Geologist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) and scientists Serge Leveque (Tchéky Karyo) and Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci) become aware of an instability of Earth's magnetic field after a series of incidents across the globe. They determine that the Earth's molten core, which generates this field, has stopped rotating, and within a year the field will collapse exposing the planet's surface directly to devastating solar radiation. Backed by the U.S. Government, Keyes, Leveque, and Zimsky create a plan to bore down to the core and set off several nuclear explosions to restart the rotation. They gain help of rogue scientist Ed "Braz" Brazzelton (Delroy Lindo) who has devised a vessel made of "Unobtainium" that can withstand the heat and pressure within the Earth's crust and convert it to energy, as well as a laser-driven boring system that will allow them to quickly pass through the crust. Construction starts immediately on the Virgil, a multi-compartment vessel to be helmed by Space Shuttle pilots Commander Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood) and Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs (Hilary Swank) who will join Keyes and the others. To prevent a worldwide panic, Keyes enlists computer hacker Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch (DJ Qualls) to scour the Internet and eliminate all traces of the pending disaster or their plan.
Operation Kingfisher, a disastrous American advance in the Vietnam War has 2nd Lt. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) executing an unarmed prisoner in order to intimidate a Vietnam People's Army officer into calling off an ambush of U.S. Marines. His act thereby saves the life of wounded 2nd Lt. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones).
A joint Anglo-American plot is devised to steal a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft (MiG-31, NATO code name "Firefox") which is capable of Mach 6, is invisible to radar, and carries weapons controlled by thought. Former United States Air Force Major Mitchell Gant (Eastwood), a Vietnam veteran and former POW, infiltrates the Soviet Union, aided by his ability to speak Russian (due to his having had a Russian mother) and a network of Jewish dissidents and sympathizers, three of whom are key scientists working on the fighter itself. His goal is to steal the Firefox and fly it back to friendly territory for analysis.
On the evening of September 11, 2012, the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a group of Islamic militants attack on the American diplomatic compound and a nearby CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya. They kill four Americans, including a US Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens. A security team of six members fight to defend Americans but only partially succeed.
Après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, une équipe composée d'agents de la CIA et des forces spéciales américaines, menées par le capitaine Mitch Nelson, est envoyée en Afghanistan. Ils collaborent avec le général afghan Abdul Rachid Dostom pour tenter de démanteler les talibans.
As three US servicemen - Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes, Private First Class Rene Gagnon, and Navy Corpsman John "Doc" Bradley - are feted as heroes in a war bond drive, they reflect on their experiences via flashback.
In 1944, as the air war over Europe enters a deadly phase with increasing losses of bombers, the 332d Expeditionary Operations Group (the Tuskegee Airmen) consisting of young African-American USAAF fighter pilots, after enduring racism throughout their recruitment and training in the Tuskegee training program, are finally sent into combat in Italy. Although flying worn-out Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft and chafing at their ground attack missions, the Tuskegee Airmen recognize they may never fight the Luftwaffe. The tight-knit group of Capt. Martin "Easy" Julian, 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little, 2nd Lt. Ray "Ray Gun" Gannon, 2nd Lt. Andrew "Smokey" Salem, and 2nd Lt. Samuel "Joker" George under the guidance of Major Emanuel Stance and Col. A.J. Bullard, face a white military bureaucracy still resistant to accepting black flyers as equals.
The movie is filmed in the style of a docudrama. Beginning in the days leading up to D-Day, it concentrates on events on both sides of the channel, such as the Allies waiting for the break in the poor weather and anticipating the reaction of the Axis forces defending northern France. The film pays particular attention to the decision by Gen. Eisenhower, supreme commander of SHAEF, to go after reviewing the initial bad-weather reports as well as reports about the divisions within the German High Command as to where an invasion might happen or what the response to it should be.
The Hurt Locker opens with a quotation from War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, a best-selling 2002 book by Chris Hedges, a New York Times war correspondent and journalist: "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug."
Septembre 1950, la guerre de Corée fait rage. Pour contrer l'offensive nord-coréenne, le général MacArthur organise un débarquement sans précédent sur la plage d'Incheon. Sur place, huit soldats infiltrés dans les rangs nord-coréens ont pour mission de voler les plans de bataille afin de déclencher l'attaque. L'opération Chromite est lancée, dont l'enjeu fut de chasser les Nord-Coréens qui ont envahi le port sud-coréen, et le cours de l'histoire est sur le point de changer.
In Clairton, a small working-class town in western Pennsylvania, in late 1967, Russian American steel workers Michael "Mike" Vronsky (Robert De Niro), Steven Pushkov (John Savage), and Nikanor "Nick" Chebotarevich (Christopher Walken), with the support of their friends and coworkers Stan (John Cazale) and Peter "Axel" Axelrod (Chuck Aspegren) and local bar owner and friend John Welsh (George Dzundza), prepare for two rites of passage: marriage and military service.
A Senate Armed Services Committee interviews a candidate for the position of Secretary of the Navy. Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) from Texas criticizes the Navy for not being gender-neutral. Behind the curtains, a deal is struck: If women compare favorably with men in a series of test cases, the military will integrate women fully into all branches of the Navy.
In 1967, during the Vietnam War, a group of new U.S. Marine Corps recruits arrive at Parris Island, South Carolina, for basic training. After having their heads shaved, they meet Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, who employs excessively aggressive tactics to turn the recruits into hardened, combat-ready Marines. Among the recruits are privates "Joker", "Cowboy", and the overweight, bumbling Leonard Lawrence, who earns the nickname "Gomer Pyle" after attracting Hartman's wrath.
Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is a Marine captain about to embark on his fourth tour of duty. He is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), and he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie (Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare). Sam's brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is being released from jail for an armed robbery, before Sam departs for Afghanistan in October, 2007. News comes that Sam's helicopter has crashed over the water, killing all of the Marines aboard. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger), have been taken prisoner in a mountain village.
Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway (Clint Eastwood) is nearing mandatory retirement from the Marine Corps when he finagles a transfer back to his old unit. On the bus trip to his new assignment, he meets fellow passenger "Stitch" Jones (Mario Van Peebles), a flashy wannabe rock musician who borrows money for a meal at a rest stop and then steals Highway's bus ticket, leaving him stranded.