In 1876, U.S. Army captain Civil War veteran Nathan Algren is traumatized by his participation in atrocities during the Indian Wars, and has become an embittered alcoholic. Algren is approached by his former commanding officer, Colonel Bagley, on behalf of Japanese businessman Omura, who wishes to hire distinguished U.S. soldiers to train the Imperial Japanese Army to suppress a samurai rebellion, led by Katsumoto Moritsugu. In exchange, Japan would ratify a lucrative trade agreement that would grant the U.S. exclusive rights to supply arms to the Japanese government. Although Algren despises Bagley for having ordered atrocities during the Indian wars, he accepts the job for the money and sails to Japan. Most of the soldiers being trained are little more than inexperienced peasants and farmers.The training is interrupted when the samurai rebels attack a railroad owned by Omura; Bagley orders the regiment to mobilize, overruling Algren's objection that the soldiers are not ready. Algren is proved correct: during a battle in a foggy forest in Yoshino Province, the undisciplined and intimidated soldiers panic and are quickly routed by the samurai horsemen. Algren kills several samurai with his revolver and saber but is eventually knocked from his horse. Algren desperately fights using a spear tipped flagstaff with a flag of a white tiger until he collapses from complete exhaustion. As he is about to be vanquished, he kills his would-be executioner with the staff's spear tip. His ferocity and refusal to surrender, as well as the image of the white tiger on the flag he is fighting with, reminds Katsumoto of a recurring dream. As a result, Algren is spared and taken captive to the rebels' village in the mountains.
One year after the famed Battle of Thermopylae, Dilios, a hoplite in the Spartan Army, begins his story by depicting the life of Leonidas I from childhood to kingship via Spartan doctrine. Dilios's story continues and Persian messengers arrive at the gates of Sparta demanding "earth and water" as a token of submission to King Xerxes; the Spartans reply by killing and kicking the messengers into a well. Leonidas then visits the Ephors, proposing a strategy to drive back the numerically superior Persians through the Hot Gates; his plan involves building a wall in order to funnel the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea. The Ephors consult the Oracle, who decrees that Sparta will not go to war during the Carneia. As Leonidas angrily departs, a messenger from Xerxes appears, rewarding the Ephors for their covert support.
In 1923 Tennessee, two young boys, Rafe McCawley (Jesse James) and Danny Walker (Reiley McClendon), play together in the back of an old biplane, pretending to be soldiers fighting the Germans in World War I. After Rafe's father lands his biplane and leaves, Rafe and Danny climb into the plane and Rafe accidentally starts it, giving the boys their first experience at flight. Soon afterward, Danny's father (William Fichtner) comes to take him home. He calls Rafe a "stupid boy" and beats Danny. In an effort to protect Danny, Rafe hits Danny's father with an old propeller and calls him a "dirty German". Danny's father reacts by saying he fought the Germans in the trenches in France during World War I, and that he prays that no one will ever have to see the things he saw.
Part 1
On the eve of the American Civil War in 1861, Scarlett O'Hara lives at Tara, her family's cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents and two sisters. Scarlett learns that Ashley Wilkes—whom she secretly loves—is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton, and the engagement is to be announced the next day at a barbecue at Ashley's home, the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks.
Au plus fort de la Première Guerre mondiale, Schofield et Blake, deux jeunes soldats britanniques, reçoivent une mission vraisemblablement impossible. Dans une course contre le temps, ils vont devoir traverser le territoire ennemi et délivrer un message qui pourra stopper une attaque mortelle contre environ 1 600 soldats, parmi lesquels se trouve le frère de Blake.
Duke (Channing Tatum) has become the leader of the G.I. Joe unit, which is framed for stealing nuclear warheads from Pakistan by Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), who is impersonating the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce). The unit is subsequently decimated in a military air strike with Duke among the casualties. The only survivors are Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki).
In 2003, Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to sign over his body for medical research following his execution. One year later, the automated Skynet system is activated, begins to perceive humans as a threat, and eradicates much of humanity with nuclear weapons in the event known as "Judgment Day".
United States Naval Aviator LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw fly the F-14A Tomcat aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65). They, with Maverick's wingman "Cougar" and his RIO "Merlin", intercept Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-28s over the Indian Ocean. Cougar engages one of the hostile aircraft and afterwards is too shaken to land, despite being low on fuel. Maverick defies orders and assists Cougar despite also being low on fuel. Cougar gives up his Wings of Gold, citing his newborn child that he has never seen. Despite his dislike for Maverick's recklessness, CAG "Stinger" sends him and Goose—now his top crew—to attend the Top Gun school at NAS Miramar.
Queen Gorgo of Sparta tells her men about the Battle of Marathon, in which King Darius I of Persia was killed by General Themistocles of Athens 10 years earlier. Darius' son, Xerxes, witnesses his father's death, and is advised to not continue the war, since only "the gods can defeat the Greeks". Darius' naval commander, Artemisia, claims that Darius' last words were in fact a challenge and sends Xerxes on a journey through the desert. Xerxes finally reaches a cave and bathes in an otherworldly liquid, emerging as the 8-feet tall "God-King". He returns to Persia and declares war on Greece to avenge his father.
In 1199 A.D., Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) is a common archer in the army of King Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston). A veteran of Richard's crusade, he now takes part in the siege of Chalus Castle. Disillusioned and war-weary, he believes the King when invited to give an honest view of the war; after Robin gives a frank but unflattering appraisal of the King's conduct, Robin and his comrades – archers Allan A'Dayle (Alan Doyle) and Will Scarlett (Scott Grimes) and soldier Little John (Kevin Durand) – find themselves in the stocks.
In 1941, SS colonel Hans Landa, the "Jew Hunter", interrogates French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite as to the whereabouts of the last unaccounted-for Jewish family in the neighborhood. Under threat of continued harassment from the Germans, LaPadite reveals that the Dreyfus family is hidden under the floor. Landa orders SS soldiers to shoot through the floorboards and kill the family. All are killed except Shosanna, who escapes and flees through the field. Landa watches her go, deciding not to shoot her at the last second.
In Kraków during World War II, the Germans had forced local Polish Jews into the overcrowded Kraków Ghetto. Oskar Schindler, an ethnic German, arrives in the city hoping to make his fortune. A member of the Nazi Party, Schindler lavishes bribes on Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and SS officials and acquires a factory to produce enamelware. To help him run the business, Schindler enlists the aid of Itzhak Stern, a local Jewish official who has contacts with black marketeers and the Jewish business community. Stern helps Schindler arrange loans to finance the factory. Schindler maintains friendly relations with the Nazis and enjoys wealth and status as "Herr Direktor", and Stern handles administration. Schindler hires Jewish workers because they cost less, while Stern ensures that as many people as possible are deemed essential to the German war effort, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps or killed.
In 2005, scientists discover an extrasolar planet, which they name Planet G, with conditions similar to Earth. In 2006 NASA transmits a powerful signal from a communications array in Hawaii. Meanwhile, slacker Alex Hopper gets arrested while attempting to impress Sam Shane, daughter of U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Terrance Shane. Stone Hopper, Alex's older brother and a naval officer, is infuriated at Alex's lack of motivation and forces Alex to also sign up and earn a commission in the U.S. Navy.
A year into his sentence, former commando John Rambo is visited by his old commander, Colonel Sam Trautman. With the war in Vietnam over, the public has become increasingly concerned over news that a small group of American POWs have been left in enemy custody. To placate their demands for action, the US government has authorized a solo infiltration mission to confirm the reports. As one of only three men suited for such work, Rambo agrees to undertake the operation in exchange for a pardon. He is taken to meet Marshal Murdock, a condescending bureaucrat in charge of overseeing the project. Rambo is temporarily reinstated into the army and told that he is only to photograph, not rescue the prisoners or engage enemy personnel.