Filmmakers James Hanlon and the Naudet brothers were originally filming Tony Benetatos, a probationary firefighter of the New York City Fire Department assigned to the Engine 7/Ladder 1/Battalion 1 Firehouse on Duane Street in Lower Manhattan with the intention of making a film about the "probie's" first experience as a firefighter. On the morning of September 11, the firehouse, under the direction of Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer, was called out on a reported "odor of gas" at Church and Lispenard Streets. Jules rode with Pfeifer to investigate, while Gedeon stayed behind at the firehouse with the "probie.
Henry Hill says, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster", referring to his idolizing the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn. Wanting to be part of something significant, Henry quits school and goes to work for them. He is able to make a living for himself and learns the two most important lessons in life: "Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut", the advice given to him after being acquitted of criminal charges early in his career.
The story centers around the alleged burial of over 1 million copies of the proclaimed "worst video game of all time", E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, as The Nerd embarks on a quest to prove that there is nothing buried there after being pressured by fans to review the video game, while being pursued by federal authorities who believe he is investigating Area 51 and the crash of an unidentified flying object.
The unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) is a traveling automobile company employee who suffers from insomnia. One night he visits a support group for testicular cancer victims, where they assume that he too is a victim, and he spontaneously weeps into the nurturing arms of another man, finding a "freedom" that euphorically relieves his insomnia. He becomes addicted to participating in support groups of various kinds, always allowing the groups to assume that he suffers what they do. However, he begins to notice another impostor, Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), whose presence disturbs his bliss, so he negotiates with her to avoid their attending the same groups.
In the Second Age of Middle Earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom to conquer all. An alliance of men and elves battle Sauron’s forces in Mordor, where Isildur kills Sauron by chopping off the hand wearing the One Ring. Sauron's spirit survives within the ring and corrupts Isildur so that he keeps it instead of destroying it. This decision leads to Isildur's being killed by Orcs, and the ring is lost in the river Anduin for 2500 years. It comes into the possession of Sméagol who is consumed by its power and becomes Gollum. After 500 years the ring abandons him, to be discovered by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.
In 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick "Mac" McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a recidivist anti-authoritarian criminal serving a short sentence on a prison farm for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl, is transferred to a mental institution for evaluation. Although he does not show any overt signs of mental illness, he hopes to avoid hard labor and serve the rest of his sentence in a more relaxed hospital environment.
The plot is based on the uncut long-form edit of the movie. The original was split into 11 separate music videos, each released individually, beginning with The Phoenix and ending with Save Rock and Roll.