Plot

Discharged from the army, an ex-GI is hired as a hit-man by a crime syndicate that is at war with another Mafia family.

Johnny Barrows, a G.I, is dishonorably discharged from the army after striking his commanding officer. When he returns home, he is mugged and thrown in jail. Down on his luck and with no money, he gets a job at a gas station run by a racist jerk. After a while, he beats him up and is thrown in jail again. Shortly after, a mobster hires him as a mafia hit man because of his military training and he now gets caught in the middle of a rival gang war between two families.—Jmac1988

A G.I. is unjustly thrown out of the service, and winds up being a gas station attendant. A gangster wants to hire him as a hitman. He agrees, with disastrous results.—[email protected]

During an army training exercise, soldier Johnny Barrows steps on a landmine. After Johnny orders his troops to take cover, Captain O'Malley, his commanding officer, informs the soldier that the mine will detonate when he lifts his foot. Johnny orders his men to cover the mine with their flak jackets and jumps clear before it explodes. After, in retaliation, Johnny punches O'Malley and is given a dishonorable discharge. Soon after returning home to Los Angeles, Johnny is beaten and robbed by two muggers, then is arrested by two policemen, who accuse him of public intoxication. At the station, Johnny is recognized by the captain, who remembers him as a promising football player and decorated Vietnam War hero, and is freed, and later enters the back door of an Italian restaurant in search of a meal, where he meets Mario Racconi of the Racconi crime family, and Nancy, the restaurant's manager. Mario remembers Johnny from a college football game, between their respective teams, and gives Johnny a meal along with an offer to work for him as an enforcer. Johnny accepts the meal, but declines the job.

Destitute, Johnny unsuccessfully searches the city for work, and is about to eat from a garbage can when Professor Theodore Rasputin Waterhouse, a drunken philosopher, takes him to a soup kitchen. Meanwhile, the head of the DaVince crime family, known as Don DaVince, along with his sons, Carlo and Tony, opens a flower shop that will serve as a front for the family's operations. Tony is concerned about interference from the Racconi family, but Don and Carlo believe that they have nothing to fear. Johnny is once again offered a job, this time by Racconi family patriarch Don Racconi, who promises to pay him $100,000, but Johnny refuses to kill for money and asks Nancy to drive Johnny back to the city. When they are alone, Johnny tells Nancy he will consider Racconi's offer, but prefers to earn an honest living. Nancy confesses that she and Johnny have much in common, and she would like to be free from the Racconi family.

Later, Richard, a local gas station owner, hires Johnny, assigning him a series of menial duties and allowing him to sleep in the supply closet. However, Richard consistently dismisses Johnny's requests for greater responsibility and a regular paycheck. At the Racconi mansion, Mario confirms his father's suspicion that the DaVinces are in the city and the elder Racconi sends hit man Antonio Goti to Tony's flower shop. Meanwhile, Mario and Nancy visit Johnny at the gas station, hoping once again to recruit him, but Johnny remains adamant. Upon returning home, Mario and Nancy learn that Goti was killed by the DaVinces and Don Racconi decides to arrange a meeting with his rivals rather than start a mob war. That night, when the families meet in a cemetery, Don DaVince offers the Racconis a share of his narcotics trade in the black and Hispanic communities. Don Racconi is appalled, and his refusal triggers a barrage of gunfire from the DaVinces, which leaves Mario as the only surviving Racconi.

The next day, Johnny is outraged by the $21 check he receives from Richard, and when he demands the rest of his pay, Richard fires him, an altercation ensues, and Johnny is arrested again for assault. At the station, Johnny is informed by the captain that all charges against him were dropped and that Nancy is waiting outside. She tells Johnny about the shooting and takes him to Mario's hospital room, where he is offered $100,000 and a parcel of land if he kills the DaVinces. Johnny promises to consider it. Meanwhile, Don DaVince believes that Nancy is now running the Racconi empire and sends Tony to kidnap her and Johnny is incensed by the news. When she phones him to describe her degradation at the hands of Tony, Johnny accepts Mario's offer. However, Nancy and Tony are lovers, who plan to control both the DaVince and Racconi empires, and Johnny is being used by them into eliminating the other DaVinces. After receiving instructions from Mario, Johnny goes to Tony's flower shop and kills Carlo and several henchmen.

In anticipation of the shooting, Tony takes a cruise to Mexico on his yacht, but Johnny is also aboard and he forces Tony, who cannot swim, into the ocean at gunpoint. Don DaVince hires a hit man to avenge his sons, and with Nancy's help, the assassin locates Johnny, who throws a silver star towards him and narrowly misses. Later, Johnny hijacks the DaVince delivery van and kills Don DaVince at his home. However, the hit man is still on Johnny's trail, and when they meet in the mountains, Johnny discovers that his pursuer is O'Malley. They engage in a final fight and Johnny finally kills O'Malley by projecting his own silver star into his throat. After, Johnny and Nancy meet at Mario's parcel of land and they walk hand-in-hand to the top of a hill. He kisses her and she shoots him as retribution for killing Tony. As Nancy walks away, she steps on a hidden landmine, which explodes and kills her.