Motor City

In 1977 Detroit, Vietnam War veteran and factory worker John Miller completes probation. He buys an engagement ring for his girlfriend Sophia, having rescued her from drug-trafficking mobster Reynolds, her abusive ex-boyfriend. The jealous Reynolds pays off corrupt police detective Savick to plant drugs in John's car, and just as Sophia agrees to marry John, he is arrested. Savick's fellow detective Kent grows suspicious, but John is sentenced to 25 years in prison, and a heartbroken Sophia reunites with Reynolds.

John is tormented behind bars by Reynolds, who buys Sophia a house and an extravagant lifestyle. Deducing that John was framed, Kent confronts Savick and informs Sophia. He is soon killed by Savick, while a furious Reynolds refuses to let Sophia leave him. John's former squad mates Youngblood and Singh prepare to break him out, torturing guards to provide a prison map, which they hide in a coded letter to John. Molding a shiv out of hard candy, John stabs a guard and steals his uniform as Youngblood and Singh arrive to free him, killing several guards in a fiery escape.

At Reynolds's house, John and his comrades rescue a drugged Sophia. Reynolds attempts to shoot John, but Sophia takes the fatal bullet instead. John is forced to abandon Sophia's body, escaping with her engagement ring as the police arrive and a shootout erupts. A vengeful John and his friends arm themselves with homemade munitions, building explosives and improvised shotgun shells loaded with coins. John prepares a cartridge meant for Reynolds, containing Sophia's ring.

The three brothers-in-arms storm Reynolds's warehouse and massacre his men. Youngblood is gunned down, while Singh is fatally shot by Savick, who attacks John in the elevator with Singh's knife. John narrowly survives a brutal fight by shooting off Savick’s leg. Carrying Savick’s corpse to the roof, he drops it onto a car driven by Reynolds's henchmen, stopping Reynolds from fleeing. On the street, John wounds Reynolds in the face with his improvised shotgun shell. He leaps onto the car as the mobster drives away, and they fight until the car crashes, but Reynolds escapes.

Decades later, the elderly, wealthy Reynolds lives in an isolated mansion. He receives a threatening scrapbook of old newspaper articles from John, who has finally tracked him down. Infiltrating the mansion, John holds him at gunpoint, as Reynolds declares that he loved Sophia. John replies that he still does, shooting Reynolds dead and taking his revenge.