少年孤儿--小虎, 浪迹天涯寻亲。过气搏技高手--段老虎因拒绝恶势力赵总裁的收买而遭害残废,自暴自弃, 变成了长醉的酒鬼。 小虎路见不平,打得手下抱头鼠窜。段老虎发现小虎天赋练武之材, 欲收徒以了当年该得手而未得的搏技之王宝座的心愿。在一次见习参观擂台比赛, 小虎一时技痒, 上台击昏高手而一夕成名。挑战 「搏技之王」──高强必过五关, 胜五场才获资格争王, 小虎卖命苦练有成,一场比一场轰动, 闪电一击的威力技惊全场, 激发高强赞佩而公开发表: 「毕生遭过真正强力的对手」。赵总裁为了自保, 于挑战赛前夕, 不择手段绑架小虎, 幸小虎机警挣脱, 及时赶到赛场, 经一场势均力敌苦战, 小虎反败为胜, 争得 「搏技之王」 的宝座。

故事发生在解放前的上海. 一天，顾松岚（仲星火 饰）闯入钱根发（王诗槐 饰）的理发店，以目睹钱根发数月前轧死人为由，敲诈4000元，钱根发有苦说不出，只得照办。躲避不成，顾松岚反而狮子大开口张嘴又要100万元，面对顾的变本加厉，钱只好重金聘请私人侦探（薛国平 饰）调查顾的来头。经查，顾是个蹩脚演员，因家中拮据以饰演诈骗犯谋生。钱的顾客黄先生（黄达亮 饰）设计骗了钱根发一把，他气急败坏的四处寻找黄先生，无奈中了人家设置的美人计，惨遭暴打。万念俱灰的钱根发走向破产的边缘，而此时顾松岚又找上门来，钱根发再也忍无可忍......

Byeong-tae (Yoon Mun-seob), a philosophy major at Y University, goes to a group blind date and meets Young-ja (Lee Young-ok), who studies French literature at H University. The young men and women of the 1970s, who have grown up under the influence of a rapid influx of Western culture, agonize over college issues, family conflicts, and their future paths in life. But such struggles are self-derisive, and they can see no tomorrow waiting for them. Between Byeong-tae and Young-ja, there is no promise of love, of any kind. They simply meet, and exchange meaningless conversation. Meanwhile, Yeong-cheol (Ha Jae-young), who always rides a bike and declares every time he drinks that he will set off in search of a whale, has feelings for another girl he met on the blind date, named Sun-ja (Kim Young-suk). But Sun-ja rejects Yeong-cheol, who stammers, has no prospects, and was even turned down for military duty due to health reasons, and he falls into despair. With nothing to look forward to, Byeong-tae and Yeong-cheol head to the sea. Yeong-cheol, who boasted that he would catch a beautiful whale in the East Sea, commits suicide, and Byeong-tae enlists with the military. Young-ja comes to see him off, even though she said she wouldn't see him any more, and the two of them kiss through the open window of the train that will carry Byeong-tae away.

1949年新中国建立以来，虽然人民当家做主人，但是新政权还随时面临被海外敌对势力所颠覆的严峻现状。惨烈的抗美援朝战争结束后，曾经立下赫赫战功的冯石将军（李雪健 饰）接到中央委派的重要使命，那就是主持原子弹的研发工作。虽然对原子弹一窍不通，但是军人出身的冯石只有服从上级的命令，带着一支经过烈火淬炼的英雄部队挺近荒凉的戈壁滩。在此之后，以美国留学归来的陆光达（李幼斌 饰）等科学界的精英人才从四面八方调到了西北荒漠。白手起家，艰苦创业，在内无经验外断支援的艰苦条件下，一群怀着崇高理想的无名男儿朝着共同的目标奋勇前行……