光头佬麦sir（麦嘉 饰）早年丧偶，独力拉扯儿子（陈百强 饰）、女儿（李丽珍 饰）和小光头三个儿女。麦sir生日之时，同事集体整蛊他表示庆祝，老板为了表彰他的多年付出，更赠送汽车一辆，谁知送车的小伙子John（张国荣 饰）与麦sir发生摩擦，不明就里的麦sir将自己的新车拆了个七零八落。麦sir将小光头寄送在对门的歌手阿凤（徐小凤 饰）家中，而麦sir对阿凤实际早有情意，但苦于无法说破。另一方面，儿女辈的情事同样令麦sir头疼，害怕女儿早早芳心他属，可John的攻势一浪强似一浪；期望儿子潇洒人间，但Danny却十足纯情……在圣诞节的前夕，麦家人拉开了各自的爱情好戏。

故事发生在朝鲜李氏王朝的末年，是时世道离乱，奸孽横行，窃钩者诛，窃国者侯，百姓生活在水深火热之中。住在罗州石头（河正宇 饰）是身份低贱的屠夫，某天他受主人赵润（姜东元 饰）指示挥刀杀人。赵润系当地贵族子弟，其武艺高强，却奸猾凶狠。倒霉的是石头行动失败，更导致家人惨遭杀害。在自家生命也命悬一线的时刻，他得到了智异山贼团的营救。因豪门贵胄横征暴敛，许多不堪重负的百姓逃入深山落草为寇，更打出替天行道的旗号劫富济贫。石头与名弓马香、卢教头岱浩、刘世和尚等英雄相会，从此走上一条腥风血雨的人生路。而作恶多端的赵润等人，也将为自己的恶行付出代价……

Charged with leading demonstrations for the democratization movement, student activist Kim Gi-young (Moon Sung-keun) is a fugitive from the law. He sneaks into a mining village on the verge of being shut down, with a fake ID in hand. Feeling frustrated with the current state of activism, which centers around the intelligentsia, he gets a job as a man-of-all-work at a coal factory and meets the motley inhabitants of the mining village. Dae-sik (Yang Jin-yeong) works to support his family in place of his father, who is in prison for instigating a strike. Detective Kang (Lee Su-chan) always keeps a sharp eye on everything that goes on in the village. Then there are strike organizer Cheon Do-seong (Kang Neung-won), fellow worker Jeong (Hwang Hae), Taek's mother (Kim Kyung-ran), and Sun's mother (Jo Ju-mi). Sung-cheol (Park Joong-hoon), whose father is a local bigshot and the owner of the coal factory, lords it over the neighborhood bars and cafes. Angry at his father (Park Kyu-chae) for leaving his mother and marrying another woman, Sung-cheol vents his resentment on the cafe girls and factory workers. Meanwhile, Young-sook (Shim Hye-jin), who works as a prostitute at the local cafe, is becoming fed up with Sung-cheol's violent and demeaning treatment of her. When she meets Gi-young, who is reserved but warm, she begins to have feelings for him and stops selling sexual favors. As the impending miners' strike darkens the horizon, Gi-young and Young-sook fall in love and enjoy each other's company. Then one day, Sung-cheol receives news of his mother's death and wreaks havoc at the cafe. When Young-sook refuses to satisfy his demands, he starts to beat her up. Gi-young tries to stop him, but his intervention brings him to the attention of Detective Kang and he is hauled off to the police station. Gi-young undergoes torture at the hands of the police, but he is eventually cleared of all charges and released. When he finally comes to through Young-sook's devoted care, he tells her that he is a wanted fugitive. His identity is soon exposed and he is forced to run once more. Young-sook decides to leave the village with him, and heads to the cafefor her things. While making her last coffee delivery, Young-sook runs into Sung-cheol, who tries to stop her from leaving. She ends up killing him, and is dragged off by the police as Gi-young waits for her at the train station.

本片改编自里昂尤里斯的畅销名著，描述保罗纽曼饰演的以色列反对派领袖排除万难，将六百名犹太人从集中营救出，成功发动民族解放战争。