After his reconnaissance plane is shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam Lt. Colonel Hambleton (Hackman) a career soldier who's used to calling the shots from behind a desk must now figure out a way to survive in the jungle! Luckily for him he manages to establish radio contact with an Air Force pilot Bird-Dog (Glover) who makes it his mission to save his stranded comrade. To plan the dangerous rescue the two soldiers communicate by secret code. But when the enemy intercepts their messages it's only a matter of time before the code is broken...leaving both men at risk of being caught and imprisoned.