In 1974, during the final days of the Vietnam War, Mark Lee arrives in Saigon, intending to bring his uncle and cousin Michael Cheung Chi-mun back to Hong Kong with him.

After arriving at the airport, Mark is confined by corrupt security guards who strip and attempt to rob him, but he is saved by Chow Ying-kit, who seems to have some measure of influence.

The leader of the arms smuggling company (and Kit's former lover), Sam Ho Cheung-ching, returns after a three-year absence when he was presumed dead.

Ho returns to Vietnam, taking Kit with him, to complete the deal with the Vietnamese warlord encountered earlier in the film.

Mark steps off the plane attired in his iconic outfit as seen in A Better Tomorrow: black duster, sunglasses, and matchstick in his mouth.

Kit later meets Michael in an abandoned temple to give him two plane tickets to leave Saigon with Mark.

Pat, a soldier and friend of Mark and Michael, strays into the temple which triggers a firefight with the Viet Cong.

Believing Michael to be dead, Mark confronts Kit in her hotel room and accuses her of betrayal and keeping secrets from him.

When the gun battle dies down, Mark arrives dual wielding two M-16 rifles, intending to exact revenge on Ho.

Showing Kit's travel pass to the guards, the three are granted passage on the last US helicopter leaving the embassy which lifts off just as the crowds rush through the gates and the North Vietnamese flag is raised.