble, Seymour grabs a live electric wire and touches it to Audrey II's vine, electrocuting it and causing it to explode into nothing. Seymour and Audrey are married and arrive at their suburban dream home, just as Audrey had imagined. As they enter the front door, a baby Audrey II plant is seen in their garden, a tiny smile on its pod.

The film begins with a group of birds that are part of an organization called 'The Feathered Friends.' Their topic of the day: Big Bird. The organization feels that Big Bird should be placed with a family of birds, seeing as he appears to be an orphan. The organization approves for it's representative Miss Finch to help Big Bird. Miss Finch arrives on Sesame Street, and soon convinces Big Bird that he should be with a bird family. The announcement comes as a sad goodbye to Big Bird's friends, who consider themselves his family. Soon afterwards, Big Bird arrives in Ocean View, Illinois, where he is introduced to his new family: The Do-Do's. Big Bird tries to get along with his new family, but he still feels homesick. One day, a large postcard arrives from Mr Snuffleupagus, wanting to visit. The Do-Do's laugh at the notion that Big Bird has friends that are not birds. Their words upset Big Bird, who then decides to run away back to Sesame Street. Big Bird's friends hear of his 'flight' on TV, as well as a statement by Miss Finch who vows to find Big Bird and return him to the Do-Do's. The next day, Big Bird's friends take action, setting out by car and plane to find him. Along the way, Big Bird soon tires of walking, and hitches a ride with a turkey farmer. After some time, Big Bird ends up on a farm, where he befriends two children. After spending the night in their barn, he helps them with their chores the next day. However, Big Bird flees when Miss Finch is seen nearby. Eventually, Big Bird makes his way to a city called Toadstool. But Miss Finch is not too far behind, and Big Bird has to flee once again. On the outskirts of Toadstool, Big Bird meets a pair of no-goods called The Sleaze Brothers. Offering to hide Big Bird from Miss Finch, Big Bird soon realizes he is trapped when the brothers refuse to let him go. Smelling a lucrative deal on their hands, the brothers paint Big Bird blue, and tout him as 'The Bluebird of Happiness.' However, Big Bird's stage song is one of sadness, in which he sings of being home with his friends. After the show, two children meet him backstage, where he explains for them to call Sesame Street, and tell them where he is. The next day, Big Bird's friends sneak into the circus tent to free him. However, the Sleaze Brothers take off before they can rescue him. Gordon and Olivia give chase, and help release Big Bird, before the two Sleaze Brothers are pulled over and charged with a long string of illegal practices and felonies. Soon afterwards, Big Bird returns to Sesame Street amid cheers from his friends, but soon grows worried when Miss Finch shows up, promising to try and place him with another 'bird family.' Maria strongly rebuffs Miss Finch's decision, claiming that on Sesame Street, there are all kinds of people and things, and they are all happy together, even if they aren't all the same. After hearing Maria's testimony, and realizing how far his friends went to get him back, Miss Finch declares that Big Bird can stay. Now home where he belongs, Big Bird returns to his nest, where he greets Mr. Snuffleupagus, who had been waiting for his return.

As they prepare to graduate from college, the Muppets perform a musical revue they call 'Manhattan Melodies.' The show is a major crowd-pleaser, and several people suggest that Kermit take the show to Broadway. Kermit is at first unsure, but the other Muppets insist on this as well, and they head off to New York City. The gang goes from place-to-place, but none of the big Broadway producers seem interested. As their money dries up, the group stops into a small restaurant, run by Pete and his daughter Jenny. It is here that the other Muppets secretly reveal to each other (minus Kermit) that maybe they are holding him up from being able to make 'Manhattan Melodies,' and lie to Kermit, explaining they have gotten job offers in other parts of the country. The group parts ways, and Kermit is left alone in Manhattan. Unsure what to do, he goes to the top of the Empire State Building, and looking down, regains his resolve, shouting out that he is going to succeed, and get his friends back and get 'Manhattan Melodies' made. Partnering with Jenny and working at Pete's restaurant, Kermit attempts to try several different technicques to give the play to certain people: barging into a producer's office pretending to be an old friend. recruiting several of Pete's rat cooks to spread a whispering campaign in a high-profile restaurant. However, each of these attempts leads to failure, but Jenny insists that Kermit shouldn't give up. While in Central Park, both are surprised to come across Miss Piggy, whom Kermit had assumed had left with everyone else. Though it soon becomes apparent that Piggy has been following Kermit, and thinks that he has developed a relationship with Jenny. Kermit ends up helping Piggy get a job at Pete's soon after. Looking through mail from their friends, Kermit is surprised to find a letter from the office of Bernard Crawford, a big Broadway producer. Kermit rushes off only to find that the letter was sent by Bernard's son, Ronnie. Bernard is willing to give his son the chance to produce a picture, and Ronnie loves 'Manhattan Melodies' and wants to produce it! Kermit eagerly calls up Piggy and Jenny and tells them the news, but then gets so excited that he walks into the middle of the street and gets hit by a car, developing amnesia. After being in the hospital, Kermit's memory still hasn't recovered, but the hospital sends him on his way. Wandering into an ad agency, a trio of ad executives (who happen to be frogs) take Kermit in when he helps them with a soap advertising tagline. Meanwhile, the rest of the Muppets have returned to New York, but the group is now faced with trying to find Kermit, as well as prepare for the opening of the show in 2 weeks! Even though they find Kermit at the diner, he does not remember them so they are forced to bring him to the theatre. At the theater where Manhattan Melodies is set to show, Piggy tries to one time to remember get Kermit to remember, but he just makes hating comments about love between a frog and a pig. She hits him with a punch and Kermit finally reunites with his friends.

The film takes place on Thra, a planet with three suns; the Great Sun, the Rose Sun and the Dying Sun. Many creatures and races inhabit the planet but the dominant race is the urSkeks who are the guardians of the Crystal of Truth. The Crystal harnesses the forces of nature, especially the light of the three suns, for the benefit of all on Thra. One thousand years before the beginning of the movie, the urSkeks cracked the Crystal of Truth, and split into two races during the Great Conjunction of the three suns - the hunchbacked, gentle beings known as Mystics (or urRu in the original drafts and novelization), and the vulture-like, cruel bipedal beings known as Skeksis. In that moment the Crystal became the Dark Crystal. The Skeksis drove the Mystics from the castle, where the shattered crystal resides, and instituted a reign of terror over their world. Their wrath was particularly directed toward the elf-like Gelflings due to a prophecy that promised the restoration of the crystal and the end of the Skeksis' power by a Gelfling. The prophecy, rediscovered in an ancient Gelfling city, read: When single shines the triple sun, What was sundered and undone Shall be whole, the two made one, By Gelfling hand, or else by none. Jen believes he is the last of the Gelflings. After his parents were killed by the crustacean-like Garthim commanded by the Skeksis, he is raised in a lush valley in which the Mystics reside. The Mystic Master who taught and raised him him is dying, and he calls Jen to his side to reveal that his destiny is to "heal" the crystal by replacing the crystal shard. He tells Jen that the crystal shard can be found at Aughra's observatory. The emperor of the Skeksis, skekSo, dies at the same time that the Master urSu does. In a duel over the succession called Haakskeekah (trial by stone), the Chamberlain skekSil is defeated by skekUng, the Garthim Master, and is banished and driven from the palace in rags. Jen reaches Aughra, a wise woman character of unknown species, and discovers the actual crystal shard by playing music on his flute, to which it resonates and stands out from the other crystals with which it lies. He must unify the shard with the crystal from which it sprang in time for the Great Conjunction, when his world's three suns will be aligned with one another. If the conjunction occurs before the Crystal is healed, the state of their world will become permanent, with the Skeksis ruling forever as immortals. Garthim arrive to capture or kill Jen, who flees as Aughra is taken prisoner and her observatory is destroyed. Meanwhile, the Mystics hear the call of the Crystal, and begin their trek back to the castle. By a river, Jen is frightened by a ball-shaped, dog-like pet known as Fizzgig and meets another Gelfling, Kira, whose existence he never suspected. They stay for a night amongst the bulbous Podlings who raised Kira and are then attacked by Garthim there. Kira, Jen, and Fizzgig escape the attack, but many Podlings are captured by the Garthim. In frustration and despair, feeling responsible for the Garthim raid, Jen discards the crystal shard. Kira reassures him that he had nothing to do with the attack, "It wasn't your fault... the Garthim have always come." In the morning, as they awaken, they discover one of the houses of the old Gelfling City, where Jen cites the prophecy of the Crystal and recovers the shard, although Kira faces apprehension about entering the ruins ("Bad things happened in here once" is her sentiment). Jen and Kira are confronted by the disgraced skekSil, who offers to help them, but they refuse. Riding on furry, long-legged Landstriders, the Gelflings quickly arrive at the castle of the crystal, just in time to see the Garthim that attacked Kira's village. Kira, followed by Jen, ride to attack the Garthim and try to free the captured Podlings while the Landstriders fight the Garthim to distract them from the rescue effort. The Gelflings fail to rescue the Podlings and find the Garthim, after subduing the Landstriders, closing in on them at the edge of the deep, rocky moat that encircles the castle. Sweeping Jen and Fizzgig into her arms, Kira jumps off the cliff... revealing that female Gelflings have wings. At the bottom of the gully, Jen and Kira end up at the Teeth of the Skreesh, an undefended sewer entrance to the lower parts of the castle. skekSil meets them again and attempts to convince them to offer peace to the Skeksis. As Jen and Kira attempt to escape, skekSil grabs Kira's arm in protest. Worried for Kira's safety, Jen strikes skekSil, using the crystal shard as a dagger, wounding skekSil's arm. Concurrently, a Mystic, urSol, suffers a spontaneous wound on his arm in the same location. During this time Fizzgig also attacked skekSil by biting him and renting chunks of cloth from his ragged robes. Enraged, skekSil forces Jen into a wall, inciting a cave-in. skekSil then takes Kira prisoner, believing Jen to be dead. For capturing Kira, skekSil is restored to his position as Chamberlain. The Skeksis require Gelflings to make their "everlasting essence", a potion that restores youth and strength. The emperor decides to regain his youth by draining Kira's life essence. It is revealed that the potency of the "everlasting essence" and the Crystal prophecy feared by the Skeksis fueled their genocide of the Gelflings. Only a few drops of the "everlasting essence" are drawn from Kira before she calls out to the animals imprisoned in the laboratory, who break free and attack the Skeksis overseer and scientist, skekTek. skekTek falls back into a volcanic pit, killing him. Concurrently, one of the mystics travelling to the castle, urTih, disintegrates into flames at the same time. Kira escapes, and the link between her and Jen gives him the strength to escape the cave-in. In the central interior chamber where the crystal is housed, Jen alights upon the Crystal but the shard falls from his hands. Kira throws the shard back to him, returning it to Jen. In so doing she leaves herself open to attack, and she is killed by the Skeksis Ritual Master, skekZok. At the conjunction of the three suns, Jen seals the shard, unifying the crystal. The Garthim shatter (who were originally created by the Skeksis, and so are not truly living beings) and the Mystics and Skeksis reunite into their original urSkek incarnations. The urSkek communicate directly to the consciousness via mystical sign language. One of them, UngIm, restores Kira to life, and they leave this plane of existence as the crystal has been healed and made whole. The crystal is dark no longer and has been returned to the Crystal of Truth and the world too has been similarly healed.

The film opens with several aerial shots of the factories and oil refineries around Chicago at night as the images pan overhead to a prison. We next see a prisoner being roused and escorted by two guards through Joliet Prison in Illinois. Is he on his way to the gallows? No, he's up for "standard parole". His personal items are returned to him, including a broken watch and prophylactics. The prisoner is released -- it is Jake (John Belushi). He meets his brother Elwood (Dan Akroyd) outside the prison gate. These are the Blues Brothers. Elwood has shown up in a used Plymouth police car after having traded in their old Cadillac for a microphone. Demonstrating the power of the car, with its cop tires, cop suspension, and 440 cubic-inch power plant, Elwood convinces Jake that this is the new Bluesmobile. They go see the "Penguin", Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), the head nun at the Catholic orphanage they grew up in in downtown Chicago. She explains that they need $5,000 to pay property taxes, or else the orphanage will be closed by the local Archbishop. Aghast at Jake and Elwood's casual swearing, she beats them with a yardstick and throws them out of her office saying she'll pray for their souls and not to return until they've "redeemed" themselves. Jake and Elwood meet up with their old friend and father figure Curtis (Cab Calloway), a handyman who operates the orphanage who advises them to "get yourself to church". They go to a Baptist church, where Reverend Cleophus James (James Brown) delivers an uplifting sermon. Jake "sees the light" realizing that he must put the Blues Brothers Band back together in order to raise the $5,000. Now they are on a mission from God. That evening during a drive about how to get their old band back together, Elwood runs a red light and the Bluesmobile gets pulled over by a local state trooper police car. The two State Troopers Daniel (Armand Cerami) and Mount (Steven Williams) ask for Elwood's driver's license and registration. Through SCMODS (State County Municipal Offender Database System), the officers learn that Elwood has numerous outstanding traffic tickets and moving violations. The police intend to impound the car, but Elwood takes off, leading to a car chase. Another State trooper car driven by Trooper La Fong (director John Landis) and a "charming Trooper" (Stephen Bishop) joins in on the chase. The Blues Brothers get away (destroying a shopping mall in the process by driving through it), but now the Illinois authorities are searching for them. Both Troopers Daniel and Mount vow to catch or kill the Blues Brothers. Jake and Elwood park their car in a run-down part of the Loop of downtown Chicago where they walk to a fleabag hotel where Elwood is staying. A mystery woman (Carrie Fisher) attempts to kill Jake by firing a rocket launcher at him, but the Blues Brothers duck and the rockets miss. The woman drives away in a red Cadillac. Unfazed, Jake and Elwood enter the hotel (populated by homeless transients). Elwood asks the manager Floyd if there were any phone calls. The manager says no calls but a man named Burton Mercer (John Candy), a local corrections and parole officer, visited looking for Elwood. Jake and Elwood then go to Elwood's small room that sits right near the local L-train line where Jake falls asleep in Elwood's bed. The next morning, the mystery woman arrives at the fleabag hotel just as Troopers Daniel and Mount show up along with Burton Mercer who ID's the correct home address of Elwood. The unknown woman then blows up the entire hotel building with a bomb, but Jake and Elwood walk away from the rubble (as do the cops who were just about to apprehend them). Trying to find their old band members, who have since taken other jobs, they visit a boarding house where one of the members had previously stayed. The landlady doesn't remember where he went, but at the last minute she finds a business card with "Murph and the Magic Tones" on it. That evening, Jake and Elwood find Murph and the Magic Tones playing at a Holiday Inn Hotel lounge whom makes up of keyboardist/lead vocalist Murphy Dunne, guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, drummer Willy Hall, and sax player Tom Malone. During drinks, they agree to rejoin the Blues Brothers Band but demand the money that Jake and Elwood owes them from past gigs. Jake and Elwood visit the swanky Chez Paul restaurant, where another band member and former trumpet player, Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin, is maitre'd. The brothers behave offensively while eating a meal, tossing food and offering to buy women. Promising that they'll be back to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day at this restaurant until he joins them, Mr. Fabulous reluctantly agrees. The next day, while tooling around in the Bluesmobile, the guys get stuck in a traffic jam. Some Neo-Nazis are protesting on a stone bridge. Proclaiming "I hate Illinois Nazis", Elwood uses the Bluesmobile to force the Nazis to jump off the bridge. The humiliated lead Nazi (Henry Gibson) vows to find those guys and brutally kill them... further adding to the Blues Brothers ever growing list of enemies. Jake and Elwood arrive in a seedy area of Maxwell Street where they park their car and see John Lee Hooker as he plays outside a soul food restaurant. Inside the restaurant, the brothers meet Matt 'Guitar' Murphy, as well as 'Blue Lou' Marini to ask them to rejoin their band. Matt's wife (Aretha Franklin) sings "Think", warning Matt to think about it before leaving the restaurant they own. Matt and Lou quit, and the band is complete. Meanwhile, the mystery woman that is hounding Jake and Elwood is revealed to work and own a local beauty salon. After the salon closes for the night, she reads up in a book on how to operate a flame thrower. The next morning, the band's first stop is Ray's Music Exchange in Calumet City. The proprietor Ray (Ray Charles) shows off the action in a keyboard, singing "Shake A Tail Feather". The band buys $1,400 worth of instruments, on an I.O.U. While driving aimlessly that evening, the Blues Brother's first gig is at Bob's Country Bunker, where the Good Old Boys are scheduled to play. Passing themselves off as the Good Old Boys, the Blues Brothers manage to play both types of music (Country and Western). They earn $200, but drink $300 worth of beer. They skip out on paying. Now Jake and Elwood have yet another set of enemies, that of the bar owner Bob (Jeff Morris) and Tucker McElroy (Charles Napier) the lead singer of the late-arriving Good Old Boys. They get away when the pursuing truck is T-boned by State Troopers Daniel and Mount who have spotted the Bluesmobile. Daniel and Mount place Bob, Tucker, and the Good Old Boys under arrest for speeding and damaging their police car as Mount deadpans, "boys, you are in big trouble". In a sauna the next day, Jake and Elwood have a business meeting with promoter Maury Sline (Steve Lawrence) who agrees to book the Palace Hotel Ballroom for them tomorrow night. The word goes out on the streets -- Jake and Elwood swipe an enormous air-raid siren, strap it to the roof of the Bluesmobile, and use it as a loudspeaker to make announcements throughout the city about the upcoming concert. They run out of gas. The local gas station is also out of gas. Elwood flirts with a chic lady (Twiggy) while waiting for the tanker truck to arrive. The Blues Brothers Band play their concert at the Palace Hotel, beginning with Curtis as an opening act sings "Minnie The Moocher" as they wait for Jake and Elwood to arrive. Having heard about the concert, the authorities lead by Jake's parole officer, Burton Mercer, along with Troopers Daniel and Mount, stake out the joint, planning to apprehend them after the show. Bob, Tucker and the Good Old Boys, having just made bail, also see the advertisement and show up at the concert vowing to kill both Jake and Elwood. Jake and Elwood sneak past the cops and join the band. The crowd is unmoved at first but are soon cheering. The band plays so well that backstage a producer for a major record company offers them $10,000 cash as an advance on their first recording session. Jake and Elwood accept the offer and keep $5,000, asking the producer to send $1,400 to Ray's Music Exchange and to give the rest to the band. The brothers take off through a trap door in the stage while the band continues vamping. The mystery woman confronts them in an underground tunnel, firing an automatic M-16 rifle at them. It is revealed here that the mystery woman is Jake's former fiancee whom he abandoned at her wedding several years ago and she wants to personally kill Jake for her humiliation. Pleading for his life, Jake removes his sunglasses for the first (and only) time in the film. She melts, smiles "oh, Jake", and kisses him. He pushes her to the ground, saying "let's go". The police begin realizing the brothers are making their escape. Jake and Elwood are in the Bluesmobile with 106 miles to get to Chicago, a full tank of gas, a half pack of cigarettes, at night, and they're wearing sunglasses. An epic and climatic car chase begins as the Blues Brothers head towards Chicago to pay the taxes. Bob, Tucker and the Good Old Boys join in on the chase, but Elwood had earlier sabotaged their trailer by spraying super glue to the gas/accelerator peddle which causes Tucker to loose control of the trailer and crashes it into a nearby pond. In the morning, numerous police cars tumble off an embankment, and one (driven by Troopers Daniel, Mount and Burton) ends up in a truck. As they approach the city, all city police authorities are alerted and "the use of excessive force is approved" in their apprehension. The chase continues in Chicago, reaching speeds of 110 mph on Lower Wacker Drive. Dozens of police cars continue to pile up. Hearing chatter on the police radios, the Nazis spot the Bluesmobile and give chase. The Bluesmobile stops at the edge of a highway overpass under construction, but the car with the lead Nazi tumble over the edge. Jake and Elwood arrive at Daley Plaza just in time, as their car literally falls apart. The police buildup continues absurdly, with National Guard units, helicopters, and SWAT teams getting involved. Jake and Elwood hastily make their way to the Cook County Assessor's Office, barring doors and sabotaging an elevator on the way. Hundreds of troops are in pursuit. In the assessor's office they grab the clerk (a cameo by Steven Spielberg) and give him the money to pay the taxes. The moment the tax receipt is handed to them they are handcuffed, surrounded by countless troops with pointed firearms. The film closes with the Blues Brothers and their Band playing their next concert in prison, beginning with "Jailhouse Rock".