Russian operatives hijack a commercial American jet, planning to crash it into a nuclear power plant near Washington, D.C. resulting in fallout that will devastate the Eastern seaboard. With little time for Air Force fighters to shoot it down, the passengers and crew aboard the aircraft must rely on their own military and civilian training to stop the terrorists before it’s too late.

Les Chevaliers du ciel (English: Sky Fighters) is a 2005 French film directed by Gérard Pirès about two air force pilots preventing a terrorist attack on the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. It is based on Tanguy et Laverdure, a comics series by Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo – of Astérix fame, which was also made into a hugely successful TV series from 1967 to 1969 making Tanguy and Laverdure, the two main heroes, part of popular Francophone culture.

A city in Washington state awakens to the surreal sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky – shockingly, the U.S. has been invaded and their hometown is the initial target. Quickly and without warning, the citizens find themselves prisoners and their town under enemy occupation. Determined to fight back, a group of young patriots seek refuge in the surrounding woods, training and reorganizing themselves into a guerrilla group of fighters. Taking inspiration from their high school mascot, they call themselves the Wolverines, banding together to protect one another, liberate their town from its captors, and take back their freedom.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), the heir to the largest newspaper fortune in Los Angeles, is a spoiled playboy who has been, thus far, happy to lead an aimless life. After his father (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets Kato (Jay Chou), a resourceful company employee. Realizing that they have the talent and resources to make something of their lives, Britt and Kato join forces as costumed crime-fighters to bring down the city’s most-powerful criminal, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).