When a Soviet nuclear sub headed toward American waters drops off U.S. scanners, the Yanks scramble to take defensive steps. But CIA analyst Jack Ryan convinces the brass that the sub's commander has something other than a first strike in mind. A perilous cat-and-mouse game ensues.
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise in Martin Scorsese's multiple Oscar-winning crime thriller. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.