At the U. S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, two Marines Dawson and Donnie are accused of killing another soldier, Santiago. Navy lawyer Daniel Caffey (Tom Cruise Tom Cruise) and assistant Sam are assigned to take over the case, investigating that San Diego had hoped to be transferred from the base and reported Dawson. Caffey wanted to coordinate out of court to fight for a two-year sentence. However, the two soldiers insisted that they were not guilty, and their behavior towards Santiago was to implement the "code red" issued to them by their superiors. The so-called Red Code is a kind of admonition rules acquiesced by officers and carried out by soldiers in private. Caffy, Sam and another female lawyer, Galloway (Demi Moore Demi Moore), form a defense lawyer to investigate, while base commander Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson Jack Nicholson) is a key figure in the case, who rejected San Diego's transfer application, issued him a "code red" and later tampered with his flight records. Although Caffy knew the truth, he suffered from lack of evidence, in which case testifying against Colonel Jessup would cause him trouble. This is a close game.