In 1981, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a man with below-average intelligence, watches a feather fall from the sky at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. As he sits down on a bench, he removes a copy of The Adventures of Curious George from his suitcase and places the feather inside the pages. He introduces himself and begins telling his life story to strangers who sit next to him on the bench, recounting his childhood in Greenbow, Alabama. As a child in the 1950s, Forrest (Michael Connor Humphreys) had to wear leg braces for which other children make fun of him. He lives with his single mother (Sally Field) in a very large house outside of town, which they rent rooms to travelers. His father apparently left and he never knew him. Despite his limited mental capacity, Mrs. Gump tells her son that "stupid is as stupid does" (which he later uses as a retort when called "stupid") and also assures him that he is no different from any of the other children. Forrest is admitted to public school despite his IQ being below the cut-off, but only after his mother agrees to a one-night stand with the principal, Mr. Hancock (Sam Anderson). On his first bus ride to school, Forrest is rejected by nearly all of his peers except for Jenny Curran (Hanna R. Hall). He and Jenny become best friends, and he helps her hide from her abusive, alcoholic father. One day, while fleeing from bullies, Forrest's leg braces break apart and he discovers that he can run very fast. A few years later, Forrest inadvertently runs onto the field during a local high school football match and catches the attention of Coach Bryant from the University of Alabama who is scouting for players. Forrest attends the university on an athletic scholarship and becomes a college football star, earning him a spot on the College Football All-America Team and a trip to the White House to meet President John F.
Hook-handed Vietnam veteran Staff Sergeant John "Four Leaf" Tayback's (Nick Nolte) memoir, Tropic Thunder, is being made into a film. With the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel), the cast—fading action hero Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black)—behave unreasonably. Rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) cannot control them during filming of a large war scene, and production is reported to be one month behind schedule a mere week into production. Studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) orders Damien to resume filming as planned, or risk its cancellation.
The film begins at Flemner Air Base 20 years prior. A pilot named Leland "Buzz" Harley (Bill Irwin) loses control of his plane and ejects, leaving his co-pilot Dominic "Mailman" Farnum (Ryan Stiles) to crash alone; although Mailman survives, he's mistaken for a deer owing to the branches stuck to his helmet and is shot by a hunter. Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) wakes up from a nightmare he's having about the event when Lt. Commander Block (Kevin Dunn) asks him to return to active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Navy, to help on a new top secret mission: Operation Sleepy Weasel.
One night, an American special forces team invades Saddam Hussein's (Haleva) palace and a nearby prison camp to rescue captured soldiers from Operation Desert Storm and to eliminate Saddam, but they find the Iraqis prepared for them, and the entire rescue team is captured. This failed operation turns out to be the latest in a series of rescue attempts which were foiled by the Iraqis, and consequently the advisors of President Benson (Admiral Benson in the previous film, played by Bridges) suspect sabotage in their own ranks. Colonel Denton Walters (Crenna) suggests to gain the aid of war hero Topper Harley (Sheen) for the next mission, but Topper has retired from the Navy and become a Buddhist in a small Thai village. Walters and Michelle Huddleston (Bakke), CIA, arrive and try to persuade him to come out of retirement in order to rescue the imprisoned soldiers and the previous rescue parties.
On Saturday, December 13, 1941 at 7:01 a.m., a woman goes swimming somewhere on the California coast, only to find a Japanese submarine surfacing beneath her. The submarine crew believes they have arrived in Hollywood, and the vessel submerges while the woman swims to safety.
John Winger is a cab driver, who, in the span of a few hours, loses his job, his apartment, his car, and his girlfriend. Realizing that his life is a failure, he decides to join the United States Army. Talking his best friend Russell Ziskey (a teacher of English to foreign students) into joining with him, they go to a recruiting office and are soon off to basic training.
Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski and Eric Cartman head to the local movie theater to see the new film Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire which stars the boys' favorite Canadian comedy duo Terrance and Phillip ("Mountain Town"), but when the boys get there, they are refused entry due to the film being rated R by the MPAA, so they pay a homeless man to accompany them. The boys learn obscene phrases from the movie ("Uncle Fucka") which makes the other kids in town want to see the movie.
Set in 1951 in South Korea, the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is assigned two replacements: Captains "Hawkeye" Pierce and "Duke" Forrest, who arrive in a stolen Jeep. They are insubordinate, womanizing, mischievous rule-breakers but they soon prove to be excellent combat surgeons. They immediately clash with their new tent mate Frank Burns, who is both a religious man and an inferior, stubborn, inept and incompetent surgeon who, when he causes mistakes, selfishly accuses anyone that is aside him. Hawkeye and Duke pressure Lt. Colonel Henry Blake, the unit CO, to have Burns removed from "their" tent. They also ask him to apply for a specialist thoracic surgeon to be assigned to the 4077th. Their wish is granted when Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre arrives at the 4077th.
Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) a 28-year-old whose lifelong dream is to "marry a professional man", joins the U.S. Army after her new husband (Albert Brooks) dies on their wedding night during sex. Adrift, Benjamin realizes that she has never been independent in her entire life, and she meets a sneaky recruiting sergeant, Jim Ballard (Harry Dean Stanton), who leads her to believe military life will provide the "family" she seeks. He also tells her that the service is glamorous, comparing it to a spa vacation. She has a rude awakening upon arriving in boot camp. Judy wants to quit almost immediately, and is astonished to learn that she cannot, contrary to the assertions of her recruiting sergeant.
The story centers on Eugene Morris Jerome, a 20-year-old Jewish Brooklynite who is drafted into the United States Army during the last year of World War II and is sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training. While there he learns to cope with fellow soldiers from all walks of life, falls in love, and loses his virginity in less than ideal circumstances, all while having to cope with an eccentric drill instructor.
Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko is in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter, a small United States Army base that develops new military technology. Exploiting this position, he directs a number of scams, ranging from gambling to renting out military vehicles. His commanding officer, Colonel John Hall, overlooks Bilko's money-making schemes, as he is more concerned with problems in the hovertank that the base is designing.
Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer), a capable yet unconventional US Navy submariner, is about to be passed over a third time for command of his own nuclear submarine because of his unorthodox methods and because of a notorious genital tattoo received after getting drunk and passing out while on shore-leave. Failure to secure a command will result in Dodge being dropped from the Navy's command program and an assignment to a desk job, and that means he will resign from the Navy. During his career, Dodge has made an enemy of Rear Admiral Yancy Graham (Bruce Dern), who strongly speaks out against Dodge's command promotion.
A U.S. Navy pilot, Neil Smith (Steve Taschler), is caught in a mysterious storm of butterflies and crash-lands his plane whilst flying over a remote part of Korea. He is found by local villagers who nurse him back to health. In the small village of Dongmakgol, time appears to stand still. They have no knowledge of modern technology, such as firearms, explosives, motor vehicles and aircraft. All villagers are unaware of the massive conflict within Korea.
United States Marine Corps Major Benson Winifred Payne (Damon Wayans), a hardened Marine, returns from a successful drug raid in South America, only to find out that he has again been denied his long-hoped-for promotion to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. Instead, Payne receives an honorable discharge on the grounds that "the wars of the world are no longer fought on the battlefield", and that his killing skills are no longer required by the U.S Marine Corps.
The film begins as two slackers, Bones Conway (Pauly Shore) and Jack Kaufman (Andy Dick) work at "Crazy Boys" discount electronics store in Glendale, California. While they goof off on the job, both have aspirations of opening their own electronics store in the future. Both are fired though, after destroying a rack of television sets.