Set during the Vietnam war, the film follows three best friends (iconic actors Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee), fleeing from Hong Kong to seek their fortune as smugglers. In Saigon, they join forces with fellow expat Lok (Simon Yam) and double-cross the ruthless gangster Luong to steal his gold and rescue nightclub singer Sau-ching (Yolinda Yan) from his clutches. The gang must fight their way out of the country in a nightmarish odyssey where each new battle pushes them beyond their limits and threatens to destroy their friendship.

Combining the gravity of Apocalypse Now with the spectacular action of Woo's earlier films, Bullet in the Head is an uncompromising look at the ravages of war where ideals of brotherhood and comradeship disintegrate into greed and cruelty in a storm of bullets and blood.