霍顿先生(达德利·摩尔 Dudley Moore 饰)住进了加百利酒店,决定在那里同婚姻介绍所介绍的女子帕特丽夏(佩内洛普·威尔顿 Penelope Wilton 饰)见面。美国来的梅尔文(达德利·摩尔 Dudley Moore 饰)先生也在同日入住酒店,他来这里是为了完成自己的工作。与此同时,杀手迈克(布莱恩·布朗 Bryan Brown 饰)也栖身于此,潜伏在黑暗中监视着自己的猎物,伺机而动。
原本八竿子打不到一起去的三个人,因为一个糊里糊涂的服务生送错了信而被阴差阳错的搅合到了一起,离奇而又荒谬的意外接二连三的发生。不仅如此,这一连串的错误还在误打误撞之下的在迈克和帕特丽夏之间牵起了红线。
At a fashionable dinner party in Hong Kong a naval officer is coaxed into revealing details of a dream in which eight persons take off from Bangkok in a Dakota bound for Tokyo and crash in the Japanese mountains. Amongst those listening is Air Marshal Hardie who is due to fly to Tokyo the next day. Hardie initially dismisses the dream because he is scheduled to fly out in a Liberator, but as Hardie arrives at the airport he discovers that the Liberator has developed mechanical problems and has been replaced by a Dakota. When, just before the flight is due to depart, two soldiers board the plane making a complement of eight, Hardie fears that the Dream may be coming true and he is destined to die.