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In the 23rd century, the starship C-57D reaches the distant planet Altair IV to determine the fate of an Earth expedition sent there 20 years earlier. Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the expedition's scientists, warns the relief ship not to land, saying he cannot guarantee their safety, but C-57D Commander John J. Adams ignores his warning. After landing, Adams and Lieutenants Jerry Farman and "Doc" Ostrow are met by Robby the Robot, who transports them to Morbius' residence. Morbius describes how, one by one, the rest of the expedition was killed by a "planetary force" and that their starship, the Bellerophon, was vaporized as the last survivors tried to lift off. Only Morbius, his wife (who later died of natural causes), and their daughter Altaira were somehow immune. Morbius offers to help them prepare to return home, but Adams says he must await further instructions from Earth. Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis in Forbidden Planet. The next day, Adams finds Farman trying to seduce Altaira; furious, he dresses down Farman and criticizes Altaira for her naivety around the crewmen and what he considers her excessively-revealing clothing. She reports the incident to Morbius, claiming that she never wishes to see Adams again, though she later designs new, more conservative clothing to appease Adams. That night, an invisible intruder sabotages equipment aboard the starship. Adams and Ostrow attempt to confront Morbius about this the following morning. While waiting, Adams goes outside to talk to Altaira. He apologizes for his behavior and they kiss. When they are unexpectedly attacked by Altaira's pet tiger, Adams disintegrates it with his blaster. When Morbius appears, Adams and Ostrow learn that he has been studying the Krell, a highly advanced native race that perished overnight 200,000 years before. In a Krell laboratory, Morbius shows them a "plastic educator", a device capable of measuring and enhancing intellectual capacity. When Morbius first used it, he barely survived, but his intellect was permanently doubled. Morbius takes them on a tour of a gigantic Krell underground machine complex, a cube long on each side, still functioning and powered by 9,200 thermonuclear reactors, operating in tandem. Afterwards, Adams demands that Morbius turn over his discoveries to Earth. Morbius, however, states that "humanity is not yet ready to receive such limitless power". Adams orders the crew to erect a force field fence around the starship to prevent further sabotage. It proves ineffective when the invisible intruder returns and murders Chief Engineer Quinn. Morbius warns Adams of his premonition of further deadly attacks, similar to what happened with the Bellerophon. That night, the invisible creature returns and is outlined in the fence's force field. The ship's blaster weapons have no effect and the creature kills Farman and two other crewmen. Morbius, asleep in the Krell lab, is startled awake by screams from Altaira. At the same instant, the roaring creature vanishes. Later, while Adams tries to persuade Altaira to leave, Ostrow sneaks away to use the Krell educator. He is fatally injured, but with his dying words, Ostrow tells Adams that the great machine was built to create anything from thought alone. He says that the Krell forgot one thing, however: "monsters from the id". Their own base subconscious desires, given free rein and unlimited power by the machine, brought about their quick extinction. Adams asserts that Morbius' subconscious mind created the creature that killed the original expedition and attacked his crew. Morbius refuses to believe him. After Altaira tells Morbius that she intends to leave with Adams, Robby detects the creature approaching. Morbius commands Robby to kill the monster, but the robot knows the monster is a creation of Morbius's subconscious mind and shuts down rather than harm him to stop it. Adams, Morbius, and Altaira take refuge in the Krell laboratory, but the creature melts its way through the doors. Morbius finally accepts the truth. He confronts and disowns the creature, but is fatally injured by the backlash. The id monster vanishes. Before Morbius dies, he tricks Adams into activating a planetary self-destruct sequence and tells them to leave the planet immediately. At a safe distance, Adams, Altaira, Robby, and the surviving crew watch the destruction of Altair IV. Adams then comforts Altaira by saying that this tragedy will serve as a reminder that, "... we are, after all, not God." The starship departs for Earth. 

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In 2084, construction worker Douglas Quaid is having troubling dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman there. His wife Lori is dismissive of Mars, where the governor, Vilos Cohaagen, is fighting a rebellion. Quaid visits Rekall, a company that implants false memories of vacations, and chooses a "trip" to Mars as a secret agent. However, the procedure goes wrong because Quaid has suppressed memories of actually being a secret agent on Mars. The Rekall employees sedate him, wipe his memory of the visit, and send him home. On the way, Quaid is attacked by his work friend Harry and other men, and has to kill them. At home, Lori attacks him, stating that their marriage is a false memory implant, and "the Agency" sent her to monitor Quaid. Quaid knocks Lori out and runs off, pursued by armed men led by Richter, Cohaagen's operative and Lori's real husband. After evading his attackers, Quaid is given a suitcase containing money, gadgets, fake IDs, and a video recording in which Quaid identifies himself as Hauser and explains that he used to work for Cohaagen, but switched sides after learning about an alien artifact on Mars. He underwent the memory wipe to protect himself. Hauser instructs Quaid to remove a tracking device located inside his skull and orders him to go to Mars. On arrival, Quaid finds a note from Hauser directing him to Venusville, a red light district populated by people mutated as a result of poor radiation shielding. He meets Benny, a taxi driver, and Melina, the woman from his dreams, but she spurns him, believing that he is still working for Cohaagen. Quaid later encounters Rekall's Dr. Edgemar and Lori. Edgemar states that due to a "schizoid embolism", Quaid is trapped in a fantasy from the implanted memories: he had himself and Lori inserted into the fantasy and offers a "pill" that will signal Quaid to wake up. Seeing Edgemar sweating, Quaid realizes he is real and kills him. Richter's men burst into the room and capture Quaid, but Melina arrives and attacks the men. Quaid kills Lori and escapes with Melina. They flee to Venusville with Benny, and are ushered into a secret tunnel. Unable to locate Quaid, Cohaagen shuts down the area's ventilation, slowly asphyxiating everyone. Quaid, Melina, and Benny are taken to a rebel base where Quaid is introduced to their leader, the mutant Kuato who is conjoined to his brother George. Kuato reads Quaid's mind, recalling a discussion with Cohaagen and Richter about the Martian artifact and its purpose. Cohaagen's forces burst in and kill most of the rebels. Quaid, George/Kuato, Melina, and Benny escape to an airlock. Benny kills George and reveals that he works for Cohaagen. Before dying, Kuato implores Quaid to activate the alien reactor. Quaid and Melina are taken to Cohaagen, who plays another video, in which Hauser explains that the Quaid persona was a ploy to fool the mutants' psychic abilities, infiltrate the mutants, and expose Kuato, thereby wiping out the rebellion. Cohaagen orders Quaid reimplanted with Hauser's memories and Melina reprogrammed as his obedient "babe", but they escape into the mines where the reactor is located. Benny attacks them in an excavation machine, but Quaid kills him. Quaid and Melina then outwit and kill Richter and his men lying in ambush for them. Quaid reaches the reactor control room, where Cohaagen is waiting with a bomb, claiming that starting the reactor will destroy them all. Melina arrives and shoots Cohaagen, but he starts the bomb timer. Quaid throws the bomb down a tunnel, leading to an explosive decompression. Cohaagen is blown out onto the Mars surface, where he suffocates and dies. Quaid manages to activate the reactor before he and Melina are also blown out. The reactor rods deploy, sublimating the turbinium glacier underneath and releasing gas, which bursts to the surface and forms a breathable planetary atmosphere. Quaid, Melina, Venusville, and the rest of Mars' population are saved. As everyone beholds the newly blue sky, Quaid momentarily pauses to wonder whether he is dreaming or not, before turning to kiss Melina. 

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Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters. It was originally published in three volumes in the 19th century, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 27, and 28 to 38. The second edition was dedicated to William Makepeace Thackeray. The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760–1820). It goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her mysterious employer, Edward Fairfax Rochester; her time in the Moor House, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and ultimately her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. Throughout these sections, the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo. 

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Pictorial map of Crusoe's island, the "Island of Despair", showing incidents from the book Crusoe (the family name corrupted from the German name "Kreutznaer") set sail from Kingston upon Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to pursue a career in law. After a tumultuous journey where his ship is wrecked in a storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey, too, ends in disaster, as the ship is taken over by Salé pirates (the Salé Rovers) and Crusoe is enslaved by a Moor. Two years later, he escapes in a boat with a boy named Xury; a captain of a Portuguese ship off the west coast of Africa rescues him. The ship is en route to Brazil. Crusoe sells Xury to the captain. With the captain's help, Crusoe procures a plantation. Years later, Crusoe joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island near the Venezuelan coast (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on 30 September 1659. He observes the latitude as 9 degrees and 22 minutes north. He sees penguins and seals on his island. As for his arrival there, only he and three animals, the captain's dog and two cats, survive the shipwreck. Overcoming his despair, he fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He builds a fenced-in habitat near a cave which he excavates. By making marks in a wooden cross, he creates a calendar. By using tools salvaged from the ship, and some which he makes himself, he hunts, grows barley and rice, dries grapes to make raisins, learns to make pottery and raises goats. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society. More years pass and Crusoe discovers native cannibals, who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing an abomination but later realizes he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners; when a prisoner escapes, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity. After more natives arrive to partake in a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday kill most of the natives and save two prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe about other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised wherein the Spaniard would return to the mainland with Friday's father and bring back the others, build a ship, and sail to a Spanish port. Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears; mutineers have commandeered the vessel and intend to maroon their captain on the island. Crusoe and the ship's captain strike a deal in which Crusoe helps the captain and the loyal sailors retake the ship. With their ringleader executed by the captain, the mutineers take up Crusoe's offer to be marooned on the island rather than being returned to England as prisoners to be hanged. Before embarking for England, Crusoe shows the mutineers how he survived on the island and states that there will be more men coming. Crusoe leaves the island 19 December 1686 and arrives in England on 11 June 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead; as a result, he was left nothing in his father's will. Crusoe departs for Lisbon to reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which has granted him much wealth. In conclusion, he transports his wealth overland to England from Portugal to avoid traveling by sea. Friday accompanies him and, en route, they endure one last adventure together as they fight off famished wolves while crossing the Pyrenees. 

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Tom Reagan is the right- hand man for Leo O'Bannon, an Irish mobster and political boss who runs a U.S. city during Prohibition. When Leo's rival, the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar, announces his intent to kill bookie Bernie Bernbaum, Leo goes against Tom's advice and extends his protection to Bernie, who is the brother of Verna, who has begun a relationship with Leo – while also carrying on an affair with Tom. Tom tries everything he can to convince Leo to give Bernie up to Caspar to prevent a war; he attempts to convince Leo that Verna is playing him to protect her brother but Leo will not be swayed. After an assassination attempt on Leo, Tom reveals his affair with Verna to Leo to prove that she is dishonest. Leo beats Tom and turns his back on both of them. Tom then approaches Caspar looking for work and Caspar commands him to kill Bernie in the woods at Miller's Crossing to prove his loyalty. Bernie pleads with Tom to spare him, saying "Look in your heart". Tom fires his gun to fake the killing and tells Bernie to run and hide. Caspar assumes Leo's position as boss of the city, controlling the police and using them to destroy Leo's operations. Tom begins sowing discord between Caspar and his trusted enforcer, the brutal Eddie "the Dane" Dane. Upon finding that his men didn't actually see Tom kill Bernie, Dane takes Tom back to Miller's Crossing to see if Bernie's body is there. Tom nearly cracks as they approach the location but they find a body that had been shot in the face and disfigured by birds. Unknown to Tom, Bernie returned to town and killed Mink, who was the Dane's lover, and placed the body where his should have been. Bernie holds this over Tom's head and tries to blackmail Tom into killing Caspar. Tom uses Mink's unknown whereabouts to convince Caspar that Eddie Dane has betrayed him. Dane denies it and Caspar has to decide whom he believes, and whom he will kill. In a rage, he beats Eddie Dane before shooting him in the head. Tom then arranges a meeting with Bernie but sends Caspar instead on the pretext that he will be meeting Mink. Bernie arrives before Caspar and kills him. Tom arrives and tricks Bernie into giving up his gun, saying they can blame Eddie Dane, then reveals that Dane is dead and that he intends to kill Bernie in retribution for blackmailing him. Bernie again begs for mercy, saying "Look in your heart" but Tom asks "What heart?" and shoots him. With Caspar and Eddie Dane dead, Leo resumes his post as boss. Verna has won her way back into Leo's good graces and she reacts coldly to Tom. On the day Bernie is buried, Leo announces that Verna has proposed to him and offers Tom his job back but Tom turns him down and stays behind, watching as Leo departs. 

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In late 1799, New York City police constable Ichabod Crane is dispatched to the Dutch hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, which has been plagued by a series of brutal decapitations, Peter and Dirk Van Garrett, a wealthy father, and his son, and a widow, Emily Winship. He is received by the insular town elders: wealthy businessman Baltus Van Tassel, town doctor Thomas Lancaster, the Reverend Steenwyck, notary James Hardenbrook, and magistrate Samuel Philipse. Baltus tells Ichabod that locals are sure who the killer is: the undead apparition of a headless Hessian mercenary from the American Revolutionary War who rides a black steed in search of his missing head. Skeptical of the paranormal story, Ichabod begins his investigation. He boards at the home of Baltus Van Tassel and his second wife, Lady Van Tassel, and is taken with Baltus' spiritual daughter, Katrina. When a fourth victim, Jonathan Masbath, is killed, his son, Young Masbath, pledges himself to serve Ichabod. Ichabod and Masbath exhume the victims on a tip from Philipse and discover that the widow died while pregnant. Soon after, Ichabod witnesses the Horseman killing Philipse. He then ventures into the Western Woods with Young Masbath and finds a crone living in a cave, who reveals the location of the Horseman's grave at the "Tree of the Dead". Ichabod digs up the Horseman's grave and sees that the skull has been taken. He deduces that it was stolen by someone who now controls the Horseman and that the tree is his portal into the living world. That night, the Horseman kills village midwife Beth Killian and her family. As he leaves, he ignores Katrina's suitor Brom but kills him when Brom attacks it. Ichabod notes that the Horseman murders only specific victims and hypothesizes that those he kills are linked by a conspiracy. He and Masbath visit Hardenbrook, who reveals that the first victim, Peter Van Garrett, had secretly married the widow and written a new will that left his estate to her and her unborn child. Ichabod deduces that all subsequent victims except Brom are either beneficiaries or witnesses to this new will, and decides that the Horseman's master must be Baltus. As a Van Garrett relative, Baltus would have inherited the estate under the previous will. Upon discovering the accusation, Katrina burns the evidence. Hardenbrook commits suicide, and Steenwyck convenes a town meeting to discredit Ichabod. Baltus bursts into the assembly at the church, announcing that the Horseman has killed his wife. The Horseman attacks the church, but is unable to enter. In the chaos, the remaining elders turn on and attack each other. Steenwyck kills Lancaster, Baltus kills Steenwyck, and the Horseman harpoons Baltus through a window, dragging him out of the church before taking his head. Katrina faints and the villagers see a large diagram she drew on the church floor. Ichabod had earlier found the same diagram under his bed at the Van Tassel house. Ichabod decides that it must be Katrina who controls the Horseman. He then discovers that her diagram is one of protection, and not for summoning the Horseman as he imagined. He also concludes that a wound on "Lady Van Tassel's" body was made post-mortem. Meanwhile, Lady Van Tassel, alive and well, reveals herself to Katrina; the body assumed to be hers was in fact that of Sarah, a maidservant she had murdered and dressed in her clothes. Lady Van Tassel abducts Katrina and explains her true heritage: from an impoverished family, evicted years ago by Van Garrett when he favored Baltus and Katrina instead. She swore revenge against Van Garrett and all who had wronged her. When she later witnessed the Horseman's death and burial, she pledged her soul to Satan if he would raise the Horseman to murder those obstructing her from making an uncontested claim to the Van Garrett and Van Tassel estates. Manipulating her way into the Van Tassel household, she used fear, blackmail, and lust to draw the other elders into her plot. Having eliminated all other heirs and witnesses, as well as her sister, the crone who aided Ichabod, she summons the Horseman to finish Katrina. Ichabod and Masbath rush to the windmill as the Horseman arrives. After an escape that destroys the windmill and a chase to the Tree of the Dead, Ichabod retrieves the Horseman's skull from Lady Van Tassel and returns it to him. This restores the Horseman, breaking the curse and setting him free from Lady Van Tassel's control. The Horseman spares Katrina and gives to Lady Van Tassel a bloody kiss, taking her back to Hell with him to fulfill her end of her deal. Ichabod returns to New York with Katrina and Young Masbath as the new century begins. 

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From left to right: Cri-Kee; Mushu; Fa Mulan; Khan The Huns, who are led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade the imperial Han China by breaching the Great Wall. The Chinese emperor orders a general mobilization, with conscription notices requiring one man from each family to join the Chinese army. When Fa Mulan hears that her elderly father Fa Zhou, the only man in their family and an army veteran, is going to war once more, she becomes anxious and apprehensive due to his weakening health. Taking her father's old armor and cutting her long hair, she disguises herself as a man so that she can enlist instead of her parent. The family quickly learns of her departure, and Mulan's grandmother prays to the family ancestors for Mulan's safety. The ancestors order their "great stone dragon" to protect Mulan. They send the small dragon Mushu, a disgraced former guardian, to awaken the stone dragon, but he accidentally destroys it in the process. Mushu conceals this from the ancestors and resolves to protect Mulan himself. Reporting to the training camp, Mulan is able to pass as a man, although her military skills are initially lacking. Mushu provides clumsy guidance to Mulan on how to behave like a man based on his poor judgement and stereotypical views. Under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po gradually become trained warriors. Desiring to see Mulan succeed, Mushu creates a fake order from Shang's father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow the main imperial army into the mountains. The reinforcements set out, but arrive at a burnt-out encampment and discover that General Li and his troops have been massacred by the Huns. As the reinforcements solemnly leave the mountains, they are ambushed by the Huns, but Mulan cleverly uses a Huolongchushui cannon to cause an avalanche, which buries most of the invaders. An enraged Shan Yu slashes her in the chest, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life, but nonetheless expels her from the army. Mulan is left to follow alone as the recruits depart for the imperial city to report the news of the Huns' destruction. However, it is discovered that several Hun warriors, including Shan Yu, have survived the avalanche, and Mulan catches sight of them as they make their way to the city, intent on capturing the emperor. At the imperial city, Mulan tries convincing Shang about Shan Yu's survival to no avail. The Huns capture the emperor and seize the palace. With Mulan's help, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po pose as concubines, and are able to enter the palace. With the help of Shang, they defeat Shan Yu's men; as Shang prevents Shan Yu from assassinating the Emperor, Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof, where she engages him in single combat. Meanwhile, acting on Mulan's instructions and signal, Mushu fires a large skyrocket at Shan Yu. The rocket strikes and propels him into a fireworks launching tower, where he dies in the resulting explosion. Mulan is initially reprimanded by the Emperor for having destroyed the palace and shamed the army and her family, but is unexpectedly praised by himself and the assembled inhabitants of the city for having saved them, who bow to her in an unprecedented honor. While she accepts the crest of the Emperor and the sword of Shan Yu as gifts, she politely declines his offer to be his advisor, and asks to return to her family. Mulan returns home and presents these gifts to her father, who is overjoyed to have Mulan back safely. Having become enamored with Mulan, Shang soon arrives under the pretext of returning her helmet, but accepts the family's invitation to stay for dinner. Mushu is reinstated as a Fa family guardian by the ancestors amid a returning celebration. 

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The President of the United States, who is running for reelection, finds a fierce opponent in Ohio Governor J. Robert Fowler, who has rallied the American public behind his administration's failures in the War on Drugs. This provides National Security Advisor James Cutter with an opportunity to help him initiate covert operations within Colombia with intent to disrupt the illegal drug trade there. Aided by CIA Deputy Director (Operations) Robert Ritter and CIA director Arthur Moore, the plan involves inserting light infantry troops of Hispanic descent into the country to stake out airstrips used by the cartel (SHOWBOAT), which then allows F-15 Eagles to intercept drug flights (EAGLE EYE). In addition, mobile phone communications between cartel management are intercepted through CAPER, which is also the communications arm for SHOWBOAT. Meanwhile, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter Panache intercepts a yacht in the Caribbean Sea; its crew finds two Hispanic men cleaning up the vessel after murdering its owner and his family. Through a mock trial and execution, the Coast Guardsmen force the killers to confess to their crimes; it is later learned that the murdered owner was a businessman involved in a money laundering scheme for a Colombian drug cartel. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) then proceeds to seize the laundered money from several banks in the United States and Europe, which amounted to over $650 million. The seizure of the cartel money by the FBI infuriates drug cartel leader Ernesto Escobedo, who had ordered the hit on the American businessman. Meanwhile, his intelligence officer Felix Cortez finds out about FBI director Emil Jacobs's official visit to the Attorney General of Colombia, and as a result, Escobedo orders the assassination of Jacobs without informing Cortez. Upon arriving in the city of Bogotá, the FBI director's motorcade was ambushed, killing him as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration head and the U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Enraged, the President authorizes Operation RECIPROCITY, stepping up Cutter's operations and declaring war on Escobedo's drug organization. Later, a surgical airstrike on a drug kingpin's mansion during a meeting of several cartel members kills everyone inside; however, Escobedo did not attend the meeting and sends Cortez, who was delayed and witnessed the explosion as a result. Cortez later deduces that the Americans have been conducting operations against the Colombian drug cartel, but plays along, planning to engineer a war within the cartel that will leave him in a position to seize power. He dispatches mercenaries to hunt down the American troops, and later blackmails Cutter in a secret meeting into shutting down all covert operations against the cartel in exchange for slowing down drug imports to the United States. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan, former Marine and the acting CIA Deputy Director (Intelligence) after his boss James Greer was hospitalized for pancreatic cancer, suspects the agency's involvement in the situation in Colombia. His position enables him to be aware of most operations, but he realizes he is being kept out of the loop. After his friend, fighter pilot Robby Jackson, makes an inquiry into activity in the region, Ryan becomes determined to find out what is going on, eventually finding out about the covert operations from breaking into Ritter's files in his office. Outraged, he seeks help from the FBI and later meets John Clark, a CIA operative and former Navy SEAL coordinating CAPER. Having been previously ordered by the President to shut down all covert operations against the cartel to avoid the political fallout, Cutter does so after his secret meeting with Cortez, and then secretly provides the latter with the coordinates of the American troops in Colombia for him to hunt down. Their meeting having been shadowed by the FBI, Ryan and Clark become outraged; they later team up to rescue American troops left behind in Colombia via an U.S. Air Force helicopter, missing Greer's funeral. Although they suffer casualties from encountering mercenaries employed by the cartel along the way, they successfully extract the survivors — one of them being Staff Sergeant Domingo "Ding" Chavez — and later capture Cortez and Escobedo (the latter of whom is handed over to his cartel enemies) in a raid on the cartel's command post. Cortez is later returned to Cuba, where he is branded as a traitor by his former colleagues. Upon being confronted by Clark with evidence of his treason, Cutter commits suicide. Ryan confronts the defiant President for not informing him about the covert operations in Colombia; after he briefs the committee, the President deliberately loses the election to Fowler, in order to hide the operations and protect the honor of those involved. Meanwhile, Clark takes Chavez under his wing and recruits him into the CIA. 

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At the beginning of the first series, we are introduced to the main characters, a group of mostly female and middle-aged canteen workers at a factory, set in the Greater Manchester area, North West England: the main character is the kind and dependable Brenda 'Bren' Furlong (played by Victoria Wood), whose relationship with sarcastic and exhausted canteen manager Tony Martin (Andrew Dunn) develops through the show. The prim and prudish Dolly Bellfield (Thelma Barlow) and her waspish friend Jean (Anne Reid) are also featured, as well as the younger pair of the snarky Twinkle (Maxine Peake), who is always late, and the ditzy but mild-mannered Anita (Shobna Gulati). Stan Meadowcroft (Duncan Preston) is an opinionated and easily provoked (but well-meaning) maintenance man who is responsible for cleaning the factory and fixing equipment. The new cheery but disorganised human resources manager Philippa Moorcroft (Celia Imrie) is from the South and initially doesn't fit in well with the rest of the staff; she moved to Manchester because of her relationship with senior member of staff Mr Michael (Christopher Greet). Julie Walters also appears in nine episodes"Monday", "Scandal", "Moods", "Party", "Trouble", "Holidays", "Christmas", "Gravy" and "Toast" as Bren's disadvantaged, delusional and manipulative mother who lives in a caravan behind a petrol station. She abandoned Bren at an orphanage, and often turns up to ask for favours. In the first series, Bren and Tony's relationship begins to develop, and she supports him as he undergoes chemotherapy. Philippa tries to organise team-building activities, the factory receives a royal visit, Bren's mother causes a scandal in the factory, the team bring their mothers to work, HWD Components merges with a Japanese company and Tony is temporarily replaced by Nicola Bodeux due to his treatment. Bodeux resigns after causing the canteen staff to strike, leading Bren to take charge on an interim basis amidst a crisis for the company. Throughout the second series, Bren and Tony's relationship develops further; the canteen takes on a work experience girl named Sigourney (Joanne Froggatt), Jean goes to stay with her sister after she is put in a foul mood by her unfaithful husband, a murderer escapes from a local prison and Bren's fear of needles is mistaken for pregnancy. Jane (Sue Devaney) organises a holiday to Marbella, on which Bren and Tony want to go together. After a mixup, Bren manages to get a place, but she ends up giving the money to her mother instead. Their colleagues bet on when Bren and Tony will "get it on", and they finally get together after Tony puts on a surprise birthday party for Bren, who was born on Christmas Eve. Later in the series, Philippa cannot attend the Millennium Meal she organises, and Anita has a baby; after leaving it anonymously for Bren to care for, she takes it back and goes on maternity leave; she is replaced temporarily by Christine (Kay Adshead), who is disliked by the rest of the dinnerladies. As the staff plan to move on with their lives, Bren goes on the game show Totally Trivial, but loses her chance to win after she cannot attend due to her mother's death. It is revealed that her mother left her a large amount of cash, and Bren and Tony use the money to move to Scotland. 

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Battle Angel Alita tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg. Her intact head and chest, in suspended animation, are found by cybermedic expert Daisuke Ido in the local garbage dump. Ido manages to revive her, and finding she has lost her memory, names her Alita after his recently deceased cat. The rebuilt Alita soon discovers that she instinctively remembers the legendary martial art Panzer Kunst, although she does not recall anything else. Alita uses her Panzer Kunst to first become a bounty hunter killing cyborg criminals in the Scrapyard, and then as a star player in the brutal gladiator sport of Motorball. While in combat, Alita awakens memories of her earlier life on Mars. She becomes involved with the floating city of Zalem (Tiphares in some older translations) as one of their agents, and is sent to hunt down criminals. Foremost is the mad genius Desty Nova, who has a complex, ever-changing relationship with Alita. The futuristic dystopian world of Battle Angel Alita revolves around the city of Scrapyard (Kuzutetsu in the Japanese and various other versions), which has grown up around a massive scrap heap that rains down from Zalem. Ground dwellers have no access to Zalem and are forced to make a living in the sprawl below. Many are heavily modified by cybernetics to better cope with their hard life. Zalem exploits the Scrapyard and surrounding farms, paying bounty hunters (called Hunter-Warriors) to hunt criminals and arranging violent sports to keep the population entertained. Massive tubes connect the Scrapyard to Zalem, and the city uses robots for carrying out errands and providing security on the ground. Occasionally, Zalemites (such as Daisuke Ido and Desty Nova) are exiled and sent to the ground. Aside from the robots and exiles, there is little contact between the two cities. The story takes place in the former United States. According to a map, printed in the eighth volume, Scrapyard/Zalem is near Kansas City, Missouri, and the Necropolis is Colorado Springs, Colorado. Radio KAOS is at Dallas, Texas. Figure's coastal hometown is Alhambra, California. Desty Nova's Granite Inn is built out of a military base—NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado. Battle Angel Alita is eventually revealed to take place in the 26th century. The sequel Battle Angel Alita: Last Order introduces a calendar era called "Era Sputnik" which has an epoch of AD 1957. The original Battle Angel Alita series begins in ES 577 (AD 2533) and ends in ES 590 (AD 2546), Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is mostly set roughly in ES 591 (AD 2547), and Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle currently alternates between ES 373–374 (AD 2329–2330) and ES 594 (AD 2550). 

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The novel is set prior to the Constitution of 1782 and tells the story of four generations of Rackrent heirs through their steward, Thady Quirk. The heirs are: the dissipated spendthrift Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin, the litigious Sir Murtagh Rackrent, the cruel husband and gambling absentee Sir Kit Rackrent, and the generous but improvident Sir Condy Rackrent. Their sequential mismanagement of the estate is resolved through the machinations—and to the benefit—of the narrator's astute son, Jason Quirk. 

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The Munsters live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the city of Mockingbird Heights, a fictional suburb in a never revealed state. The running gag of the series is that the family, while decidedly odd, consider themselves fairly typical working-class people of the era. Herman, like many husbands of the 1960s, is the sole wage-earner in the family, though Lily and Grandpa make short-lived attempts to earn money from time to time. While Herman is the head of the household, Lily makes many decisions, too. According to the episode in which Lily and Herman were trying to surprise one another for their anniversary, they were married in 1865. Despite the novel approach of the family being mostly supernatural creatures (except for niece Marilyn, who is "normal"), the show followed the typical family sitcom formula of the era: the well-meaning father, the nurturing mother, the eccentric live-in relative, the naïve teenager, and the precocious child. The costumes and appearances of the family members other than Marilyn were based on the classic monsters of Universal Studios films from the 1930s and 1940s. Universal produced The Munsters as well and was thus able to use these copyrighted designs, including their iconic version of Frankenstein's monster for Herman whose costume and make-up were based on the look created by Jack Pierce for the 1931 Universal Studios film Frankenstein. The make-up for the show was credited to Bud Westmore, who pioneered many make-up effects and designs for many of the Universal monster movies. 

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Emma Woodhouse's friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr. Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield with her father, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her sister's brother-in-law, Mr. Knightley. She attempts to match her new friend Harriet Smith to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable, educated, and well- spoken young farmer, though Harriet likes him. Mr. Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr. Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, nouveau-riche wife, as Mr. Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her. Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son, arrives for a two-week visit and makes many friends. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt, and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr. Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt, Miss Bates, and grandmother, Mrs. Bates, for a few months, before starting a governess position due to her family's financial situation. She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education by her father's friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof with her because she envies Jane's talent and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs Weston and Mr. Knightley, praising her. The patronizing Mrs. Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find her the ideal governess post before it is wanted. Emma feels some sympathy for Jane's predicament. Emma decides that Jane and Mr. Dixon, Colonel Campbell's new son- in-law, are mutually attracted, and is the reason she arrived earlier than expected. She confides this to Frank, who met Jane and the Campbells at a vacation spot a year earlier; he apparently agrees with Emma. Suspicions are further fuelled when a piano, sent by an anonymous benefactor, arrives for Jane. Emma feels herself falling in love with Frank, but it does not last to his second visit. The Eltons treat Harriet poorly, culminating with Mr. Elton publicly snubbing Harriet at the ball given by the Westons in May. Mr. Knightley, who had long refrained from dancing, gallantly asks Harriet to dance. The day after the ball, Frank brings Harriet to Hartfield; she fainted after a rough encounter with local gypsies. Emma mistakes Harriet's gratitude to Frank as her being in love with him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weston wonders if Mr. Knightley fancies Jane, but Emma dismisses that. When Mr. Knightley says he notices a connection between Jane and Frank, Emma disagrees, as Frank appears to be courting her instead. Frank arrives late to a gathering at Donwell in June, while Jane departs early. Next day at Box Hill, a local scenic spot, Frank and Emma are bantering when Emma, in jest, thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates. 1898 illustration of Mr. Knightley and Emma Woodhouse, Volume III chapter XIII When Mr. Knightley scolds Emma for insulting Miss Bates, she is ashamed. The next day, she visits Miss Bates to atone for her bad behaviour, impressing Mr. Knightley. On the visit, Emma learns that Jane accepted a governess position from one of Mrs. Elton's friends. Jane becomes ill and refuses to see Emma or receive her gifts. Meanwhile, Frank has been visiting his aunt, who dies soon after his arrival. Now he and Jane reveal to the Westons that they have been secretly engaged since autumn, but Frank knew his aunt would disapprove of the match. Maintaining the secrecy strained the conscientious Jane and caused the couple to quarrel, with Jane ending the engagement. Frank's easygoing uncle readily gives his blessing to the match. The engagement is made public, leaving Emma chagrined to discover that she had been so wrong. Emma believes Frank's engagement will devastate Harriet, but instead, Harriet says she loves Mr. Knightley, and though she knows the match is too unequal, Emma's encouragement and Mr. Knightley's kindness have given her hope. Emma is startled and realises that she is in love with Mr. Knightley. Mr. Knightley returns to console Emma from Frank and Jane's engagement thinking her heartbroken. When she admits her foolishness, he proposes, and she accepts. Harriet accepts Robert Martin's second proposal, and they are the first couple to marry. Jane and Emma reconcile, and Frank and Jane visit the Westons. Once the mourning period for Frank's aunt ends, they will marry. Before the end of November, Emma and Mr. Knightley are married with the prospect of "perfect happiness". 

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Left to right: Henreid, Bergman, Rains and Bogart In December 1941, American expatriate Rick Blaine owns an upscale nightclub and gambling den in Casablanca. "Rick's Café Américain" attracts a varied clientele, including Vichy French and German officials, refugees desperate to reach the neutral United States, and those who prey on them. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, he had run guns to Ethiopia during the Second Italo- Ethiopian War and fought on the Republican (loyalist) side in the Spanish Civil War. Petty crook Ugarte boasts to Rick of "letters of transit" obtained by murdering two German couriers. The papers allow the bearers to travel freely around German-occupied Europe and to neutral Portugal; they are priceless to the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to sell them at the club, and asks Rick to hold them. Before he can meet his contact, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault, the unabashedly corrupt prefect of police. Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that he entrusted the letters to Rick. Then the reason for Rick's cynical nature—former lover Ilsa Lund—enters his establishment. Spotting Rick's friend and house pianist, Sam, Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By". Rick storms over, furious that Sam disobeyed his order never to perform that song and is stunned to see Ilsa. She is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo, a renowned, fugitive Czech Resistance leader. They need the letters to escape to America to continue his work. German Major Strasser has come to Casablanca to see that Laszlo fails. When Laszlo makes inquiries, Ferrari, a major underworld figure and Rick's friendly business rival, divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters. Privately, Rick refuses to sell at any price, telling Laszlo to ask his wife the reason. They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of officers in singing ("The Watch on the Rhine"). Laszlo orders the house band to play . When the band looks to Rick, he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. Strasser demands Renault close the club, which he does on the pretext of suddenly discovering there is gambling on the premises. Bogart and Bergman Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted café. When he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun, but then confesses that she still loves him. She explains that when they met and fell in love in Paris in 1940, she believed her husband had been killed attempting to escape from a concentration camp. While preparing to flee with Rick from the imminent fall of the city during the Battle of France, she learned Laszlo was alive and in hiding. She left Rick without explanation to nurse her sick husband. Rick's bitterness dissolves. He agrees to help, letting her believe she will stay with him when Laszlo leaves. When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has waiter Carl spirit Ilsa away. Laszlo, aware of Rick's love for Ilsa, tries to persuade him to use the letters to take her to safety. When the police arrest Laszlo on a trumped-up charge, Rick persuades Renault to release him by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters. To allay Renault's suspicions, Rick explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for America. When Renault tries to arrest Laszlo as arranged, Rick forces him at gunpoint to assist in their escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with Laszlo, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed—"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but soon and for the rest of your life". Strasser, tipped off by Renault, drives up alone and Rick shoots him when he tries to intervene. As the police arrive, Renault pauses, then orders them to "round up the usual suspects". He suggests to Rick that they join the Free French in Brazzaville. As they walk away into the fog, Rick says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". 

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Charlie Bucket, an 11-year-old boy, is very poor and lives in a small house with his parents and four grandparents. One day, Charlie’s Grandpa Joe tells him about the legendary and eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka and all the wonderful sweets and chocolates he made. However, the other chocolatiers sent in spies to steal his secret recipes, leading Wonka to close the factory to outsiders. The next day, the newspaper announces that Wonka is re-opening the factory and has invited five lucky children to come on a tour, if they find a Golden Ticket inside a Wonka Bar. The first four golden tickets are found by four unpleasant children: the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled and petulant Veruca Salt, the chewing gum-addicted Violet Beauregarde, and the television-obsessed Mike Teavee. One day, Charlie sees a 50 pence piece (dollar bill in the US version) buried in the snow. At the exact moment, it is revealed that the Japanese ticket was forged, he buys a Wonka Bar and miraculously finds the last golden ticket. The ticket says he can bring one or two family members with him and Charlie's parents decide to allow Grandpa Joe to go with him. On the day of the tour, Wonka takes the five children and their parents inside the factory, which is a wonderland of confectionery creations that defy logic. They also meet the Oompa-Loompas, a race of small people who help him operate the factory. During the tour, the four "bad" children give in to their individual vices and are ejected from the tour in darkly comical ways. Augustus gets sucked up the pipe to the Fudge Room after drinking from the Chocolate River, Violet blows up into a giant blueberry after chewing an experimental stick of three-course dinner gum, Veruca is thrown down the garbage chute after trying to capture one of the nut-testing squirrels and is considered a "bad nut," and Mike gets shrunk down to the size of an ant after being sent by Wonkavision. The Oompa-Loompas sing about their specific behavior each time disaster strikes the child. With only Charlie remaining in the end, Wonka congratulates him for "winning" the factory. Wonka explains that the whole tour was designed to help him secure a good person to serve as an heir to his business, and Charlie was the only child whose inherent goodness allowed him to pass the test. They ride the Great Glass Elevator to Charlie's house; the other four children each go home with a lifetime supply of chocolate, as well as permanent disfigurements from their misbehavior. Wonka then invites Charlie's family to come and live with him in the factory. 

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On October 2, 1988, in the small town of Middlesex, Virginia, troubled teenager Donald J. "Donnie" Darko, led by a mysterious voice, sleepwalks out of his home. Once outside, he meets a figure in a monstrous rabbit costume who introduces himself as Frank and tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Donnie wakes up the next morning on a local golf course and returns home to discover a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. His older sister Elizabeth tells him the FAA investigators do not know its origin. Over the next several days, Donnie continues to have visions of Frank. His parents, Eddie and Rose, send him to a psychiatrist, Dr. Thurman. She believes he is detached from reality and that his visions of Frank are "daylight hallucinations", symptomatic of paranoid schizophrenia. Frank begins to influence Donnie's actions through his sleepwalking episodes, including causing him to flood his high school by breaking a water main. Donnie also starts seeing Gretchen Ross, who has recently moved into town with her mother under a new identity to escape her violent stepfather. Dr. Thurman hypnotizes Donnie at his next therapy session, but it ends with him discussing his sexual fantasies involving Christina Applegate while he unzips his pants, causing Thurman to end the session prematurely. Later, Donnie goes to a clearing and shoots bottles while his friends discuss the sexual components of Smurfs. Gym teacher Kitty Farmer attributes the act of vandalism to the influence of the short story The Destructors, assigned by dedicated English teacher Karen Pomeroy. Kitty begins teaching "attitude lessons" taken from local motivational speaker Jim Cunningham, but Donnie rebels against these, leading to friction between Kitty and Rose. Frank asks Donnie, who in turn asks his science teacher, Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff, if he believes in time travel. Monnitoff gives Donnie The Philosophy of Time Travel, a book written by Roberta Sparrow, a former science teacher at the school who is now a seemingly senile old woman living outside of town. Later, while watching football, Donnie notices bubbly columns emerging from the chests of people around him that show Donnie where the person will move. A bubble appears on his chest and he follows it to his parents' closet where he finds and takes a gun. Kitty arranges for Cunningham to speak at a school assembly, where Donnie insults him. He later finds Cunningham's wallet and address and Frank suggests setting his house on fire, which Donnie does. Firefighters discover a hoard of child pornography there. Cunningham is arrested, and Kitty, who wishes to testify in his defense, asks Rose to take her place as chaperone for their daughters' dance troupe on its trip to Los Angeles. With Rose and little sister Samantha in Los Angeles, and Eddie away for business, Donnie and Elizabeth hold a Halloween costume party to celebrate Elizabeth's acceptance to Harvard. At the party, Gretchen arrives distraught as her mother has gone missing, and it is implied that she and Donnie have sex for the first time. When Donnie realizes that Frank's prophesied end of the world is only hours away, he takes Gretchen and two other friends to find Sparrow. Instead, they find two high school bullies, Seth and Ricky, trying to rob Sparrow's home. Donnie, Seth, and Ricky fight in the road in front of her house, just as she returns home. Ricky and Seth flee when an oncoming car runs over Gretchen, killing her. The driver is Elizabeth's boyfriend, Frank Anderson, wearing the same rabbit costume from Donnie's visions. A second Frank can also be seen standing in the bushes in the same scene. Donnie shoots him in the eye with his father's gun, and walks home carrying Gretchen's body. Donnie returns home as a vortex forms over his house. He takes one of his parents' cars, loads Gretchen's body into it, and drives to a nearby ridge that overlooks town. There, he watches as the plane carrying Rose and the dance troupe home from Los Angeles gets caught in the vortex's wake, which rips off and catches one of its engines. Events of the previous 28 days rewind. Donnie wakes up in his bedroom, recognizes the date is October 2, and laughs as the jet engine falls into his bedroom, crushing him. Around town, those whose lives Donnie would have touched wake up from troubled dreams. Gretchen, who in this timeline had never met Donnie, bikes by the Darko home the next morning and learns of his death. She and Rose exchange glances and wave as if they know each other but cannot remember from where in a moment of déjà vu. 

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In August 1939, the United States imposes a trade embargo on a belligerent Japan, severely limiting raw materials. Influential army figures and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and Italy in September 1940 and prepare for war. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, reluctantly plans a pre- emptive strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, believing that Japan's best hope of controlling the Pacific Ocean is to quickly annihilate the American fleet. Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda is chosen to mastermind the operation while his old Naval Academy classmate Mitsuo Fuchida is selected to lead the attack. Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. military intelligence has broken the Japanese Purple Code, allowing them to intercept secret Japanese radio transmissions indicating increased Japanese naval activity. Monitoring the transmissions are U.S. Army Col. Bratton and U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Kramer. At Pearl Harbor itself, Admiral Kimmel and General Short do their best to increase defensive naval and air patrols around Hawaii which could provide early warning of enemy presence. Short recommends concentrating aircraft at the base on the runways to avoid sabotage by enemy agents in Hawaii. Several months pass while diplomatic tensions escalate. As the Japanese ambassador to Washington continues negotiations to stall for time, the large Japanese fleet sorties into the Pacific. On the day of the attack, Bratton and Kramer learn from intercepts that the Japanese plan a series of 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington. They are also directed to destroy their code machines after receiving the final message. Deducing the Japanese intention to launch a surprise attack immediately after the messages are delivered, Bratton tries warning his superiors of his suspicions but encounters several obstacles: Chief of Naval Operations Harold R. Stark is indecisive over notifying Hawaii without first alerting the President while Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall's order that Pearl Harbor be alerted of an impending attack is stymied by poor atmospherics that prevent radio transmission and by bungling when a warning sent by telegram is not marked urgent. At dawn on December 7, the Japanese fleet launches its aircraft. Their approach to Hawaii is detected by two radar operators but their concerns are dismissed by the duty officer. The Japanese thus achieve surprise and a joyous commander Fuchida sends the code to begin the attack: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" The damage to the naval base is catastrophic and casualties are severe. Seven battleships are either sunk or heavily damaged. General Short's anti-sabotage precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy aircraft on the ground easily. Hours after the attack ends, General Short and Admiral Kimmel receive Marshall's telegram warning of impending danger. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull is stunned to learn of the attack and urgently requests confirmation before receiving the Japanese ambassador. The message that was transmitted to the Japanese embassy in 14 parts – a declaration of war – was meant to be delivered to the Americans at 1:00 pm in Washington, 30 minutes before the attack. However, it was not decoded and transcribed in time, meaning the attack started while the two nations were technically still at peace. The distraught Japanese ambassador, helpless to explain the late ultimatum and unaware of the ongoing attack, is bluntly rebuffed by a despondent Hull. Back in the Pacific, the Japanese fleet commander, Vice- Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, refuses to launch a scheduled third wave of aircraft for fear of exposing his force to U.S. submarines. Aboard his flagship, Admiral Yamamoto solemnly informs his staff that their primary target – the American aircraft carriers – were not at Pearl Harbor, having departed days previously to search for Japanese vessels. Lamenting that the declaration of war arrived after the attack began, Yamamoto notes that nothing would infuriate the U.S. more and ominously concludes: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." 

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During the Korean War, in 1952 the Soviets and Chinese capture a U.S. Army platoon and take the men to Manchuria in communist China. Three days later, Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) and Captain Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) return to UN lines. Upon Marco's recommendation, Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor for saving their lives in combat. Shaw returns to the United States to a hero's welcome where he is exploited by his ambitious mother, Mrs. Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury), to further her husband (Shaw's stepfather) U.S. Senator John Yerkes Iselin's (James Gregory) political career. When asked to describe him, Marco and the other soldiers automatically respond that, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." In fact, Shaw is a cold, sad, unsympathetic loner. In the following years, Marco, since promoted to major and assigned to Army Intelligence, suffers from a recurring nightmare. In it, a hypnotized Shaw blithely and brutally murders the two missing soldiers before an assembly of military leaders from the communist nations, during a practical demonstration of a revolutionary brainwashing technique. Marco is compelled to investigate, but with no solid evidence to back his claims, fails to receive his superiors' support. However, Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon, Allen Melvin (James Edwards), has had the same nightmare. When Melvin and Marco separately identify photos of the same two men from their dreams who are leading figures in communist governments, Army Intelligence agrees to help Marco investigate. Shaw (Harvey, left) with Major Marco (Sinatra) after having jumped into a lake in New York City's Central Park when his programming was accidentally triggered Meanwhile, Eleanor drives the ascension of Iselin, a McCarthy-like demagogue stirring domestic turmoil and climbing the political ladder based on claims that constantly varying numbers of communists work within the Department of Defense. The Iselins eventually decide on the number 57 after looking at a bottle of ketchup. Shaw, who broke with his mother and step-father immediately upon his return to America, is gradually revealed to have been programmed by Russian and Chinese communists as a sleeper agent who will blindly obey orders without any memory of his actions. His heroism was a false memory implanted in the platoon during their brainwashing in Manchuria. His programming is triggered by seeing the Queen of Diamonds card while playing solitaire after being induced by his handlers. Several years pass before Shaw finds happiness when he rekindles a youthful romance with Jocelyn Jordan (Leslie Parrish), the daughter of liberal Senator Thomas Jordan (John McGiver), one of his stepfather's political rivals. Mrs. Iselin had previously broken up the relationship, but now facilitates the couple's reunion to garner Jordan's support for Iselin's bid for the Vice Presidency. Although pleased with the match, Jordan states he will block all of Iselin's to seek their party's nomination. Jocelyn, wearing a Queen of Diamonds costume at a party for her thrown by the Iselins, inadvertently triggers Shaw's programming and elopes with him. In response to the senator's rebuff, Mrs. Iselin, who is revealed to be Shaw's American handler, triggers him to kill Jordan at his home, killing Jocelyn as well when she enters the scene. Afterwards, Shaw has no knowledge of his actions and is grief-stricken upon learning of the murders. Eventually discovering the card's role in Shaw's conditioning, Marco uses a forced deck in an attempt to deprogram him and reveal his next assignment, which appears imminent. Mrs. Iselin primes her son to assassinate their party's presidential nominee at the height of the ongoing political convention so that Senator Iselin, as the vice-presidential candidate, will become the nominee by default. In the uproar, he will immediately seek emergency powers that when elected will, in Mrs. Iselin's words, "make martial law seem like anarchy". Mrs. Iselin tells Shaw that while she had requested a programmed assassin for the task, she never knew it would be her own son, who was selected by the communists in order to bind her more closely to their cause. Kissing Shaw on the lips, she vows that once in power she will exact revenge for her son's selection as an assassin. Shaw enters the convention hall disguised as a priest and takes up a sniper's position high in its farthest reaches. Alarmed by Shaw's failure to call by the appointed time, Marco and his supervisor, Colonel Milt (Douglas Henderson), race to the hall to find and stop him. When the moment to shoot comes, Shaw instead kills his mother and Senator Iselin. When Marco arrives an instant later, Shaw tells him he failed to call to prevent anyone from interfering with his change in plans and explains that the army could not have stopped them. Shaw then fatally turns the rifle on himself. Marco looks on in shock. In an epilogue, Marco and Eugénie privately mourn Shaw's death. Marco reads citations for two Medal of Honor winners, and composes his own: Marco begins to weep as the scene closes. 

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A maniac killer in red rain coat is killing off American tourists on a tour bus by gouging out their eyeballs. 

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The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank lives with his father on a small island in rural Scotland, and he has not seen his mother in many years. There is no official record of his birth, meaning his existence is largely unknown. Frank occupies his time with rituals, building dams, and maintaining an array of weapons (a small catapult, pipe bombs, and a crude flamethrower) for killing small animals around the island. He takes long walks to patrol the island and occasionally gets drunk with his only friend, a dwarf. Otherwise, Frank has almost no contact with the outside world. He's haunted by the memory of a dog attack during his youth, which resulted in the loss of his genitalia. He resents others for his impotence, particularly women. This is in part due to the mauling coinciding with the last time he saw his mother, who had come back to give birth to his younger brother, leaving immediately after. Frank's older brother, Eric, escapes from a psychiatric institution, having been arrested some years prior for arson and terrorizing the local children by force-feeding them live maggots. Eric often calls him from a pay-phone to inform Frank of his progress back to the island. Eric is extremely erratic; their conversations end badly, with Eric exploding in fits of rage. However, it's clear Frank loves his brother. The Wasp Factory is a mechanism invented by Frank, consisting of a huge clock face, salvaged from the local dump, encased in a glass box. Behind each of the 12 numerals is a trap that leads to a different ritual death (such as burning, crushing, or drowning in Frank's urine) for the wasp that Frank puts into it via the hole at the centre. Frank believes the death "chosen" by the wasp predicts something about the future. The Factory is in the house's loft, which Frank's father cannot access because of a leg injury. There are also “Sacrifice Poles” constructed by Frank. The corpses of animals, such as mice that he has killed, are placed onto the poles for the purpose of attracting birds which will fly away and alert Frank of anybody approaching the island. It's revealed that when Frank was much younger, he killed three of his relatives: two cousins and his younger brother. He also exhumed the skull of the dog that castrated him, and uses it as part of his rituals. Eric is described as having been extremely sensitive before the incident that drove him mad: a tragic case of neglect at the hospital where Eric was a volunteer when studying to become a doctor. While attempting to feed a brain-damaged newborn with acalvaria, Eric notes how the child is unresponsive and smiling, despite usually appearing expressionless. The child's skull is held together by a metal plate over his head. Eric checks underneath the plate to find the child's exposed brain tissue infested and being consumed by day-old maggots. Frank's father is distant and spends most of his time in his study, which he keeps locked at all times. Frank longs to know what is inside. He is used to being lied to by his father, who seemingly does it purely for his own amusement. At the end of the novel, Frank is alerted of Eric's return when he sees a dog that has been burned alive and discovers Eric's campsite. This knowledge incites Frank's father to get drunk before forgetting to conceal the keys to his study, where Frank discovers male hormone drugs, tampons, and what appears to be the remains of his own genitals in a jar. He assumes that his findings mean that his father is actually female. During the ensuing confrontation, Eric attempts to destroy the island with explosives and fire but is not successful. Frank's father explains that it was Frank who was born a female; the hormones had been fed to him by his father since the dog attack in an experiment to see whether Frank would transition from female to male. The remains of his genitals were fake and it is suggested that his father's reasoning for doing this was to distance himself from the women he felt had ruined his life. In the end, Frank finds Eric, half asleep. He sits with him and considers his life up to this point and whether he should leave the island. 

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The book tells the (fictional) story of the rise to fame of Dan Weir ('Weird'), a bass guitar player in a rock and roll band called Frozen Gold, and of his struggles to be happy now that he is rich and famous. 

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A pivotal period in Prentice McHoan's life is described, seen through his preoccupations with death, sex, his relationship with his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, a missing uncle, relationships, cars, drink (and other intoxicants) and God, with the background a celebration of the Scottish landscape. 

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The Culture and the Idiran Empire are at war in a galaxy- spanning conflict. A Culture Mind, fleeing the destruction of its ship in an Idiran ambush, takes refuge on Schar's World. The Dra'Azon, godlike incorporeal beings, maintain Schar's World as a monument to its extinct civilisation, forbidding access to both the Culture and the Idirans. Horza, a shape-changing mercenary, is rescued from execution by the Idirans who believe the Dra'Azon guardian may let him onto the planet as in the past he was part of a small group of Changers who acted as stewards. They instruct him to retrieve the Mind. During Horza's extraction, the Idirans also capture a Special Circumstances agent, Perosteck Balveda. However, the Idiran starship on which he is travelling is soon attacked by a Culture vessel, and Horza is ejected. He is picked up by a pirate ship, the Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). He is forced to fight and kill one of the crew to earn a place. The captain, Kraiklyn, leads them on two disastrous pirate raids in which several of the crew perish. After the second raid Horza is taken prisoner by a cult living on an island on the orbital Vavatch. He escapes after killing the cult leader and makes his way to the main city of Vavatch where he finds Kraiklyn, who is playing "Damage"—a high stakes card game. Having now changed his appearance to mimic that of the CAT captain, Horza follows him back to the CAT, kills him and returns to the CAT meeting the few remaining original crew. He is introduced to a newly recruited member, whom he recognises as a disguised Perosteck Balveda. Culture agents outside try to capture the ship. Horza manages to lift off and as the fugitives warp away from Vavatch, they see the Orbital destroyed by the Culture warships to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Balveda reveals Horza's identity and he convinces the crew to carry out his mission. A sentient Vavatch drone, Unaha-Closp, has been trapped on the ship and reluctantly joins the team. They land on Schar's World and search for the Mind in the Command System, a complex of subterranean train stations formerly part of a nuclear missile complex. These were built by the inhabitants of Schar before their extinction. They soon discover that the Mind is being hunted by a pair of Idiran soldiers who have killed all the Changers stationed on the planet, and who regard Horza and his crew as enemies, having no knowledge of the Changers' alliance with the Idirans. Horza has kept Balveda alive, and she is taken into the complex. The CAT's crew encounter the Idirans in one of the Command System stations, and after a firefight apparently kill one and capture the other. After tracking the Mind to another station, the drone Unaha-Closp discovers it hiding in the reactor car of a Command System train. The second Idiran, who had been mortally wounded but not killed, sets one of the trains for a collision course to the station. The captured Idiran, Xoxarle, frees himself and in the ensuing impact and firefight the remaining members of the Clear Air Turbulence are killed. Horza pursues Xoxarle and is fatally injured, but the Idiran is killed by Balveda. Horza dies soon after Balveda gets him to the surface and the Mind is returned to the Culture. In an epilogue, the Mind becomes a starship, and names itself the Bora Horza Gobuchul. 

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The book takes place on a fictional planet resembling late-Middle Ages Europe. A large empire broke up in the decade or so preceding the action, apparently from meteor or asteroid strikes that severely affected farming across much of the globe. The remnants of the empire still war with one another. The narrative alternates chapter-by-chapter between two concurrent story-lines, with alternating chapter headings of The Doctor and The Bodyguard. 

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In 1985, Bud Fox is a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co. in New York City. He wants to work with his hero, Gordon Gekko, a legendary Wall Street player. After calling Gekko's office 59 days in a row trying to land an appointment, Bud visits Gekko on his birthday with a box of Gekko's favorite, contraband Cuban cigars. Impressed at his boldness, Gekko grants Bud an interview. Bud pitches him stocks, but Gekko is unimpressed. Desperate, Bud provides him some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which he has learned in a casual conversation with his father, Carl, leader of the company's maintenance workers' union. Intrigued, Gekko tells Bud he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office. However, Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock and becomes one of Bud's clients. Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the other stocks Bud selects lose money. Gekko offers Bud another chance, and tells him to spy on British CEO Sir Lawrence Wildman and discern Wildman's next move. Bud learns that Wildman is making a bid for a steel company. Through Bud's spying, Gekko makes money, and Wildman is forced to buy Gekko's shares to complete his takeover. Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse on Manhattan's East Side and a girlfriend, interior decorator Darien. Bud is promoted as a result of the large commission fees he is bringing in and is given a corner office with a view. He continues to maximize inside information and use friends as straw buyers to provide more income for him and Gekko. Unknown to Bud, several of his trades attract the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko: buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions and the overfunded pension. Even though Bud is unable to persuade his father to support him and Gekko, he is able to get the unions to push for the deal. Soon afterward, Bud learns that Gekko plans to dissolve the company and sell off Bluestar's assets in order to access cash in the company's pension plan, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud a very rich man, he is angered by Gekko's deceit and racked with the guilt of being an accessory to Bluestar's impending destruction, especially after his father suffers a heart attack. Bud resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans, and breaks up with Darien when she refuses to go against Gekko, her former lover. Bud devises a plan to drive up Bluestar's stock before manipulating it back down. He and the other union presidents then secretly meet with Wildman and arrange for him to buy controlling interest in Bluestar at a significant discount. Gekko, realizing that his stock is plummeting, dumps his remaining interest in the company on Bud's advice. However, when Gekko learns on the evening news that Wildman is buying Bluestar, he realizes that Bud has engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly goes back to work at Jackson Steinem the following day, only to be arrested for insider trading. Sometime later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko punches Bud several times, berating him for his role with Bluestar, and accuses him of ingratitude for several of their illicit trades. Following the confrontation, it is revealed that Bud was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko. He turns the tapes over to the authorities, who suggest that he may get a lighter sentence in exchange for helping them make a case against Gekko. Later, Bud's parents drive him down the FDR Drive towards the New York County Courthouse to answer for his crimes, telling Bud that he's redeemed himself, and it's also mentioned that after his eventual prison sentence, Wildman will be offering Bud a job with Bluestar. 

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Set in the near future of 2037, many of the levels and locations are reminiscent of their current day equivalents. Banks, building sites, sewage works and other everyday recognizable buildings form the basis of many of the levels in Sin. One major difference in the world of SiN is the lack of a police force. Ten years prior to the game, the police force collapsed due to corruption and ineffectiveness against the rising tide of crime. Private security companies have taken the police's place, with some of them patrolling the streets like the former police, some in charge of protecting their employer's assets. One of the companies which employ their own armed security forces is SinTek, a large multi-national biotechnology corporation specializing in medical and chemical research, owned by the beautiful and charismatic Elexis Sinclaire. Elexis took over the company following the mysterious disappearance of her father, Dr Thrall Sinclaire, who founded it in 2005. The protagonist of the game, Colonel John R. ("Rusty") Blade, is the commander of one of the largest security forces in the city of Freeport, HardCorps. Prior to the beginning of the game, Blade is working to rid the streets of a potent new recreational drug named U4, which is rapidly gaining popularity in Freeport and is rumoured to be able to cause genetic mutations to its users. Yet the source of the drug is still unknown, and its effects not entirely studied. As the game begins, the player is placed into the shoes of John Blade as he responds to a full-scale bank heist and hostage situation perpetrated by a well-known Freeport criminal boss, Antonio Mancini. But as the player progresses and pursues the criminal behind the heist, further questions are raised: Who is really behind the heist? And is this linked to the reported appearances of mutants in the city? Throughout the missions, Blade is aided via radio link by a computer expert working at HardCorps: JC, a skilled hacker, capable of breaking into even the tightest of networks. In fact, Blade had first found out about JC when investigating a cracker who had broken into the HardCorps system. After tracking down the hacker, Blade, recognizing the perpetrator's talents, decided to make him a job offer at HardCorps instead of arresting him. Thus, JC became one of the HardCorps most valuable assets and the only one able to assist them in hacking-based missions. As the game progresses, it is gradually revealed that the whole bank robbery is funded by Elexis Sinclaire, who in fact only wanted Mancini to steal a safety deposit box from the bank's vault. When she learns that he launched a full-scale bank heist instead, she injects him with concentrated U4 and turns him into a mutant, sending him after Blade. John manages to defeat the huge creature, and afterwards learns that it was, in fact, Mancini himself. Blade also finds out that the substance found in Mancini's body after his death is only manufactured by one company: SinTek. All these unavoidable facts force Blade to embark on an investigation into SinTEK's vast industrial area located in the outskirts of Freeport. Later, Blade learns that Elexis Sinclaire's main goal is to contaminate the Freeport water system with vast quantities of U4, turning all of the city's inhabitants into mutants. He manages to thwart that plan, but it turns out to be just a diversion because, in the meantime, SinTek's troops steal nuclear warheads from a U.S. military base. Elexis threatens to fill them with U4 and launch them at specific targets, turning the entire world's population into mutants. As Blade becomes aware of that, he heads to SinTek's main base in order to stop Sinclaire. However, once Blade defeats the SinTek's security and mutants at the base, he reaches Sinclaire, only for her to escape by transferring her entire body into a rocket that launches itself into the sky, splits and spreads everywhere, JC is unable to locate them, in Blade's fury of the escape, he smashes a button, causing the nuclear missiles to abort and cancel their launching. Sinclaire disappears through the rockets, never to be seen again. 

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