Breathing Fire

Breathing Fire

Year: 1991

Runtime: 84 mins

Language: English

Directors: Lou Kennedy, Brandon Pender

Action

Michael, a Vietnam vet with two kids, heads a gang—including the bank’s manager—in a heist. He makes a set of interlocking keys so the loot can be opened only when all members are present. When the manager hesitates, Michael kills him and his wife. The manager’s daughter grabs a key and turns to David, an old Vietnam‑comrade of Michael’s, for help.

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Breathing Fire (1991) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Breathing Fire (1991), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Vietnam veteran Michael Moore [Jerry Trimble] pulls off a high-stakes bank heist with a tight crew that even includes the bank’s manager. To cement loyalty, they devise a clever system: a cache of keys to the hidden loot, split and hidden inside a fake pizza mold that’s been sliced into pieces and handed out to the gang. The plan depends on absolute trust, but it falters when the bank manager gets cold feet and tries to back out. Michael and his henchman strike first, eliminating the manager and his wife to keep the operation from unraveling.

The bank manager’s daughter Annie seizes one of the keys and runs for help to David Moore [Ed Neil], her father’s old friend and Michael’s brother. David, a fellow Vietnam veteran, teams up with Michael’s two sons to uncover the truth behind the murders. Charlie Moore [Ke Huy Quan] and Tony Moore [Eddie Saavedra] are eager to help, driven by a mix of familial duty and a desire to stop the spiral of violence. As the investigation unfolds, David is targeted in a brutal ambush by the disguised mastermind, leaving him unable to continue on his own. Yet the brothers’ respect for his fighting prowess pushes them to seek his mentorship, inviting him to train them and shape their own skills.

A pivotal moment arrives when Tank [Wendell C. Whitaker], a member of Michael’s crew, experiences a shift in allegiance during a tense confrontation. Tank offers crucial intel that helps the brothers move closer to the truth, but the cycle of violence continues as Michael moves to eliminate him. The revelation lands hard: Michael is the gang leader and the person responsible for the bank manager’s murder. As the layers peel back, Michael explains why he adopted Charlie. In Vietnam, David confronted Michael after witnessing him kill Charlie’s birth mother, a moment that led David to persuade Michael to take in the orphaned baby and raise him as part of their family.

Charlie is left reeling as he tries to reconcile the truth with the bond he’s built with his father. The tension peaks in a charged showdown between father and son, with Michael’s arrogance driving the conflict toward a breaking point. Michael is ultimately arrested, but the drama isn’t over yet: Tony arrives on the scene, confronting Charlie and vowing to settle old scores at the national taekwondo tournament.

In the championship rounds, both Charlie and Tony reach the finals. Charlie chooses not to fight Tony, but when the moment comes, he defends himself and ends up knocked unconscious. Tony wins the bout, yet the victory is tempered by immediate remorse when he sees Charlie unconscious. Tony helps wake his brother, and the two brothers finally bridge the rift that years of conflict carved between them, finding a path to make peace and move forward together.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:22

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