On Christmas Eve, a ceasefire agreement was finally reached in the Bosnian War, and the American soldiers on the Adriatic Sea were about to return home. Lieutenant Bernard (Owen Wilson), a navigator of the Navy, had long been tired of this meaningless war, and his superior Leslie (Gene Hackman) tried to persuade him but to no avail. On Christmas Day, Bernard and his partner flew a Hornet fighter to perform an aerial photography mission, and accidentally saw armed personnel in the unsafe zone. The two decided to intervene, but were shot down by the opponent's SAM missile, and his partner was killed by the opponent. Bernard escaped by luck, but the opponent's search personnel followed him along the way. At the same time, Leslie, who received Bernard's call for help, suffered from the control of NATO generals. In the so-called consideration of the overall situation, he could not intervene in the unsafe zone to rescue Bernard. Leslie had to use the power of the media and even stole the equipment of allies to launch a rescue operation for subordinates who fell behind enemy lines.