A disturbed gang of youths kidnap, torture and murder two teenage girls; unbeknownst to the gang, the parents of one of the girls live nearby...
After policeman Frank Dooley is framed for theft and loses his job on the force, he joins a security guard agency and teams up with inept former defense lawyer Norman Kane. When the two botch a job guarding a local warehouse, they begin to uncover corruption within the company and their union.
CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting to the west. Wargrave decides they should travel to safety on a train across Europe, the "Atlantic Express". During the journey they must survive attacks by terrorists and an avalanche, all planned by Russian spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin.