John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the 'All-American' athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while 'Dough' succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor. Between these two is their friend Tre, who is lucky to have a father, 'Furious' Styles, to teach him to have the strength of character to do what is right and to always take responsibility for his actions.

Agent Augustus Gibbons has selected an imprisoned former US Navy SEAL Darius Stone, a new agent in the XXX program, travels to Washington D.C., where they track a splinter faction of the U.S. military that attempts to overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate the President, led by Secretary of Defense and former 4-Star General George Deckert, Stone's former commanding officer whom he once led a mutiny against. But he's been targeted for assassination by a radical splinter group of dissenters deep within the United States government. The new XXX agent must uncover the insurgents from within. It is the nation's only hope to stop the first coup d'etat in American history.

Debo has escaped from prison and is looking to get revenge on Craig. So Craig's dad takes him to Rancho Cucamonga to hide out with his Uncle Elroy and cousin Day-Day, who moved to the suburbs after winning the lottery. But once he gets there, Craig and Day-Day have a set of suburban misadventures that make his South Central experiences look tame.

200 years in the future a Martian police unit is dispatched to transport a dangerous prisoner from a mining outpost back to justice. But when the team arrives they find the town deserted and some of the inhabitants possessed by the former inhabitants of the planet.