William Friedkin

The film opens with Operation Kingfisher, a disastrous American advance in the Vietnam War in 1968, that leaves U.S. Marine Lieutenant Hayes Hodges wounded in the knee and his men dead. Lt Childers was with Hodges when they were on a jungle patrol but had decided to diverge into 2 different routes before converging again closer to their target. On his route, Childers captures an NVA officer, when he hears Hodges' platoon coming under heavy enemy fire. Lt. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) executes an unarmed prisoner to intimidate an NVA officer into calling off the ambush of American marines, thereby saving the life of Lt. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones). After the ambush is called off, Childers allows the NVA officer to leave unharmed, just like he promised. Hodges sets off a flare, allowing Childers to reach his position and rescue him. In 1996, Hodges, now a colonel, is set to retire after 28 years as a JAG officer (and a total service of 32 years, which included 4 years of combat experience). At his Pre-retirement party at the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, he is honored by his old friend, Colonel Terry Childers, now the commanding officer of a Marine Expeditionary Unit. Before leaving Childers tells Hodges that the nature of war has changed drastically, as the enemy is no longer an a defined army and it is harder to tell whether one is losing or winning, as the war never ends. Childers and his unit are deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen when a routine anti-American demonstration at the embassy begins smashing windows with rocks and using Molotov cocktails to try and smoke Ambassador Mourain out. Escorting the Ambassador and his family safely to a helicopter, Childers retrieves the embassy's American flag. Meanwhile, after the helicopter carrying the Ambassador and his family takes off before snipers can stop them from leaving Yemen, things turn for the worse when demonstrators begin shooting at the Marines, resulting in three fatalities. Childers has finally had enough bloodshed for this mission and orders his men to open fire on the crowd to prevent this gun violence from continuing any further, resulting in the deaths of 83 irregular Yemeni soldiers and civilians and the injuries of 100 more, including children, while the remaining Marines and embassy staff are saved. American diplomatic relations in the Middle East severely deteriorate after this, so U.S. National Security Advisor Bill Sokal pressures the military to court-martial Childers, hoping to salvage relations by placing all blame for the incident on the colonel. Childers finds Hodges, whose life he saved, is now serving in the JAG Division and asks him to be his defense attorney at the upcoming tribunal. Hodges is reluctant to accept, knowing that his record is less than impressive, and Childers needs a better lawyer. But Childers is adamant, because he would rather have an attorney who has served in combat before. Hodges rejects a plea deal from the prosecutor, Major Biggs (Guy Pearce), who is convinced of Childers' guilt but privately refuses to consider the death penalty. With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges goes to Yemen, where hostile witnesses and police claim that the Marines fired first on the unarmed crowd. Visiting the abandoned embassy and some of the wounded, he notices an undamaged security camera and scattered audio cassette tapes. Returning to the U.S., Hodges confronts Childers about the complete lack of evidence to support his version of events, resulting in a fistfight. Most of the evidence is stacked against Childers, especially because the National Security Advisor, Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood), is determined for him to be convicted, and at one point burns a videotape of security camera footage showing that the crowd, including an innocent-looking little girl, had indeed been in possession of weapons, justifying Childers' actions. He also blackmails the ambassador Childers rescued, Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley), into lying on the stand and saying both that the crowd had been peaceful, and that Childers had been violent towards him and his family during the evacuation. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife (Anne Archer), who admits Childers acted valiantly but refuses to testify. Captain Lee (Blair Underwood), who hesitated to follow Childers' order, is unable to testify to having seen gunfire from the crowd. A Yemeni doctor testifies that the tapes Hodges found are propaganda inciting violence against Americans, but declares the protest was peaceful. However, at the trial, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that a tape from an undamaged camera which had been looking directly into the crowd, the tape Sokal had burned, has been delivered to Sokal's office, but has failed to show up, arguing that these tapes would have been used at the trial if they had shown the crowd was unarmed. Taking the stand, Childers explains that he was the only surviving Marine able to see the crowd was armed. On cross-examination, Biggs goads Childers into admitting that he ordered his men to open fire by shouting "waste the Motherf****s". Childers argues that he would not sacrifice the lives of his men to appease the likes of Biggs, to Hodges' dismay. Also, when the prosecution presents the Vietnamese Colonel, Colonel Cao (Baoan Coleman), who witnessed Childers execute a POW in Vietnam. During Hodges' cross-examination, Cao agrees that Childers took action to save American lives, and that if circumstances were reversed, Cao would have done the same. After the trial, Hodges confronts Sokal about the missing tape, vowing to uncover the truth. The film ends with Childers being found guilty of the minor charge of breach of the peace, but not guilty of the more serious charges of conduct unbecoming of an officer and murder, and a final title card reveals that no further charges were brought against him, and he retired honorably from the Marines. Sokal is found guilty of spoliation of evidence and forced to resign, while Mourain is charged with perjury. Biggs approaches Hodges about investigating Childers' actions in Vietnam, but Hodges declines to testify. Leaving the courthouse, Cao and Childers salute each other.

San Francisco Assistant District Attorney David Corelli (David Caruso) is called to the murder scene of prominent businessman Kyle Medford, found bludgeoned to death in his home by an antique hatchet. Police detectives Bob Hargrove (Michael Biehn) and Petey Vesko (Ken King) find photographs in Medford's safe of Governor Lew Edwards (Richard Crenna) having sex with a prostitute, later identified as Patrice Jacinto (Angie Everhart). During questioning, Patrice reveals that other women and she were paid by Medford to have sex with wealthy men at his beach house in Pacifica. She also informs them that the most desired prostitute among the clients was a woman known only as "Jade". In a private meeting with Governor Edwards and aide Bill Barrett (Holt McCallany), Corelli is warned not to make the photographs public. Corelli is then almost killed when his brake line is deliberately cut and his vehicle goes out of control while driving down a steep hill. The detectives find fingerprints on the hatchet belonging to Katrina 'Trina' Gavin (Linda Fiorentino), a clinical psychologist and former lover of Corelli's who eventually got married to his close friend, defense attorney Matt Gavin (Chazz Palminteri). When interviewed at a police station, Katrina explains that Medford gave her a tour of his antique collection on the day in question, but claims that she had nothing to do with his death. At Medford's beach house, Corelli and the detectives find various drugs, alcohol, and sex toys, as well as hidden video cameras. They conclude Medford was recording the sex sessions to blackmail the men. Corelli is shocked to discover Katrina on one of the tapes; the revelation renews the detectives' interest in her as a suspect. Patrice arranges to meet Corelli at a restaurant to discuss Jade's identity, but she is murdered in a hit-and-run attack by an unknown assailant driving a black 1993 Ford Thunderbird. Corelli, witnessing the murder first-hand, chases the assailants' vehicle in vain. The detectives discover the Gavins own a similar Thunderbird, so they suspect Katrina of killing Patrice, but when they find the actual vehicle used in the hit-and-run abandoned, someone appears to be trying to frame Katrina. Katrina is again brought in for questioning and this time is shown the sex tape. Matt, in his capacity as her attorney, ends the interrogation before she fully explains her involvement. When confronted at their home, Katrina admits to her husband that she did have sex with the man on the tape, due in part to her knowledge of Matt's many affairs of his own with various women. Katrina visits Corelli at his apartment and tries unsuccessfully to seduce him. She admits having felt sexually liberated by sleeping with several men at the beach house. Meanwhile, the only witness to identify Katrina at the Pacifica beach house, a man named Henderson, is found murdered. Corelli informs the detectives at the crime scene that Katrina could not have killed Henderson because Corelli and she were together at the time. Back at his apartment, Corelli is met by Matt, who holds him at gunpoint and angrily accuses him of having sex with Katrina. He denies it and persuades Matt that his wife's life is in danger. They hurry to the Gavin home, where Detective Hargrove, Pat Callendar (David Hunt) and governor's aide Barrett have come to kill Katrina and search for the incriminating photos of the governor. Callendar is shot by Matt, but Barrett manages to escape. In the meantime, Hargrove is trying to rape and kill Katrina, but Corelli and Matt arrive and Hargrove is shot and killed by Matt. Corelli goes to Governor Edwards for a guarantee of Katrina's safety by leveraging his possession of the photographs. The governor denies any knowledge of Hargrove or Callendar's actions, but insinuates they were both acting on his behalf. In the final scene, as she gets ready for bed at home, Katrina finds photographs laid out in her bathroom of her having sex at the beach house. Matt admits to Katrina that he was the one who killed Medford, certain that Medford eventually would blackmail them both. He then tells Katrina to "introduce me to Jade" the next time they "make love".

A college basketball coach is forced to break the rules in order to get the players he needs to stay competitive. Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.

A young couple with a newborn son don't realize that their new nanny is a magical Druid sacrificing infants to an evil tree. Phil and Kate have a baby boy named Jake. They hire a baby-sitter, Camilla, to look after Jake and she becomes part of the family. The Sterling's friend and neighbor, Ned, takes a liking to Camilla and asks her out. She refuses, but Ned follows her and discovers that she is not quite human. Camilla discovers that she has been followed and Ned is pursued. He leaves a desperate message for Phil and Kate which reveals that Camilla has special plans for baby Jake.

Alex is an outwardly normal man who goes on killing and mutilating sprees. When he is finally captured and brought to trial, the district attorney is torn between his own liberal ideals on guilt and the crimes the accused is being tried. Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.

In Los Angeles, President Ronald Reagan's motorcade arrives at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. During the President's speech, Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William L. Petersen) discovers a terrorist on the roof of the hotel, strapped with explosives. As Richard tries to talk him down, his partner, Jimmy Hart (Michael Greene), climbs the side of the building and pulls the suicide bomber off the roof, causing the terrorist to explode in the air. Sometime later, Richard jumps from a San Pedro bridge attached to a safety line then drinks beer with his colleagues and gives Jimmy a fishing rod as a retirement gift. Before Jimmy leaves, Richard insists that Jimmy include him on a stakeout the following day, but Jimmy says that he has only three days left at work and wants to go alone. Meanwhile, counterfeiter and artist, Eric "Rick" Masters (Willem Dafoe), prints thousands of $20 bills at a remote desert warehouse. When Jimmy arrives and finds evidence of Masters' counterfeiting in the dumpster, he is shot dead. Two days later, Richard and a team of agents raid the warehouse, but find only a washing machine. Outside, Richard notices a pool of blood beneath the dumpster and discovers Jimmy's body. Mourning the loss of Jimmy at his beachfront apartment, Richard is visited by a colleague from the warehouse raid, John Vukovich (John Pankow). Richard threatens to bring Masters down by any means necessary and John offers to be his new partner. A week later, at an airport stakeout, Richard and John arrest Carl Cody (John Turturro), one of Masters' operatives, after he uses counterfeit money to pay for his ticket. Visiting Cody in prison, Masters tells him that his lawyer, Bob Grimes (Dean Stockwell), will reduce his sentence, but inquires why Cody's last delivery of cash to Max Waxman (Christopher Allport) was never received. Cody denies Waxman's claim that he postponed a delivery just before he was detained at the airport, and threatens to kill Waxman when he is released. Later, Masters meets with Grimes about reducing Cody's sentence and expresses concern that Cody will expose his operation to the police if he stays in prison. Meanwhile, Richard's girlfriend, Ruth Lanier (Darlanne Fleugel), who works for him as an informant, tells him about Waxman. Backstage at a club, Masters tells his dancer girlfriend, Bianca Torres (Debra Feuer), that Waxman has double-crossed them and she offers to help. As Richard and John keep surveillance on Waxman's office, they observe Bianca make a delivery. Inside, Bianca acquiesces to Waxman's seduction, but leaves the door open for Masters, who interrupts their escapade and forces Waxman to open the safe and return his cash. After a brief struggle, Masters shoots Waxman dead. Although Richard and Jimmy sleep through the murder, they enter Waxman's office with the police and Richard finds a code book with dates, dollar amounts and the initials "R. M." Despite Jimmy's warning that he is tampering with police evidence, Richard keeps the journal. Later, after Richard and Ruth have sex, she asks to receive payment for leading him to Waxman. When he tells her that she won't get paid without an arrest, she predicts that her job as an informant will end her life. Before Richard leaves, Ruth reports that a Chinese man will soon be arriving from San Francisco to purchase $50,000 in stolen diamonds. Richard claims that he is only interested in counterfeit money and threatens to revoke her parole if she stops providing him with information about the Masters case. While John follows a lead to Masters' studio, Masters meets with local dealer, Jeff Rice (Steve James), at a basketball court and agrees to pay him $75,000 to have Cody killed in prison. When the hit fails, Richard interrogates Cody, but Cody refuses to betray Masters. Meanwhile, Masters puts a gun in Rice's mouth, demands his money back and burns the cash. After convincing Judge Filo Cedillo (Val DeVargas) to release Cody so he can assist with the bust, Richard forces Cody to guide him to Masters's print shop, but on the way, Cody asks to see his sick daughter in the hospital. As Richard removes Cody's handcuffs before they enter the hospital room, Cody attacks Richard and escapes. Meanwhile, John meets with Grimes at a bar. Grimes complains about having Masters as a client and agrees to set him up at a meeting with the agents. Richard and John pose as moneylenders from a bank in the Cayman Islands and meet Masters at a gym, asking for a million dollars in counterfeit bills. When Richard explains that they have a client who wants to launder bonds to avoid taxes, Masters demands $30,000 in cash upfront. Unable to produce decoy money from their department for the bust, Richard proposes to John that they covertly intercept the diamond deal Ruth told him about and seize $50,000, but John refuses. Richard blackmails Ruth with prison time to help him with the heist, but when Richard captures Thomas Ling at Union Station, John picks them up in the getaway car. Followed from the station by two men, Richard and John hold Ling at gunpoint. They discover a phone book in his briefcase and cash in a concealed money belt when shots are fired from above, killing Ling. After losing their stalkers in a car chase, Richard and John realize they are being pursued by a large team of cars and armed accomplices. John drives up a freeway off ramp and swerves through oncoming traffic to escape. Later, at an office briefing, Richard and John learn that Ling was an undercover FBI agent. While Richard delivers the cash to Masters, John consults with Grimes about his legal options and learns his only defense is to plead guilty and turn in Richard. Grimes agrees to represent John for $50,000, but John refuses to betray his partner. Meanwhile, Richard collects Cody from his girlfriend's apartment. Later, Richard and John meet Masters at the gym to complete the deal, but as they make the arrest, Master's bodyguard shoots Richard in the forehead and Richard returns fire. Leaving his dead partner behind, John returns to Masters's studio and discovers that Masters set fire to the warehouse. Sitting cross-legged among the flames, Masters asks John why he did not accept Grimes's deal. Masters beats John, covers him with shredded counterfeit bills and attempts to set him on fire, but John shoots him and Masters becomes engulfed in the flames of his own torch. Some time later, John visits Ruth to collect the remaining $20,000 from their heist. Accusing her of knowing that Ling was an FBI agent and setting them up, John tells Ruth that she is now working for him.