James Bond hjælper den russiske general Koskov med at hoppe af til vesten, og da han er i sikkerhed, fortæller han, at russerne har genoplivet det hemmelige program "Smiert Spionam", hvis formål er at dræbe udenlandske spioner. Kort efter bliver Koskov bortført fra det landsted, hvor MI6 opbevarer ham, og for at finde Koskov igen, opsøger James Bond Koskov's kæreste, den smukke og hemmelighedsfulde cellist Kara Milovy. Det starter en kæde af begivenheder, der leder James Bond på sporet af en frygtelig våbenkonspiration, som har forbindelser til den øverste ledelse af den sovjetiske hær.

Under en hemmelig operation i Prag bliver en gruppe CIA-agenter dræbt. Den eneste overlevende er Ethan Hunt, og han bliver nu beskyldt for at være forræder. For at bevise sin uskyld må han trænge ind i CIA's hovedkvarter og tappe det for oplysninger. Derfor slår han sig sammen med to andre frafaldne agenter, computereksperten Luther og den franske knivekspert Krieger samt Claire, der er enke efter Ethans chef. Kun ved at arbejde sammen kan de gøre sig forhåbninger om at komme igennem CIA's avancerede sikkerhedssystem.

Nathan Algren er krigsveteran fra den amerikanske borgerkrig. Han tager til Japan for at lære kejser Meijis tropper at bruge skydevåben i kampen mod landets sidste samurai. Men Algren bliver taget til fange af samuraien og ændrer livssyn, da han møder samuraiernes ældgamle traditioner og deres æreskodeks.

En gruppe professionelle forbrydere udfører et dramatisk kup, men en af dem stjæler udbyttet. Så går den vilde jagt på skurken - og på bagmændene, som har lokket gruppen i en fælde. Sømmet er i bund, og aftrækker-fingrene er på overarbejde.

Mød Jackie Brown, en 44-årig stewardesse som suplerer sin indkomst ved at smugle kontanter til Mexico. Manden hun gør det for, hedder Ordell, han er våbensmugler og iskold dræber. Ham vil strisserne meget gerne have fat i, så derfor stoppper de en dag Jackie. Hun får valget mellem at stikke Ordell (og ende på kirkegården) og at stikke strisserne fingeren (og ende i fængslet). Men Jackie har en helt tredje plan - og nu begynder et dødsensfarligt spil om en halv million af Ordells dollars...

Julien Tavernier har planlagt det perfekte mord og rydder sin chef af vejen for at bane vej til dennes smukke hustru. Men en undselig detalje sætter ham fast i en elevator, mens hans bil stjæles af en ung mand, som under hans navn begår dobbeltmord!

From his offices in Switzerland, Russian Igor Lipovsky is engaged in a vast and profitable gunrunning operation with Africa. The French government wants to hinder the activities of the arms dealer and sends a team to sink one of his ships heading for Angola with a load of illegal weaponry. Lisa, Brisseau, Loïc, Tony and Raymond are professionals: they carefully set up their cover, plan all their moves meticulously, and carry out orders without asking questions. Perhaps they should. The code-name of the mission is "Janus"; and just like with the ancient deity, there are two opposite faces for every aspect of the operation: the objective of the French government, the role of each team member, the presumed friend and the assumed foe...

Dr Gerald Bull was a genius at designing and building superguns (very large long range guns capable of shooting at ranges more than 100 miles). When an operational plan by the CIA to export sanctioned arms to apartheid-South Africa through him was exposed, the CIA denied all knowledge and he went to jail. He was later released, and moved to Belgium to start a subsidiary, of which a major project was to help Saddam Hussein build a new supergun capable of firing over 500 miles.

Gabriel, Bobby and Costa are old friends from Altona, a multicultural hood in Hamburg. Just out of prison, Gabriel wants to turn his back on crime, but the others continue to operate as petty criminals. Friendships are tested as the trio navigate a dark world of mafia bosses and deals gone wrong.

The ruthless and cruel Captain Ramirez hunts down and kills revolutionaries in his search for The Saint, the righteous leader of the Mexican insurrection against the Federales.

In 1916, during the Mexican Revolution, General Pancho Villa manages to escape from the clutches of General Goyo, his greatest enemy, only to face an even greater problem when he meets McDermott, a mysterious adventurer who promises to get him weapons and ammunition for his troops.

China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.

After destroying a Russian airbase in a botched arms deal, Brighton Beach gangster Vladimir must survive the ensuing mafia war and keep his family safe.

Britain is still a world leader. Indeed it has twenty percent of a world market, second only to the United States. And this industry is considered so important by the government that it consumes almost half of all research and development funds. Strangely it produces not consumer goods that people want, but machines that hardly any of us use or want to use. Moreover, for all its’ preeminence, its’ future is uncertain and depends to a large degree on secret deals with some of the most corrupt and brutal regimes on Earth. One of the biggest manufacturing industries in Britain at the close of the century is ARMS. John Pilger and David Munro look behind the political rhetoric and discover the world of international arms dealing.