Set in California during the tense days that followed that Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, we are introduced to an array characters and witness their reactions to the seismic event. Believing that California is the next target for the Japanese forces, some people respond in blind panic while others are driven by a desire to defend their state, and country, against impending attack. Military men like fighter pilot Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) and Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd) join forces with civilians on the the look-out for a Japanese submarine which has made it all the way to California with the intention of destroying an 'honorable target', which, it turns out, is Hollywood.