A woman in a wedding dress, the Bride, lies wounded in a church in El Paso, having been attacked by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She tells their leader, Bill, that she is carrying his baby. He shoots her.
In 1899, men dressed as German soldiers, using a large armored vehicle and wielding machine guns, attacked the Bank of England and stole Leonardo da Vinci’s layouts of Venice’s foundations. Shortly after, led by their leader the “Fantom”, men dressed as British officers, again using highly advanced technology for the time, kidnapped German scientists and destroyed a factory, causing tension between the United Kingdom and Germany, which could lead to an international war. Sanderson Reed (Tom Goodman-Hill) of the British Empire ventures to Kenya, visiting a Gentleman's club to recruit world-renowned hunter and adventurer Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery). Quatermain, retired and mourning the loss of his son after his last adventure, has no interest in serving the British Empire further. After armed men attempt to assassinate Quatermain, he is left with no-other choice but to agree to go with Reed to London and meet with Reed's superior officer to help keep the threat of a war from spilling into Africa.
Matthew "Matt" King (George Clooney) is a Honolulu-based attorney and the sole trustee of a family trust of 25,000 pristine acres on Kauai island. The land has great monetary value, but is also a family legacy. While Matt has always ably managed his own finances, most of his cousins have squandered their inheritances. With the trust expiring in seven years due to the rule against perpetuities, the King clan is pressuring Matt to sell the land for hundreds of millions of dollars. Amidst these discussions, a boating accident has rendered Matt's wife, Elizabeth, comatose.
After leaving the United States Army and moving to New York City, Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) gets a part-time job as a bartender at night while studying for a business degree. Over time, he learns the tricks of the trade, including flairing, from his boss/mentor Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Brian and Doug soon become very close; Doug readily assumes a mentor role over the young and naive Brian, and rains advice and opinions down upon him. His advice takes a familiar structure, as he usually begins most of them with "Coughlin's Law".
The movie begins by Jackie Chan telling the story of the Old Summer Palace and its looting and destruction by British and French soldiers in the Second Opium War. Among the treasures stolen are twelve bronze heads of the animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Encouraged to explore as a child by her late father, Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway works for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. She listens to radio transmissions hoping to find signals sent by extraterrestrial life. Science Advisor to the President David Drumlin pulls the funding from SETI because he believes the endeavor is futile. Arroway gains backing from secretive billionaire industrialist S. R. Hadden, who has followed her career and allows her to continue her studies at the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro County, New Mexico.
Former Special Forces soldier Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is the lead U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to head the U.S. Presidential detail. Banning maintains a personal, friendly relationship with President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), First Lady Margaret (Ashley Judd) and their son Connor (Finley Jacobsen). During a snowy Christmas evening drive from Camp David to a campaign fundraiser, the car transporting the First Family crashes; Banning saves Asher, but Margaret dies.
The movie takes place again in the fictional Wangan Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, in the five years since the previous movie, the once empty space within Wangan's jurisdiction (the station was once referred to disparagingly as "the empty space station" by the surrounding jurisdictions) has become a popular tourist attraction, the officers at Wangan Station now have their hands full dealing with all manner of tourist related issues. In a sign of how much has not changed in the last five years, when Detective Sergeant Shunsaku Aoshima and several of other detectives playing the part of terrorists defeat a Special Assault Team unit during a counterterrorism exercise in front of the police brass and the media, all the detectives promptly have their pay docked by headquarters.
In Muromachi period Japan, an Emishi village is attacked by a demon. The last Emishi prince, Ashitaka, kills the demon before it reaches the village, but its corruption curses his arm in the battle. The curse gives him superhuman fighting abilities, but will eventually kill him. The villagers discover that the demon was once a boar god, Nago, corrupted by an iron ball lodged in his body. The village's wise woman tells Ashitaka that he may find a cure in the western lands Nago was exiled from.
Robin Monroe, a New York journalist working for Dazzle, a fashion magazine, is invited by her boyfriend Frank to spend a week holidaying with him on the island paradise of Makatea, in the South Pacific. The final leg of their journey to Makatea is in a small dilapidated aircraft, piloted by middle-aged American Quinn Norris. They are accompanied by Quinn's girlfriend and co-pilot Angelica.
At Aquatica, a remote former submarine refueling facility converted into a laboratory, a team of scientists is searching for a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Fluids from the brain tissue of three Mako sharks are being harvested as a cure for Alzheimer's. Unknown to the other scientists, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has violated the code of ethics and has genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, but this has the side effect of making the sharks smarter and more dangerous.
Alex Shaw is on a motorcycle chase after a vehicle with stolen goods. He eventually catches the driver of the vehicle, but his girlfriend Annie runs into him during her driving test. She finds out that Alex is on the SWAT team after he lied and told her he was a beach cop. As an apology, Alex surprises her with a Caribbean cruise on Seabourn Legend.
In AD 26, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy prince and merchant in Jerusalem, who lives with his mother, Miriam (Martha Scott); his sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell); their loyal slave, Simonides (Sam Jaffe); and his daughter, Esther (Haya Harareet), who loves Ben-Hur but is betrothed to another. His childhood friend, the Roman citizen Messala (Stephen Boyd), is now a tribune. After several years away from Jerusalem, Messala returns as the new commander of the Roman garrison. Messala believes in the glory of Rome and its imperial power, while Ben-Hur is devoted to his faith and the freedom of the Jewish people.
After singing the film's signature song "When You Wish Upon a Star", Jiminy Cricket explains that he is going to tell a story of a wish coming true. His story begins in the Tuscany workshop of a woodworker named Geppetto. Jiminy watches as Geppetto finishes work on a wooden marionette whom he names Pinocchio (a name his cat Figaro and fish Cleo both dislike). Before falling asleep, Geppetto makes a wish on a star that Pinocchio would be a real boy. During the night, a Blue Fairy visits the workshop and brings Pinocchio to life, although he still remains a puppet. She informs him that if he proves himself brave, truthful, and unselfish he will become a real boy and assigns Jiminy to be his conscience.
While working an undercover prostitute sting operation in a nightclub to arrest a pimp named Neptune, Miami-Dade Police detectives James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs receive a frantic phone call from their former informant Alonzo Stevens (John Hawkes). Stevens reveals that he's leaving town, and, believing his wife Leonetta to be in immediate danger, asks Rico to check on her. Crockett learns that Stevens was working as an informant for the FBI but has been compromised. Crockett and Tubbs quickly contact FBI Special Agent in Charge John Fujima (Ciarán Hinds) and warn him about Stevens' safety. Tracking down Stevens through a vehicle transponder and aerial surveillance, Crockett and Tubbs stop him along I-95. Stevens reveals that a Colombian cartel had become aware that Russian undercovers (now dead) were working with the FBI, and had threatened to murder Leonetta via a C-4 necklace bomb if he didn't confess. Rico, learning of Leonetta's death by telephone call, tells Alonzo that he doesn't have to go home. Hearing this, the grief-stricken Stevens commits suicide by walking in front of an oncoming semi truck.