Set in the 1920s, the story follows Joe Coughlin, the prodigal son of a Boston police captain. After moving to Ybor City, Coughlin becomes a bootlegger and a rum-runner and, later, a notorious gangster.
Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the wife of mafia up-and-comer Frank "The Cucumber" de Marco (Alec Baldwin), who gets violently dispatched by Mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo (Dean Stockwell) when he is discovered in a compromising situation with the latter's mistress Karen (Nancy Travis). Angela wants to escape the mafia scene with her son, but is harassed by Tony who puts the moves on her at Frank's funeral. This clinch earns her the suspicion of FBI agents Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) and Ed Benitez (Oliver Platt), and also of Tony's wife Connie (Mercedes Ruehl), who repeatedly confronts Angela with accusations of stealing her husband. To further complicate things, Mike Downey is assigned to monitor all of Angela's movements as part of an undercover surveillance operation, but cannot resist becoming romantically involved with Angela himself. Angela's attempts to break away from the Mob result in comic mayhem and a climactic showdown in a honeymoon suite in Miami.
Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) leaves his mother (Pamela Payton-Wright) and environmental activist stepfather Dwight (Kenneth Welsh) in Vermont to go to New York University (NYU) to study film. After arriving at Grand Central Terminal, he's approached by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby), who at first offers to carry Clark's bags, then offers a ride. As soon as Clark steps out of the car, Victor drives off with Clark's luggage still in the trunk.
Three years ago mafia boss Charly Matteï retired and left the business to his old friend Tony Zacchia, and has led a peaceful life since, devoting himself to his wife and two children. His past catches up with him when he is ambushed by an eight-man hit squad in a parking lot and left for dead with 22 bullets in his body. Against all odds, he survives to take revenge on his killers.
During the 1980s, DEA agent Robert Mazur uses his undercover alias "Bob Musella" to become a pivotal player for drug lords cleaning their dirty cash. Later, he infiltrates the world's largest cartels and helps discover the money-laundering organization of drug lord Pablo Escobar.
This highly dramatized film focuses primarily on Luciano and Lansky. They start as young men victimized by the current mafia. They rise from petty criminals and bootleggers to push aside the old guard of the Mafia and eventually establish The Commission, which set up the New York Mafia into five separate families. Bugsy Siegel (Richard Grieco) and Frank Costello (Costas Mandylor) control the physical elements of the operation, while Lucky Luciano (Christian Slater) and Meyer Lansky (Patrick Dempsey) bring up the business end.
During an orchestrated drug bust at a marine loading dock, Detective Stan Zedkov (Michael Rooker) kills Triad lieutenant Peter Wei (Yau-Gene Chan). Looking to exact revenge for his son's death, crime boss Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang) sends for professional assassin John Lee (Chow Yun-fat). Paying off an old debt, Lee has already killed two targets for Wei, and the crime boss tells him that this third and final job will settle the obligation. However, Lee's conscience prevents him from completing his final assignment: to murder Zedkov's seven-year-old son Stevie (Andrew J. Marton) before the detective's eyes. Realizing that his actions will result in retaliation against his mother and sister, Lee prepares to return to China, enlisting the help of old friend Alan Chan, a monk in a local Buddhist temple, to make arrangements to have his family moved to a secure location. Infuriated by Lee's disobedience, Wei orders his head lieutenant, Michael Kogan (Jürgen Prochnow), to lead the hunt for Lee, and has his people in China begin the search for Lee's family.
Like The Godfather Part II, the narrative of Mafia! consists of a series of flashbacks interwoven with the main plot. Tony is the son of a prominent Mafia don, Vincenzo Armani Windbreaker Cortino. As the film opens, Tony introduces the main thread when he exits a Vegas casino and walks to his car, accompanied by a voiceover explaining his philosophy of life. When he starts the car, it explodes.
Stanley White (Rourke) is a decorated police captain and Vietnam War veteran assigned to New York City's Chinatown, where he makes it his personal mission to come down hard on Chinese organized crime.
In 1960, Lorenzo Anello (Robert De Niro) is raising a family: he lives in the New York City Italian American neighborhood borough of The Bronx with his wife Rosina (Katherine Narducci), and his young son Calogero (Francis Capra), who takes a fascination with the local mobsters led by Sonny LoSpecchio (Chazz Palminteri). One day Calogero witnesses a murder committed by Sonny in defense of an assaulted friend in his neighborhood. When Calogero chooses to keep quiet when questioned by NYPD detectives, Sonny takes a liking to him and gives him the nickname "C". Sonny's men offer Lorenzo a better paying job. Lorenzo, preferring a law-abiding life as an MTA bus driver, politely declines. Sonny, however, befriends Calogero and introduces him to his crew. Calogero earns tips amounting to $600 working in the Mafia bar and throwing dice, and is admonished harshly by Lorenzo when he discovers it. Lorenzo speaks severely to Sonny, returns the money, and angrily warns him to keep away from Calogero.
Yong-gu (Shim Hyung-rae) is the illegitimate child of the infamous mafia boss Don Carini (Harvey Keitel), who operates out of New York. Carini shocks everyone by stating that he wants Yong-gu to take over the operation, something that seems to be a poor choice when the man in question shows himself to be a poor candidate to be a mafia don.
The film begins with two anti-corruption detectives observing the discovery of dead bodies in a car being recovered from the bottom of a harbor. The detectives suspect that the drowned bodies are related to the recent gang war and power struggle at the huge Sanno-kai crime syndicate, which covers a large portion of eastern Japan. The new Grand Yakuza leader of Sanno-kai, Kato (Tomokazu Miura), must now reform his standing with the powerful rival Hanabishi-kai of western Japan. Otomo (Beat Takeshi), a former Yakuza, is serving time in a maximum security prison after falling out of favor with Sekiuchi, the former Grand Yakuza before Kato murdered him and took control.
On December 16, 1985, in a remote wooded cabin, a mob informant is under protection by the FBI. They are ambushed by a hit squad who brutally slaughter the bodyguards and the witness. One of the agents killed is Blair Shannon, son of FBI Chief Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin), who vows revenge.
Joey Boca (Kevin Kline) is the owner of a pizza parlor located in Tacoma, Washington, and has been married to Rosalie (Tracey Ullman) for years. Rosalie is horrified to discover that Joey is a womanizer and has been cheating on her for a long time.